Murad Hoffmann, born a Catholic in 1931 in Bavaria, Germany, joined an anti-Nazi group at an early age. He studied law at Harvard University. In 1961, he joined the German Foreign Service and worked for the German Consulate in Algeria.

His experience of the Algerian War of Independence led him to reflect and reconsider the course of his life. His conversion to Islam in 1988 caused a widespread controversy due to the sensitivity of the positions he held in the German government.

He published many books that focused on Islam’s place in the West and was the ambassador to Algeria and Morocco. He was named among the 500 most influential Muslim figures in the world, and he was honored by various leaders of the Islamic world for his efforts to defend Islam.