A Man with Qualities

He is one of the most outspoken intellectuals today in Europe who is dismissed as too modern by the orthodox and too traditional by secularists. Meet Tariq Ramadan, 47, a cult figure with his good looks and gift of the gab
Mehru Jaffer Vienna

Tariq Ramadan, 47, is interesting because he is one of those rare people who tries very hard to be the change that he wants to see in the world. And unlike his grandfather Hassan al-Banna and founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928, the professor of Islamic studies favours secular education for Europe's Muslims. And this non-conformist clarity is bound to spill over into theory and praxis this new year, across 2010, as yet another annual new journey of a new and vibrant debate in Europe.

Grandfather al Banna wanted a ban on all western influences in education and called for religious education in Egypt. Ramadan explains that al Banna was a freedom fighter and intrinsically anti- colonial. His was propagating spiritual resistance against colonialism, but he also believed in a British style parliamentary system for a free Egypt.

Ramadan's Swiss wife has converted to Islam and their children attend government schools. He is often accused of trying to impose Islam on the West. He, however, begs to differ. To be engaged in a reasoned but traditional approach to life is no crime, he says.

This student of French literature, German philosophy and lover of Fyodor Dostoevsky has discovered that Islam offers values as universal as the European Enlightenment. For him, his religious practice and Islamic identity is very precious. It keeps him grounded in morals and ethics so familiar to him from childhood.

The Geneva-born Ramadan professes that his faith is Islam, his home Switzerland and his culture European. He chooses to protect his Muslim identity, he respects the western constitutional structure and he is loyal to the country he belongs.

He is European and yes he is also Muslim. He does not tire of repeating that there is no contradiction in being European and Muslim on a continent that seems to suffer from a serious bout of Islamophobia.

His appeal to fellow Europeans is to first ask themselves, do they really practise European values? If they do, then they should let others live and dress the way they want to.

Ramadan is often asked to advise the European Union and governments on Islamic matters. When the French authorities wanted to know if the wearing of the burqa is a religious duty or a means of oppressing women, Ramadan replied that there is no obligation to wear the burqa in Islam and there are men who do force their wives to wear the burqa against their will. Ramadan's advice to the French is that the country should let citizens follow the rules of modesty if they want to.

In the spirit of universal human rights, he promotes the right of Muslim women to wear the veil on campus in France - if they so wish.

For secular Europeans to try and force spirituality and religion out of the life of other Europeans is not the spirit of European Enlightenment. Ramadan would like European Muslims to integrate but it is up to the individual to define what that means. He insists that Muslims should abide by the law of the land but no law should be used to force a human being to do anything against his will. He demands the right of Muslims in Europe to practice their faith and tradition.

Simultaneously, Ramadan believes that religious principles revealed in the Quran are universal and he angers the orthodox by insisting on a reinterpretation of the scriptures. 

The message of his religion, he says, is justice but he lives in a world order that is unjust. His resistance is against injustice. He is critical of the northern model of development that has forced the majority in the world to remain poor and deprived.