“The best way to be close to God is to claim your rights as a citizen,” Tariq Ramadan during the conference
in Brussels, 12.02.2006Interview with Tariq Ramadan by Konrad Pędziwiatr, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Konrad Pedziwiatr – KP: I have encountered around the whole Europe dozens of young Muslims who have been deeply marked by your thought. Some of them even describe themselves ‘a ramadanian product’. What are the key ingredients of such ‘a product’?
Tariq Ramadan – TR: I think, first of all it is a way of understanding Islam, to be faithful to the Islamic principles and a way of reading the sources which puts emphasis on the spiritual aspect, and with this spiritual aspect, the necessity and imperative to be active on the grounds. So it is both personal commitment to your own education, self-education and to the principle of serving the people around you. It is a reformist approach between the text and the context. A dialectical process of understanding the text which takes into account the context, spiritual teaching and at the time active social commitment.
KP – You put a very strong emphasis in your conception of devout citizenship on active civic participation, thus invoking the famous maxim of Baruch Spinoza that ‘Citizens are made, not born’. Why is this element so important?
TR – Because of the second aspect of my teaching which puts emphasis on the fact that the best way to serve God is to serve the people. When you live in a democratic society, you are living in a society where you are first a citizen, hence you are asked to be committed and to promote some principles. I think this calls not only for active citizenship but also for ethics of citizenship. European Muslims should be involved in their societies because European societies are their own societies. For the same reason they should promote justice, equal citizenship and fight against discrimination and racism. It is an understanding of human role in our universe. The key concept here is citizenship because it helps to understand our environment and to be committed.
KP – What do you think you offer these people that other ulama or Muslim leaders in Europe are not able to provide them with?
TR – I think my own experience. I was born and raised in Europe so I know the context, I know the environment and I know what are the challenges. I have studied both Islamic studies and at the same time Western philosophy and thought. So this double knowledge, two universes of reference is helping and my experience is adding to that something which they can feel that I understand what they are experiencing.
KP – Your critics often point out that your approach offers nothing to Muslims who choose not to devoutly practice Islam and that it is too narrow for those Muslims who want to maintain their ethnic identity and distinctiveness. How would you respond to them?
TR – I don’t agree with them. If this was the case I would have been dismissed by the people. The people I am working with for 20 years are showing on the ground that they are Muslims and they are active, they are part of European societies. I think that the ground is falsifying these critics because the people are still here and they are active. They are going out of their own intellectual, cultural or spiritual ghettos and they are part of their societies. If this was not the case I would not have been perceived by some as danger and threat. I am perceived in this way because Muslims who follow my teachings refer to Islamic values, stay faithful Muslims and at the same time they are committed citizens. Thus they are showing the being practising Muslims and a committed citizens is absolutely normal.
KP – You want European Muslims to play the role of the reformers of Islam also in other parts of the globe. Are they really capable of fulfilling this role? Don’t they have enough of their own problems here in Europe?
TR – What I am saying it that because we are dealing with new problems and new challenges we are coming with new answers. I really think that the way we are dealing with these new challenges, with our new answers is giving our fellow Muslims in the Islamic majority countries ground and thoughts about their own challenges. This is my own experience. I was last week in Morocco, before that I went to Indonesia, and to other Islamic majority countries and in all of them they looking at our experiences and saying: ‘yes, these could be good answers for us as well’. So there is an exchange here. I am not saying that is exclusively coming from Europe, but European countries are going to have tremendous impact on the future of Islam and the very recent story with cartoons is proving this. Although it happened in Denmark the consequences of that went to the Islamic world. So it can be positive as well as negative. This is why I am saying to the European Muslims – don’t overact on this issue and try to show to all fellow Muslims around the world that we have values and that there are Europeans who are saying exactly what you are saying – not too much with the freedom of expression – use it through a reasonable process.
KP – A few weeks ago you were telling young Muslim Londoners participating the City Circle debate (www.thecitycircle.com) that Islam needs an Islamic Feminism and that Muslims must come to a point at which we treat the women as an independent individual with a right to self-determination, as someone who can run her own life without coercion. Why is this so important?
