Tariq Ramadan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tariq Said Ramadan (born 26 August 1962 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss Muslim academic and theologian. He advocates a reinterpretation of Islamic texts, and emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of Islamic society. He believes that muslims in Europe have to establish a new "European Islam" and emphasizes the necessity for their engagement in European society. He is unashamedly religious and believes that Islam can be a useful antidote to secularism in Europe.

1 Biography
2 U.S. visa revocation
3 Views
- 3.1 Oumma.com Article controversy
4 Critical Reception
5 Books
- 5.1 Written by Tariq Ramadan
- 5.2 About Tariq Ramadan
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

His maternal grandfather Hassan al Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. His father, Said Ramadan, was a prominent figure in the Muslim Brotherhood as well, and was expelled from Egypt by Gamal Abdul Nasser for his activities in that organization. He later settled in Switzerland where Tariq was born. Tariq Ramadan studied philosophy and French literature, obtaining two doctorates, in Philosophy and Islamic studies. He wrote his dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche. He also studied Arabic and Islam at Al Azhar Islamic university in Cairo, Egypt. He later held a lectureship in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg and the College de Saussure, Geneva, Switzerland. ^{[citation needed]}

In October 2005 he began teaching at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship. ^[1] Since 2005 he has been a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation.

Ramadan is married and has 4 children, including Moussa Ramadan, a student at a Islamic school owned by Yusuf Islam. His wife is French and converted to Islam after their marriage. His brother, Hani Ramadan is also a Muslim activist and resides in Geneva, where he is a French teacher and the director of the Islamic Centre of Geneva.

Ramadan established the Movement of Swiss Muslims in Switzerland. He has taken part in interfaith seminars and has sat on a commision of “Islam and Secularism.” He is an advisor to the EU on religious issues. He is widely interviewed and has produced about 100 tapes which sell tens of thousands of copies each year. ^[2]

In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the Government of the UK.

[edit] U.S. visa revocation

In February 2004, he accepted the tenured position of Luce professor of religion at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, USA. However, in late July 2004, his visa was revoked by the State Department, and he was forced to resign the position. ^[3].

In September 2006, a State Department statement said: "A U.S. consular officer has denied Dr. Tariq Ramadan's visa application. The consular officer concluded that Dr. Ramadan was inadmissible based solely on his actions, which constituted providing material support to a terrorist organization."^[4]^[5] Ramadan has given a donation of $940 to two charity organizations, the Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP) and the Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP) who were fundraising organisations for Hamas. The U.S. Embassy informed Ramadan that he "reasonably should have known" that the charities provided money to Hamas. His donations were made between December 1998 and July 2002, and the United States did not blacklist the charities until 2003. Ramadan disputed this conclusion stating; "How should I reasonably have known of their activities before the U.S. government itself knew?." ^[6] However both the the CBSP and ASP have come under terrorist investigations since 1995, when prosecutors of the 1995 bombings in France gave evidence that Algerian Armed Islamic Group members raised funds for the CBSP. ^[7]

[edit] Views

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Ramadan works primarily on Islamic theology and the position of muslims in Europe. In general he believes in constantly reinterpreting the Qur'an in order to correctly understand Islamic philosophy. He also emphasises the difference between religion and culture, which he believes are too often confused. Relatedly, he thinks that citizenship and religion are two separate concepts which should not be mixed. He claims that there is no conflict between being a Muslim and a European at the same time; a muslim must accept the laws of his country, except in rare circumstances.

He believes that European Muslims must create a "European Islam" just as there is a seperate "Asian Islam" and "African Islam", which take into account cultural differences. By this he means that European Muslims must re-examine the fundamental texts of Islam (primarily the Qu'ran) and interpret them in light of their own cultural background, influenced by European society.

He rejects a binary separation of the world into dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam) and dar al-harb (the abode of war) since they are never mentioned in the Qur'an. He believes that European Muslims could be said to live in dar al-Dawa (space of testimony) in which Muslims are "witnesses before mankind" and are forced to consider the fundamental principles of Islam and take responsibility for their faith.

