A RADICAL moderniser and a conservative ideologue. An apologist for extremists, a turncoat, a demagogue, a pragmatist and a passionate advocate for reconciliation between Europe and Islam. The Swiss philosopher Tariq Ramadan, perhaps Europe’s most influential Muslim intellectual, has a knack for dividing opinion.
Even western allies have differed on how to treat him. In 1995, Ramadan was temporarily banned from France; eight years later, he was invited to take part in a televised debate with Nicolas Sarkozy, then France’s interior minister.
His visa to teach at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana was issued and then revoked by the US Department of Homeland Security in 2004, a year before he was hired by Tony Blair as an adviser.
When he was granted a visiting fellowship by St Antonys College, Oxford – where he still teaches – the college felt obliged to issue a statement that read: “Professor Ramadan is recognised as an intellectual throughout the world.”
Regardless of such controversies, his popularity among young European Muslims is that of a box office star, with CDs of his lectures selling like pop music and his public talks – enthrallingly delivered – drawing the sort of crowds that few philosophers could hope to attract.
Ramadan’s lineage is both a starting point for critics and one reason why Muslim audiences are so receptive to his words: his grandfather was Hassan al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood, the foundation of modern political Islam.
A common accusation is that of “double talk”, the idea that he is a moderate to westerners and an extremist to Muslims.
The criticism is down to his not fitting in with the idea of what people expect of a Muslim, Ramadan believes. “I’m not coming with harsh statements. I’m a European. It’s very bothering when you have someone speaking the same language as you and he is a Muslim,” he says.
“You know the expression ‘it’s too beautiful to be true.” This is it. This is exactly what was said about the Jews during the 40s – ‘they say something but they mean something else’.”
He may use a different vocabulary or references when addressing different audiences, he adds, but the message is always the same, rooted in tolerance and understanding.
And the fact that he is banned from a number of Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, tells its own story. Ramadan’s profile surged when riots broke out in predominantly immigrant banlieues in France in November 2005, when the question of integrating young, second-generation Muslims – many of whom revere Ramadan – figured large in public debate.
Though he praises politicians for portraying the riots as a social-economic issue rather than a religious one, he believes little has been done in the past four years to resolve the underlying causes of those disturbances.
“As long as it’s calm, we don’t see it. What we want from the suburbs is: dont make noise and bother us. But there are no real policies,” he argues.
“The positive things are not coming from the government. The positive things are coming from the young people, who are putting their names on the electoral list – 60 per cent more in the two years after the riots.”
Ramadan was in Dublin at the invitation of the school of religions and theology at Trinity College Dublin and the Irish School of Ecumenics, and in two lectures here he returned to the need for better interaction between the academy and the public sphere, between the Muslim world and the West, and, in a sense, between the past and the present.
Asked whether it is possible to be fully Muslim and fully European, he points out that this has been shown to be happening for quite a long time, yet the “obsession” with new immigrants’ problems obscures that. “The great majority of Muslims [here] are Muslims by religion and European by culture . . . I would even go so far as to say that integration is a concept of the past, and that we need now a post-integration approach, saying that religious and cultural integration is done. You can be both, having your two identities.”
He might point to Tariq Ramadan, a devout Muslim who was born to Egyptian parents in Geneva, wrote a PhD on Nietzsche, and whose children attend state schools in Britain.
As for those who fear the growth of Europe’s Muslim population, he says Muslims must respect that fear and appreciate its roots. It is for Muslims to reassure, to explain themselves and, above all, to contribute to their society.
Ramadan says he has received “signs” that the new administration in Washington is prepared to lift the Bush-era ban.
He is also hopeful about Barack Obama’s potential to improve relations with the Muslim world.
“Things are going to change. He is quite clever – no one can deny the fact that he is clever. He started by acting on symbols [such as] Guantánamo. It’s a very important thing, but there are deeper [issues] . I think we want him to go further – from symbols to policies, and consistent policies.”
Source : The Irish Times
Very interesting article about brother Tariq Ramadan. Those who got the luck to meet him, talk with him, and mostly read some of the books he wrote can fill that this man is striving sincerely for three things: helping muslims to better reconcile with the true message of islam, helping non muslim to better understand and live with their fellows muslim and helping one another to better work toguether in the respect one another’s dignity. In fact, Tariq Ramadan is a bless for our soceities.
Maybe Tariq Ramadan is a bit of all the things people say about him. Maybe he is a thinker trying to grasp the complexity of life and islam, without going to one or the other extreme.
Very interesting article, indeed,
Hope you continue on…From Spain youg To Oxford..A BIG hug Father Tariq..
Besides the lineage, much of the controversy is over the reformproject. Who sets the agenda? Some non-muslimforces want it too be as liberal as possible. But I think it’s fair to say that the content of reform in the first place must be decided on by muslims themselves, and that it indeed must be rooted in the sources. If that makes that the outcome to some is still too conservative, than so be it. Islam is about boundaries too.
More than an insult to TR the whole thing is an insult to muslims who listen to him and are inpired by this man: like we only listen to someone because his grandfather was a certain somebody; like we would fall for the double-talk, like muslims wouldn’t doubt his integrety if they would find him saying something else to non-muslims than to them. Non-muslims really have a low opinion of us…
Alsalmu’Alykum..
I’m truly sorry to hear you say that non-Muslims have a low opinion about us (Muslims), in fact, if this is true (it’s not in my experience: a Muslim women wearing hijab and working in a big corporate company in a non-Muslim country), at least for a small percentage of non Muslims, it’s the impressions we Muslims give them.
I’m not defending non-Muslims, I just want to be fair, if a Muslim brother or sister who lives among non-Muslims and doesn’t treat them well, smile in their faces, greet them in the morning going to work…etc.. how would you think they know that we are very good people who share a lot of good values and manners like “most ” of them do? just put yourself in their shoes.
Also I’d like to remind you that Islam has this bad reputation” of being violent and so on..” because of what some extremist do in the name of the religion, but of course that doesn’t mean that all of Muslims are violent or bad people. Now if you look at it from the other end: not all non-Muslims are bad people or do hate Muslims just because some of them practice racism or think very low of us….and if they do, then it’s our turn to fix that by reaching out to them with the peaceful and noble and understanding message of Islam, and definitely not by attacking someone who invites us to do so, so everyone can live in peace.
it’s your manners, kind heart, personality, understanding, caring for the other, and being peaceful that counts when you deal with non-Muslims, this is how to introduce your true faith to them.
And for you attacking Dr.TR, I believe if you were to discuss what he’s saying in a civilized way, even if you don’t agree with him, it would’ve opened up a better dialogue to exchange ideas and opinions, instead of brushing anyone who listen to him so harshly.
I agree, in part we made non-muslims not like islam and muslims, that’s the worst part. But then, we have internal problems, come from empovrished, undevelopped societies; ofcourse this was going to effect the way we communicate with non-muslims. Let’s focus on the future.
As for TR having critics and even enemies. The man is an activist. An activist has to be bold; an activist that is liked by everybody is not doing a good job. So I guess TR being so scrutinized is a good thing, he is shaking things up!