TR – Because I think there is a gap between the Islamic teaching and what the Muslims are doing on the ground. So when there is a gap you have to reform your understanding. Many Muslims are not happy with feminist concepts because they are too westernised. My point is that Muslim men and women together in the name of Islam should be involved in these processes, should try to meet our principles and at the same time fight women discriminations in our community, coming from cultural readings or literalist readings and promote something which is a better understanding. What I mean by that is: no domestic violence, no forced marriages, no discrimination within the job market, the same salary for the same competence. All that is part of what we have to struggle for .
KP: Also freedom to choose whether or not wear a headscarf?
TR: Yes exactly,
KP: How do you reconcile that with the emphasis that wearing a hijab is a duty for Muslim women?
TR: It is an Islamic duty, meaning that to pray it is an Islamic duty. For a Muslim who is a practicing Muslim she knows that to pray it is required by your religion, but nobody can force you to pray.
KP – The Sunday Times-YouGov poll from today shows that people in Britain are gloomy about the prospects of living in peaceful coexistence with country’s Muslim community. Nearly two-thirds think that tensions will rise and only 17% are optimistic about the outlook. Nine out of ten Britons is expecting further attacks in the country by Islamic groups on the scale of the July 7 bombings. Could you comment on this?
TR – I think this is exactly what we are building. It is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy by stressing on the fact we don’t have the same values. Thus we are leading the people to think that there is going to be a gap and a clash, and I think we have to change that by making our voices more visible in the public sphere, saying – we have common values, we are building bridges and the future is for those who are ready, not to promote the clash of civilisations. The clash of civilisations is the destruction of both; dialogue of civilizations is the enhancement of both. And this is what I really think we want, don’t we?
This is part of an interview with Tariq Ramadan that will appear in the book Islam and Citizenship in Poland and in Wider Europethat is being prepared by the Association Arabia.pl www.arabia.pl
Source : Euro-Islam.info
I appreciate what you’re trying to do. Now for goodness’ sake get your fellow jihadists to move into the 21st century and use their eyes, their brains. The world doesn’t need the stupid superstition enshrined in the qu’ran. It’s just a book.
We don’t have time to wait for witless idiots who have been brainwashed into believing that the qu’ran represents something to respect. PLEASE abandon superstition and enter a world where reason and personal ability can achieve so much more for the human race than nonsense about gods and fantasy beings. Tell your fellow muslims to see the works of Mohammed as something from the very dark ages that have absolutely no relevance to the problems of today. Then we stand a chance of moving forward instead of spending all our time trying to satisfy a judgemental god. The difference between a holy, invisible entity and a non-existent entity is nil.
To the ‘human who cares’. “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action” Goethe. You exemplify this quote!By exposing your thoughts and opinions you have also exposed your sheer ignorance and lack of insight into what TQ is actually saying. It also demonstrates your inability to comprehend or understand the message of Islam illustrated by your shallow views.I suggest you do more reading and thinking before you choose to humiliate yourself next time!
a comment to “human who cares”
i dont think that you have read the quran, and understood it, because quran is not on contradiction with tarek ramadan’s thoughts.
you have to make a great effort to know eath others.
i’am making these efforts to try to know you much more, don’t you
I think the whole discussion about hijab has so many hypocritical elements to it. Many westerners when talking about hijab deny that attraction plays a role in interaction between men and women. Covering up is a method to deal with it; you can state that it’s not a good method. You can, as in western societies happens choose to allow some attraction and find other ways to canalize it, and accept that sometimes some escalation finds place. But you cannot deny the rationale behind it.
Besides, westerners too have norms about what’s decent in certain situations and what’s not. And this is not always the same for men and women (why for example is it ok for men too reveal their upper body when swimming, but not for women?).
Well yes that´s true, but how do you expect non-muslims to view the headscarf as something sophisticated when muslims don’t always present is or use it as such. Headscarf is too much associated with oppression, lack of eduacation and development. By muslims, but isn’t it so that many muslims have the same view? The succesful muslimwomen are too often women who don’t wear hijab. Where are the free, educated headscarved women? Where are the rolemodels for our daughters?
This is not just with women, and wearing the headscarf. For many muslims, having succes, climbing the social ladder, development, equals westernizing and becoming less muslim.