Tariq Ramadan’s new book, “Western Muslims and The Future of Islam”, has triggered some unprecedented worldwide attention from all kinds of people. Named one of Time’s 100 Most Important Innovators for the twenty-first century, the Swiss-born grandson of Hassan Al- Banna has written a book which should be required reading for both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Tariq Ramadan studied philosophy and French literature at the University of Geneva and after completing two MA degrees, continued with a PhD dealing with suffering in Nietzsche’s philosophy and later another in Islamic Studies concerned with contemporary Islamic reformist thinkers from Jamal El-Din-Afghani to Hassan Al-Banna. He currently lives in Switzerland where he is Professor of Philosophy at the College of Geneva and Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Fribourg. He has written some 20 books, including one entitled To Be a European Muslim.
He acknowledges that writing his new book was not easy. Following 9/11, Ramadan traveled extensively, attending meetings and conferences where he underlined the decisive role Western Muslims should play in the evolution of Islam and how they should engage in the debate between civilizations. Although he recognizes that Huntington’s thesis on the “clash of civilizations” has been much criticized, his many visits to the Muslim world and to Europe and America indicate that if the clash is not a reality, the ingredients that could lead to it are very present in current mentalities. “In my view, the future dialogue between civilizations will not take place at geopolitical frontiers between the West and Islam but rather, paradoxically, within European and American societies. Here again Western Muslims will bear a heavy responsibility for demanding that the debate be opened and it be conducted at a serious and deep level that requires listening to, and exchanging with, their fellow-citizens. They may be able to avoid a breakdown and help the emergence of a path to fair dialogue and reconciliation, “says Ramadan.
The first part of Western Muslims and The Future of Islam is technical; it discusses the fundamentals of jurisprudence and comes up with new proposals to counter the traditional divide between Muslim and non-Muslim. The second part is concerned with the fields within which one must work: spirituality, education, social participation, political involvement, economic alternatives and interfaith relations.
Throughout the book, Ramadan stresses the need to refer to a single Islam even though many orientalists and sociologists speak of a variety of Islams: “My purpose here: to understand the universality of the message of Islam and to highlight the means we are given to help us live in our own time, in the West, with respect for ourselves and for others. The approach I propose is anchored in Islamic tradition and amplified from within it: in this sense, it is both deeply classical and radically new...Western Muslims, because they are undergoing the experience of becoming established in new societies, have no choice but to go back to the beginning and study their points of reference in order to delineate and distinguish what, in their religion, is unchangeable from what is subject to change and to measure from the inside, what they have achieved and what they have lost by being in the West, “ he wrote.
Having been brought up in Europe, Tariq Ramadan is well aware that it is difficult to stick to one’s Islamic principles and to cope with new realities where religion is secondary or even a non-issue. He remains optimistic, however, as he mentions the coming of a “silent” revolution. A growing number of young people and intellectuals are looking for a way to live in harmony with their faith while participating in the societies that are theirs whether they like them or not: “French, English, German, Canadian and American Muslims, women as well as men, are constructing a ‘Muslim personality’ that will soon surprise many of their fellow citizens. Far from media attention, going through the risks of a process of maturation that is necessarily slow, they are drawing the shape of European and American Islam : faithful to the principles of Islam, dressed in European and American cultures and definitely rooted in Western societies. This grassroots movement will exert considerable influence over worldwide Islam: in view of the globalization and Westernization of the world, these are the same questions as are already being raised from Morocco to Indonesia.”
There is an African proverb: When people begin throwing stones at a tree, it means the tree is ready to bear fruit. This is exactly the reality. People here look at Muslims and say, “We thought they were going to forget everything about their religion and become totally assimilated.”
But now European and Western Muslims are saying “No, we are not ready to forget who we are in order to become who you want us to be,” explains Ramadan. He points out that Muslims in the West are living in free spaces, confronting new challenges and still looking for answers from the East since Muslim scholars are not in Europe. He underlines the importance for Muslims in the West of building a critical mind and coming up with new answers: “To remain Muslim in the West is a test of faith, of conscience, and of intelligence, but the only way to deal with it is to stand up and get involved,” he concludes.