Montreal Gazette “Tariq Ramadan spoke in Montreal and called on Muslims to contribute to a better world”
“Tariq Ramadan spoke in Montreal and called on Muslims to contribute to a better world”Don’t be defensive, he urges Western MuslimsHe was billed as a controversial scholar with dangerous ideas, but there was nothing radical about the Tariq Ramadan who last night urged Western Muslims to assert themselves in all walks of life.
Speaking to more than 1,000 at the Palais des congrès, Ramadan, a professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, argued there is no contradiction between the essence of Islamic belief and Western civilization.
He urged Muslims living in North America and Europe, where freedom of religion is a fundamental value, to see their faith as compatible with the culture, and not be defensive about it. “The spiritual reality of the religion is the essence of Western Islam,” he said.
While the aim of all believers is to find inner peace, this must translate into “serving the people,” he said. Western Muslims also want more than tolerance. “I don’t want to be analyzed, accepted – I want to be respected,” he said.
Muslims abide by the rules of the country they’re in, learn its languages and are loyal to it, he said, quoting from the Quran to underline its consistency with Muslim teaching.
Rules should be obeyed even if they are directed against symbols of Muslim practice.
Referring to the ban on minarets in Switzerland, he said, “We don’t have to build minarets.”
Though he opposed the ban on head scarves in French schools, he noted it is accepted and should be obeyed with “confidence and responsibility.”
The essence for French Muslims is getting a good education, he said.
“What we want is to add value to our societies, to contribute to a better world.”
He called on Canadian Muslims to increase their contribution to cultural creation, noting the TV series Little Mosque on the Prairie is known around the world.
Asked about Quebec legislation that bars Muslim women from receiving or delivering public services while wearing a niqab, Ramadan said most Muslims would accept the need to expose one’s face, if it’s a matter of safety.
“This is not an Islamic prescription,” he said of the niqab and burkah.
He later repeated the lecture in French to an additional 500 ticket holders. He was invited by Présence musulmane Montréal and the Muslim Association of Canada.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Ramadan+message+anything+radical/2917688/story.html#ixzz0lkJVZ7FT
I’m glad you emphasize educate for muslimwomen. There are too many women with headscarves, but without education out there. Doesn’t help for the image of the muslimwoman.
It’s great he actually listened to Tariq in first hand, but the article still argues in terms of false dichotomies like “moderate vs radical” muslims, as if “we” already knew everything we have to know about values and classify muslims as the ones who say what we would like to listen (despite all the wrongs we often do), the “moderates”, and the ones who speak their minds and disagree with us, the “radicals”, the
“others”, from whom we could learn a great deal in critical debates but we refuse, because of our lack of consistency with our own values.
I have read some books by Theodore Dalrymple, a British thinker. I like what he says about a society that is characterized by a tradition of moral relativism. He describes how a culture of excess has taken over the British underclass, where tradition is thrown overboard, people act on their impulses, relationships are short and children grow up without their fathers. You would think someone like this understands the value islam can add to society. But no: when it comes to islam he is very clear in his rejection. I think many people aren’t able to look beyond the negative acts of some muslims and see how islam has the potence to add value to society.