He emphasizes a Muslim's responsibility to his community, whether it be Islamic or not. He criticizes the 'us vs. them' mentality that some Muslims advocate against the West. He also advocates having Muslim scholars in the West who are versed in Western mores, and not relying on religious studies that come only from the Islamic world. He wants more Islamic philosophy written in European languages. He thinks that European Muslims' reliance on an "external" Islam, leaves them feeling inadequate and impure, which is one of the main causes of alienation from European culture.

He believes that most Muslims are quietly integrating quite successfully to European society. The main problems for the community arise from those who are ignorant of Western society.

He also worries about Western perceptions of Islam. He says the muslim community has been bad at representing itself, and that has allowed westerners to confuse Islam with cultural traits, as well as political problems. For example, he believes that many notionally Islamic countries have governments which betray the principles of Islam.

He believes that the Muslim leadership in Europe is partially responsible for the sometimes shaky relations between Muslims and the rest of society. He believes that they have been overly defensive, and have not properly explained the philosophy of Islam, nor have they engaged sufficiently with non-Muslim society.

He stresses that a Muslim's freedom of religion is very extensive in Europe, and that permission for "un-Islamic" activities, such as drinking, or pre-marital sex, does not compel Muslims to do anything. Only a few situations warrant the invocation of the "clause of conscience" which allows a Muslim to make it clear that certain actions or behaviours are in contradiction of their faith. These are, participating in a war whose sole desire is for power or control; fighting or killing a fellow Muslim, unless their attitude is unjust or wrong; participating in an unlawful transaction (such as purchasing insurance, burial, incorrect slaughter). He stresses that in such cases the situation should be carefully analysed, and the degree of compulsion considered. Only non-violence and negotiation are acceptable in these cases.

According to a MEMRI translation of an Egyptian television programme, Ramadan has written that, "the destruction of the State of Israel is currently impossible in practical terms" and that he, "supports the idea of 'one state' for both Jews and Arabs... as a step along the way to a solution." ^[8]

Politically, Ramadan was opposed to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

He has condemned suicide bombing and violence as a tactic. ^[9]

He was opposed to the French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools.

Ramadan wrote that the muslim response to Pope Benedict XVI's speech on Islam was disproportionate, and was encouraged by reactionary Islamic regimes in order to distract their populations, and that it did not improve the position of Islam in the world. ^[10]

[edit] Oumma.com Article controversy

Ramadan wrote an article entitled, Les (nouveaux) intellectuels communautaires, which French newspapers Le Monde and Le Figaro refused to publish. Oumma.com did eventually publish it. In the article he criticizes a number of Jewish intellectuals and figures such as Alexandre Adler, Alain Finkielkraut, Bernard-Henri Lévy, André Glucksmann and Bernard Kouchner for allegedly abandonning universal human rights, and giving special status to the defence of Israel. He argued that support for the invasion of Iraq was justified as a means of defending Israel. He also criticized Paul Wolfowitz whom he called a notable Zionist. [1]

Those he criticized defended themselves and criticized him, accusing him of anti-semitism and using inflammatory language.[2]

[edit] Critical Reception

One of the most frequent charges against Ramadan is that he says different things to different audiences; one thing to radical Islamists or young Muslims, and another to the western media or academia. He has said, "I have often been accused of this 'double discourse', and to those who say it, I say -- bring the evidence. I am quite clear in what I say. The problem is that many people don't want to hear it, particularly in the media. Most of the stories about me are completely untrue: journalists simply repeat black propaganda from the internet without any corroboration, and it just confirms what they want to believe. Words are used out of context. There is double-talk, yes, but there is also double-hearing. That is what I want to challenge." ^[9]

Caroline Fourest analysed Tariq Ramadan's 15 books, 1,500 pages of interviews, and approximately 100 recordings, ^[11] and concludes "Ramadan is a war leader," and the "political heir of his grandfather," Hassan al-Banna, stating that his discourse is, "often just a repetition of the discourse that Banna had at the beginning of the 20th century in Egypt," and that he, "presents [al-Banna] as a model to be followed." ^[2]

