September 1, 2004
THE NEW YORK TIMES (OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR)
Too Scary for the Classroom?
By TARIQ RAMADAN
Geneva — Right now, I am supposed to be in South Bend, Ind., beginning
my term as a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame.
After all, my petition for a work/residence visa in the United States
was granted in May, after meticulous clearance procedures. But nine days
before I was to move, I received an urgent message from the American Embassy:
my visa had been revoked. If I wished to reapply, I was told, I was welcome
to do so; but no reasons for the revocation were given. Classes have now
begun at Notre Dame, while my wife and children and I wait here in a barren
apartment. The State Department's reasoning remains a mystery. For some
time I have been considered a controversial figure in France; but this
was well known by the American government when I received the visa in
the spring. I have been accused of engaging in "double talk" - that is,
of delivering a gentle message in French and English, and a radical, violent
one in Arabic. My detractors have tried to demonstrate that I have links
with extremists, that I am an anti-Semite and that I despise women. Repeatedly
I have denied these assertions, and asked my critics to show evidence
from my writings and public comments. Their failure to do so has had little
effect: I am repeatedly confronted with magazine articles and Web postings
repeating these accusations as facts and fabricating new ones. And now
the web of lies has spread across the Atlantic Ocean. The most damaging
accusations were in an article in Vanity Fair claiming that I had written
the preface to a volume of essays that endorsed the stoning of women caught
in adultery. Actually, the book condemned the practice as un-Islamic.
I admit that my intellectual project is inherently controversial. My goal
is to foster communities within the Islamic world that are seeking a path
between their often bitter experience with some American and European
policies on the one hand, and the unacceptable violence of Islamic extremists
on the other. I understand, share and publicly discuss many of the Muslim
criticisms of "Western" governments, including the deleterious worldwide
effects of unregulated American consumerism. I find current American policies
toward the Middle East misguided and counterproductive, a position I believe
I share with millions of Americans and Europeans. Yet I have also criticized
many so-called Islamic governments, including that of Saudi Arabia, for
their human rights violations and offenses against human dignity, personal
freedom and pluralism. My more specific stances have also raised hackles
in France. For example, I strongly oppose France's new law banning female
students from wearing head scarves, although on general human rights grounds
rather than because I am a Muslim. (I condemn the kidnapping of two French
journalists in Iraq and think the French government should not submit
to the blackmail of the kidnappers, who say they will kill the captives
unless the ban is overturned.) I was also accused of anti-Semitism after
I criticized some leading French intellectuals - including Bernard-Henri
Lévy and Alain Finkielkraut - for abandoning France's noble traditions
of universalism and personal freedom because of their anxiety over Muslim
immigration and their support for Israel. The fact is, in the more than
20 books, 700 articles and 170 audio tapes I have produced, one will find
no double talk, but a consistent set of themes, and an insistence that
my fellow Muslims unequivocally condemn radical views and acts of extremism.
Just days after 9/11, I gave an interview calling on Muslims to condemn
the attacks and to acknowledge that the terrorists betrayed the Islamic
message. I have denounced anti-Semitism, criticizing Muslims who do not
differentiate between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a political
issue and the unacceptable rejection of individual Jews because of their
religion and heritage. I have called for a spiritual reformation that
will lead to an Islamic feminism. I reject every kind of mistreatment
of women, including domestic violence, forced marriage and female circumcision.
My opponents also accuse me of being the grandson of Hassan al-Banna,
the founder of the radical Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt. I plead
guilty to this charge. My response is: am I to be judged by the words
and deeds of an ancestor? Those critics obsessed with my genealogy ought
to examine my intellectual pedigree, which includes advanced study of
Descartes, Kant and Nietzsche, among others. They should examine the time
I have spent working in poverty-stricken areas with the Dalai Lama, Mother
Teresa and the Brazilian human-rights leader Dom Helder Camara, as well
as with countless other Christians and Jews, agnostics and atheists. For
20 years, I have dedicated myself to studying Islamic scripture, Western
and Eastern philosophies and societies, and built an identity that is
truly Western and truly Muslim. I make no apologies for taking a critical
look at both Islam and the West; in doing so I am being true to my faith
and to the ethics of my Swiss citizenship. I believe Muslims can remain
faithful to their religion and be able, from within pluralistic and democratic
societies, to oppose all injustices. I also feel it is vital that Muslims
stop blaming others and indulging in victimization. We are responsible
for reforming our societies. On the other hand, blindly supporting American
or European policies should not be the only acceptable political stance
for Muslims who seek to be considered progressive and moderate. In the
Arab and Islamic world, one hears a great deal of legitimate criticism
of American foreign policy. This is not to be confused with a rejection
of American values. Rather, the misgivings are rooted in five specific
grievances: the feeling that the United States role in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is unbalanced; the longstanding American support of authoritarian
regimes in Islamic states and indifference to genuine democratic movements
(particularly those that have a religious bent); the belief that Washington's
policies are driven by short-term economic and geostrategic interests;
the willingness of some prominent Americans to tolerate Islam-bashing
at home; and the use of military force as the primary means of establishing
democracy. Instead of war, the Arab and Muslim worlds seek evidence of
a lasting and substantive commitment by the United States to policies
that would advance public education, equitable trade and mutually profitable
economic and cultural partnerships. For this to occur, America first has
to trust Muslims, genuinely listen to their hopes and grievances, and
allow them to develop their own models of pluralism and democracy. Simply
sponsoring a few Arabic TV and radio channels will not lead to real changes
in Muslims' perceptions. Instead, America's only chance of making peace
with the Islamic world depends on consistency between words and actions,
and the development of cross-cultural trust over time. I believe Western
Muslims can make a critical difference in the Muslim majority world. To
do this, we must become full, independent Western citizens, working with
others to address social, economic and political problems. However, we
can succeed only if Westerners do not cast doubt on our loyalty every
time we criticize Western governments. Not only do our independent voices
enrich Western societies, they are the only way for Western Muslims to
be credible in Arab and Islamic countries so that we can help bring about
freedom and democracy. That is the message I advocate. I do not understand
how it can be judged as a threat to America. Tariq Ramadan is the author,
most recently, of "Western Muslims and the Future of Islam."
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