Tariq Ramadan (1962-)

1. Tariq Ramadan (1962-)

2. Presented by Nurul Huda Ismail Mira Hazreen Mohamedon Dalila Nazahah Mohmad Fuzi Norlizah Zahimi Edited by Dr. Md. Mahmudul Hasan International Islamic University Malaysia 2010

3. His full name is Tariq Said Ramadan. • Born in Geneva, Switzerland on 26 August 1962. • He is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna. • Widely known as a Swiss Muslim academic and theologian. • Being born and raised in Europe, he believes that Muslims in Europe have to establish a new ‘European Islam’ and emphasizes the necessity for their engagement in European society. • He emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of western Muslims. • His book To Be A European Muslim:a study of Islamic sources in the European context (1999) attempts to bridge the gap between being a Muslim and being a European.

4. Education • He graduated a year early and studied philosophy, literature and social sciences at the University of Geneva. • Then he studied philosophy and French literature at the Masters level at the same university. • He completed his PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies. • Lastly, he studied Arabic and Islam at Al Azhar Islamic University in Cairo, Egypt. • There he received one-on-one intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars.

5. U.S. Visa Revocation • In February 2004, Tariq Ramadan accepted the tenured position of Luce Professor of Religion 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 • However, in late July 2004, his visa was revoked by the State Department and he was forced to resign the position. • In September 2006, U.S. consular officer has denied Dr. Tariq Ramadan's visa application.

6. The government alleged that from 1998 to 2002, Ramadan had donated around $1,300 to a Swiss-based charity that gave money to Palestinians. • However, on January 20, 2010 the American State Department has decided, in a document signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to lift the ban that prohibited Ramadan from entering the US. • They claimed that they wanted to enable it to encourage a global debate.

7. Tariq Ramadan’s Ideas • “I am Swiss by nationality, Muslim by religion, Egyptian by memory” • According to the Time magazine, he is among the world’s 100 greatest thinkers. • According to Prospect poll, some see him as a Martin Luther King Jr. figure. • He has spent about 20 years on his project to promote the idea of a compatible European-Muslim identity.

8. He espouses the concept of "Psychological integration“ that encourages Muslims and non-Muslims to accept that their values might be different from those of people around them, but that they are still part of one society. • "We need an intellectual revolution. First it's about education. It's about self-confidence. Don't look at yourself as part of a marginalised minority. At the moment, there is a 'protect yourself' mentality among Muslims. But the best way to be respected is to give something to your society. To give value and presence." • "We need a new understanding and a new presentation of the fundamentals. And I will teach, though as much I hope to learn from, Oxford's students." (http://www.tariqramadan.com/?page=pdf&id_article=440)

9. “To tell you the truth, Islam is controversial, so to be an outspoken Muslim is just to accept being controversial.” “There is no religion without culture, there is no culture without religion but religion is not culture.” —Tariq Ramadan in Al-Jazeera Riz Khan Talk Show

10. His Works • The Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism (2010) • What I Believe (2009) • Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation (2009) • In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad (2007) • Western Muslims and the Future of Islam (2004) • Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity (2001) • To Be a European Muslim (1999)

11. What I Believe (2009) • Ramadan attempts to set the record straight, laying out the basic ideas in clear and accessible prose. • He describes this as a work of clarification, directed at ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists, and others who are curious (or skeptical) about his positions. • He tries to get past the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding to speak directly, from the heart, to his Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike. • He calls on Western Muslims to escape the mental, social, cultural, and religious ghettos they have created for themselves and become full partners in the democratic societies in which they live. • And, he also calls to recognize our Muslim neighbours as citizens with rights and responsibilities.

12. Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation (2009) • This book goes beyond the adaptation to envision bold and creative solutions to transform the present and the future of our societies. • Ramadan argues that radical reform demands not only the equal contributions of scholars of both the text and the context, but the critical engagement and creative imagination of the Muslim masses. • This proposal for radical reform dramatically shifts the center of gravity of authority. It is bound to provoke controversy and spark debate among Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

13. Western Muslims and the Future of Islam (2004) • Ramadan’s goal is to create an independent Western Islam, anchored not in the traditions of Islamic countries but in the cultural reality of the West. • He begins by offering a fresh reading of Islamic sources, interpreting them for a Western context and demonstrating how a new understanding of universal Islamic principles can open the door to integration into Western societies. • He then shows how these principles can be put to practical uses. • He contends that Muslims can — indeed must — be faithful to their principles while participating fully in the civic life of Western secular societies. • This book offers a striking vision of a new Muslim Identity, one which rejects once and for all the idea that Islam must be defined in opposition to the West.

14. His Influences • He was named by the Time magazine as one of the 100 most important innovators of the 21st century. Tariq Ramadan occupies a unique place among leading Islamic and Western thinkers.   • An online poll provided by the American Foreign Policy magazine in 2009 placed Ramadan on the 49th spot in a list of the world’s top 100 contemporary intellectuals.

15. The Prophet of Moderation: Tariq Ramadan's Quest to Reclaim Islam (2007)by Jonathan Laurence • Ramadan has made himself indispensable both to religious reform in Islam and to the political integration of Muslims in the West. • His antiestablishment approach has led nervous officials — in Cairo and Riyadh as well as in Washington (and, temporarily, Paris) — to banish him from their territories. 

16. Cont. • Ramadan is well placed to embark on a much more ambitious agenda: to bring Islam itself into line with Western mores. 

17. Tariq Ramadan’s THE REAL MUHAMMAD • ‘Ramadan's Prophet Muhammad is a humble and compassionate figure, a sponge for learning. He is thoroughly devoted to God, but no fanatic: "Woe to those who exaggerate," Muhammad tells his followers at one point. "Moderation, moderation!" He is a discreet preacher who knows that honey is more effective than vinegar. He wins his followers' hearts with his flexibility: there are no forced conversions, and Muslims may even leave the faith if they find they do not like it. He welcomes the incorporation of local cultural practices, even singing at a wedding (which sharia does not permit), as an "enrichment." At another point, he gives a free meal to someone who has broken the rules of the Ramadan fast — and he does it with a smile.’

18. He uses the Prophet's example to take aim at regimes in the Muslim world that do not allow the practice of other religions or the full participation of women in society. • And because of this, he was banned in some of the Muslim countries. • In Ramadan's telling, Muhammad's first wife, Khadijah — the first convert (revert) to Islam and a female presence who could almost always be found alongside her husband — makes a striking case against gender segregation. Muhammad would repeatedly insist before accepting a dinner invitation, "What about her?"

19. Tariq Ramadan is one of the few European Muslim leaders with enough legitimacy to move both "sides" toward a frank exchange on conflicting elements of this identity. Regardless of how one judges Ramadan himself, Muslims and the West will have a hard time reaching a lasting accommodation without more thinkers like him.

20. Islamic Feminism • “Thoughts are not genetically inherited traits. I admire my grandfather [Hassan al-Banna] for his anti-colonial fight against the British. He was very involved in education for girls and women. His five daughters — my aunts and my mother — all attended university. And the organization he founded was very progressive for its time.” • “We need an Islamic feminism. Traditional Islam views the women merely as mother, wife, daughter or sister. She has obligations and rights in this capacity. But we must come to a point at which we treat the woman as an independent individual with a right to self-determination, as someone who can run her own life without coercion....”

21. Thank You 