Writing in an Opinion piece in The Weekly Standard, Olivier Guitta claims that the former head of the French antiracisim organization SOS Racisme, "Malek Boutih (an Arab Muslim), told Ramadan after talking with him at length: ‘Mr. Ramadan, you are a fascist.’"^[2]

In 2004, during a television debate (100 Minutes pour convaincre) with the then French minister of interior affairs, Nicolas Sarkozy, he refused to condemn the application of hudud laws - which are controversial due to their punishments, and the persecution of those with dissident views on Islam (see Prof. Nasr Abu Zayd), instead proposing a 'moratorium'.

Ramadan's stance is that Western dictates regarding the hudud will only futher alienate Muslims, and instead bolster the position of those who support such punishments. Ramadan has voiced his opposition to all forms of capital punishment but believes the Muslim world itself should remove the laws that allow the practice, rather than have the Western world impose its will on it. He has said "Muslim populations are convincing themselves of the Islamic character of these practices through a rejection of the west, on the basis of a simplistic reasoning that stipulates that 'the less western, the more Islamic'." ^[12]

Other critics, such as Daniel Pipes have alleged that Ramadan is equivocal in his condemnation of suicide bombing, because he says that such actions are "contextually explainable". ^[13] Pipes is also suspicious of various alleged links to Islamic fundamentalists, among whom he allegedly held a great deal of influence. ^[14] Still other critics point out Ramadan's statements in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks called into question Osama bin Laden's involvement, and stated that no Muslims benefited from the attacks, a line also taken by some Islamic fundamentalists. ^[15]

According to a French intelligence agent quoted in Le Nouvel Observateur, Ramadan's long-term goal, "...is to bring about the legal extinction of the state of Israel through a major Muslim lobbying campaign, first in Europe, then in the United States."^[16]

The charge of anti-Semitism and some of the double talk accusations are vehemently denied by Ramadan who attributes the charges to misinterpretation and an unfamiliarity with his writings. ^[17] He counters Guitta's criticism of his response to September 11th by saying that, he also said “The probability [of bin Laden’s guilt] is large, but some questions remain unanswered … But whoever they are, bin Laden or others, it is necessary to find them and that they be judged,” and that the interview was conducted less than two weeks after the attack when no evidence was publicly available. ^[18] Two days after the attacks he had published an open letter, exhorting Muslims to condemn the attacks and the attackers, and not to "hide behind conspiracy theories."^[19] He also denies contacts with terrorists or other Islamic fundamentalists.

From 2000 to 2002, Tariq Ramadan was frequently lauded in Western media as a Muslim reformer, and even dubbed the Muslim "Martin Luther" by Paul Donnelly at Salon.com. ^[20]

Bill Clinton invited Ramadan to speak at a couple of events in the United States. He is an advisor to various governments, including the UK and EU, and has worked with Scotland Yard on various investigations.

Many of his works have been greeted with some enthusiasm by the academic community for their liberalising and to some extent rationalising tendencies.^[21]

[edit] Books

[edit] Written by Tariq Ramadan

Western Muslims and the future of Islam ISBN 0-19-517111-X
To Be a European Muslim ISBN 0-86037-300-2
Islam, the West, and the Challenge of Modernity ISBN 0-86037-311-8

[edit] About Tariq Ramadan

Faut-il faire taire Tariq Ramadan ?, Aziz Zemouri; ISBN 2-84187-647-0
Frère Tariq : Discours, stratégie et méthode de Tariq Ramadan, Caroline Fourest; ISBN 2-246-66791-7
Le sabre et le coran, Tariq Ramadan et les frères musulmans à la conquéte de l'Europe, Paul Landau, 2005, ISBN 2-268-05317-2
Lionel Favrot : Tariq Ramadan dévoilé - hors série de Lyon Mag'.
Jack-Alain Léger, Tartuffe fait Ramadan, Denoël, 2003,
À contre CORAN, livre de Jack-Alain Léger, mars 2004, collection « Hors de moi », éditions HC