Tariq Ramadan is a man who attracts a wide range of opinions. He is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and accusations that he was a supporter of terrorism led to him being banned from the US. The accusations were not based on solid grounds and the ban was lifted last year although books continue to be published in both France and America denouncing Ramadan for ties to extremists. The latest of these is Paul Berman’s The Flight of the Intellectuals which claims links between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Nazis.
But being the subject of attack by neoconservatives does not make Ramadan a hero in certain parts of the Muslim world. Hillary Clinton may have lifted the ban on travel to America but it remains firmly in place on travel to six Muslim nations, including Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. When I interviewed him recently in his rooms at St Anthony’s College, Oxford, Ramadan told me he had received a great deal of critical correspondence following an article in the Washington Post saying it might not be such a good idea to develop an Islamic centre close to Ground Zero.
Ramadan has just published a plea for pluralism in his new book The Quest for Meaning and it was about this that I questioned him.
In the book Ramadan quotes the Qur’an as teaching that diversity is God’s will. How does he reconcile that with the Muslim creed that there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet?
“This is the essence of Islam. There is one God and there is a last revelation coming with the last prophet. But what is taught through the oneness of God and by the last messenger is the existence of one humanity with a diversity of religions and cultures. In order to respect others we do not have to neglect our own convictions. You do not gain a sense of universality and oneness with other people by neglecting your own convictions. It is in the name of my belief that I respect the beliefs of others.
“Today we have the dogmatism of the sceptics who say that if you believe you cannot be open minded. But you can be as dogmatic with your doubts as some people are with their beliefs. I am a believer and I try to respect the beliefs of others and this is part of the teaching of Islam. This is also in the Christian tradition and the Jewish tradition. For me Islam is the final revelation but it tells me to accept diversity and see it as a challenge to arrogance.”
Ramadan says there are many roads up the same mountain. This is very similar to the position adopted by John Hick. Some of the criticisms directed to Hick may apply to Ramadan. How does he know there is one mountain or that all roads lead to the same destination? Isn’t there a concealed exclusivism here?
“I am not reducing our quest for meaning to one metaphor. I’m not saying that I know what is at the top of the mountain. You can also use the image of the desert, which is an open horizon without a summit. It is very important not to see that in the search for meaning we are all heading to point which we really do not know. I believe that the answer is that there is only one God but there are other people who believe that the answer is a very different one.
“In Jewish, Christian and Muslim mystical traditions use is made of the image of the desert because the horizon is infinite. We are on a quest but we do not know where it will lead us. There is always a question. The question is the summit. The question is the desert.”
In his book Ramadan makes use of a Paul Coelho’s novel The Alchemist. A man leaves Andalusia for Egypt in search of treasure. He fails to find it there but when he returns home his experiences in Egypt help him to find treasure in Andalusia. How have Ramadan’s experiences outside Islam deepened his faith as a Muslim?
“At the end of a spiritual journey, you come back to your heart. But you come back a different person and that is why the journey is important. My journey has taught me three things. First of all it has taught me humility. I have met some many impressive people. I spent weeks with the Dalai Lama. I also spent weeks with Helder Camara who worked with the poor people of Recife. This taught me the importance of love and liberation.”
In response to this reply I suggest that love and liberation have been two important emphases in Ramadan’s writing. His life of Mohammed stressed his teaching about and practice of love, not an emphasis to be found in some other books about the Prophet. Does Ramadan see love as more important than obedience?
“This comes from my life and from interfaith dialogue. When I hear Christians talking about love I realise that this is also there in my religion but Muslims have been too concerned to interpret Islam as being about obedience and rules.”
It is estimated that 20 million Muslims now live in Europe. Are we going to get a European Islam that is faithful to tradition but expresses the inner meaning of Islam in a European way?
“European Islam is already here. But it is a long historical process. It is normal for people in a new environment to first think about rules, protection and identity. But if you look at Muslim students rather than at the poorer people you can see them taking an interest in spirituality. Educated Muslims in Europe are going deeper and searching for the essence of Islam. Growing up in a world where things were just forbidden, they ask ‘Why?’ and want to know reasons. We are going through some natural tensions but there could be a good outcome’.”
Comparisons are often drawn between Muslims in Britain and Irish Catholics. Irish Catholics today have by and large adopted the apathetic attitude to religion of the native English. Will this happen to Muslims?
“I think that it will. We are now struggling with perceptions of ‘otherness’ but if you look at facts and figures you will see Muslims making their way in academia, the arts and the professions and it is only a question of time before their religious practice is similar to that of other faith groups in the West.”
Olivier Roy has argued that young Western Muslims want to abandon their culture heritage from Pakistan or Morocco or Algeria but to cling even more firmly to what is universal in Islam, to be part of the umma. Does Ramadan agree with this?
“Yes and No. Young Muslims want something that is less connected to a specific culture that has roots in Pakistan or elsewhere and is deeper in its religious essence but they also realise that they have to come to terms with their European culture. I disagree with Roy that young Muslims are coming to a globalised Islam. They want to align Islam with the culture in which they live so you have American Islam and British Islam – Islamic as to the principles, British as to the culture.
“I do not agree with those people who say Muslims can’t integrate. They are not looking at the realities. Such people project their own fears and ideas onto Muslims and don’t look at Muslims.”
Critics of multiculturalism argue that it puts one label on people calling them ‘Muslim’ or ‘African’ for example when in fact we are all shaped by many different cultures. As well as being Muslim someone might be gay and a socialist. Does Ramadan see dangers in a simplistic multiculturalism?
“There are differences. My point is that we have to learn to live with diversity, both within ourselves and between ourselves and others. Someone like Amatya Sen wants to emphasise our multiple identities while supporters of multiculturalism like Tariq Madood emphasise the way in which we live in communities. We are citizens but we also belong to communities. The question is whether you allow yourself to be imprisoned by the community. There is no tradition that is static. Traditions are always changing. We must also not let our identity be shaped by fear of the other.”
Ramadan disagrees with Pope Benedict’s call for Europe to rediscover its Christian roots. How strongly would he make the point that Europe’s religious roots are not just Christian?
“The Pope is scared of Europe losing its soul. I understand that. He is facing two challenges – secularism and Islam. I met him when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. I respect him. He is tough and consistent. But he tends to simplify the past. Greek philosophy has not been the only philosophical influence on Europe and Christianity has not been the only religious influence.”
Do we need more dialogue between Christians and Muslims of the kind provoked by the Muslim document A Common Word produced in the wake of the Pope’s Regensberg address. Ramadan welcomes dialogue but is also cautious.
“I was part of the dialogue and went to Rome to discuss A Common Word but when we came to public discussion practical questions came up. The issue of freedom of religion in Muslim nations was raised. Theology and practical questions must go together. I am against the ban on Christian activities in Saudi Arabia but I can do little about it. As I told Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali when we had a debate here in Oxford, don’t put the blame on me if a Muslim ruler oppresses Christians. What you can ask of me is that I take a moral stand against it. But to say you can’t have a mosque here if we can’t get a church there is the wrong way to go.”
In a short but important section of his book Ramadan discusses ‘globalised emotions’ that can be secular as in the case of Princess Diana or Michael Jackson or religious and that can be set in force by signal or trigger events such as a Pastor burning the Qur’an or cartoons published in a Danish newspaper. How do we deal with them?
“Religion and spirituality should help us achieve emotional maturity by teaching us to master our emotions. We have also to learn to be sensitive to others. This is why I said the Islamic centre near Ground Zero should not go ahead. There are plenty of places where mosques should be built in America but not here.”
