Tariq Ramadan, the darling of the world Islamist establishment, is back in Montreal. This time however, the Swiss scholar who usually camouflages his Islamist agenda under the niqab of ambivalent doublespeak, is going to do away with the ambiguity that allows him to escape serious scrutiny.
Until now, Ramadan has cleverly deflected allegations of his affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood by arguing that it was his grandfather, Hassan Albanna who founded the organization, not him, and that he cannot be held responsible for his grandfather’s philosophy or the actions of his father who was also a brotherhood operative.
However, this time Tariq Ramadan is being hosted in Montreal by an organization that makes no secret of its affiliation with the ideology of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood – the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC).
MAC says on its website that its “roots can be traced to the Islamic revival of the early 20th century, culminating in the movement of the Muslim Brotherhood,” and that “MAC adopts and strives to implement Islam . . . as understood in its contemporary context by the late Imam, Hassan Albanna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
One has to marvel at the audacity of MAC to endorse Hassan Albanna and promote his call to jihad and martyrdom. This was a man who claimed, “Jihad is obligatory on every Muslim,” and that martyrdom in the name of Allah is better than life on earth.
According to Ramadan his own ideas are very different from those of the Muslim Brothers. But are they?
The French socialist writer Yves Coleman suggests otherwise. In a recent article Mr. Coleman highlights the Islamist’s doublespeak. He writes:
No matter how one tries to corner Ramadan, like a slippery eel, he manages to slide away from any grip. For example, in 1998 Ramadan wrote a foreword to a collection of fatwas by the Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf al Qaradawi.
According to this book, a husband “has the right to forbid his wife to visit another woman, if he thinks this visit may cause a prejudice to his wife, his children or his marital life,” and a “woman should not take the initiative to talk to men she does not know.” Women are even told that they “should not play with children who are dancing.” The book goes on with themes like, “Should a Muslim woman use a credit card?” Or, “Should she cut her hair without her husband’s authorization?” It also declares abortion illegal.
When Ramadan was asked about this foreword and his “deep respect” for such a reactionary jihadi theologian, his longwinded answer left the reader simply unable to understand him. Ramadan said:
As recent as February this year, the same Sheik Qaradawi published a call to Muslim Canadians through Al-Ummah, the Arabic language monthly magazine in Calgary, to convert non-Muslims to Islam. The magazine carried a message from the newly formed “League of Al Qaradawi disciples” in the Qatari capital Doha. In the message to its followers, the league says:
Well, Tariq Ramadan will get ample opportunity in the future to explain his association with the Muslim Brotherhood, Sheik Qaradawi, and whether he is willing to distance himself from the doctrine of armed jihad of his grandfather which MAC honours in Canada. And while he is at it, perhaps he may want to explain the notion of “blood and corpses” that Qaradawi has asked his followers to prepare for.
Ramadan reflects the new, sophisticated arm of the worldwide Islamist movement, which sees the West as the right place to wage a cultural and intellectual jihad. It preys on Muslim youth who are tired of the old guard – men in beards and long frocks, frothing as they denounce the evil West. The new technique is to undermine the West from within, like termites, with the host society never knowing what hit it until it is too late. The U.K. is one example.
I close with the words of French Muslim journalist Mohamed Sifaoui that every Canadian and Quebecer must pay heed to:
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