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What I Believe
Tariq Ramadan is very much a public figure, named one of Time magazine's most important innovators of the twenty-first century. He is among the leading Islamic thinkers in the West, with a large following around the world. But he has also been a lightning rod for controversy. Indeed, in 2004, Ramadan was prevented from entering the U.S. by the Bush administration and despite two appeals, supported by organizations like the American Academy of Religion and the ACLU, he was barred from the country until spring of 2010, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally lifted the ban.
In What I Believe, Ramadan attempts to set the record straight, laying out the basic ideas he stands for in clear and accessible prose. He describes the book as a work of clarification, directed at ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists, and others who are curious (or skeptical) about his positions. Aware that that he is dealing with emotional issues, Ramadan tries to get past the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding to speak directly, from the heart, to his Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike. In particular, 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. At the same time, he calls for the rest of us to recognize our Muslim neighbors as citizens with rights and responsibilities the same as ours. His vision is of a future in which a shared and confident pluralism becomes a reality at last.
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2009
126 people are currently reading
1778 people want to read
About the author
Tariq Ramadan
107 books1,178 followersTariq Ramadan is the son of Said Ramadan and Wafa Al-Bana, who was the eldest daughter of Hassan al Banna, who in 1928 founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Gamal al-Banna, the liberal Muslim reformer is his great-uncle. His father was a prominent figure in the Muslim Brotherhood and was exiled by Gamal Abdul Nasser[3] from Egypt to Switzerland, where Tariq was born.
Tariq Ramadan studied Philosophy and French literature at the Masters level and holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Geneva. He also wrote a PhD dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche, entitled Nietzsche as a Historian of Philosophy.[4] Ramadan then studied Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt.[5]
He taught at the College de Saussure, a high school in Geneva, Switzerland, and held a lectureship in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg from 1996 to 2003. In October 2005 he began teaching at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship. In 2005 he was a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation.[6][7] In 2007 he successfully applied for the professorship in Islamic studies at the University of Leiden, but then declined to take up the position, citing professional reasons.[8][9] He was also a guest professor of Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam,[10][11][12] till August 2009 when the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed him from his positions as "integration adviser" and professor, stating that the program he chairs on Iran's Press TV, Islam & Life, was "irreconcilable" with his duties in Rotterdam. Ramadan described this move as Islamophobic and politically charged. Beginning September 2009, Ramadan, was appointed to the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University.
Ramadan established the Mouvement des Musulmans Suisses (Movement of Swiss Muslims),which engages in various interfaith seminars. He is an advisor to the EU on religious issues and was sought for advice by the EU on a commission on “Islam and Secularism”.In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the government of the United Kingdom.[3] He is also the President of the Euro-Muslim Network,a Brussels-based think-tank.
He is widely interviewed and has produced about 100 tapes which sell tens of thousands of copies each year
As of 2009, Tariq Ramadan was persona non grata in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia[19] Libya or Syria because of his "criticism of these undemocratic regimes that deny the most basic human rights".
Ramadan is married to a French convert to Islam and they have four children.
Tariq Ramadan studied Philosophy and French literature at the Masters level and holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Geneva. He also wrote a PhD dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche, entitled Nietzsche as a Historian of Philosophy.[4] Ramadan then studied Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Azhar university in Cairo, Egypt.[5]
He taught at the College de Saussure, a high school in Geneva, Switzerland, and held a lectureship in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg from 1996 to 2003. In October 2005 he began teaching at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship. In 2005 he was a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation.[6][7] In 2007 he successfully applied for the professorship in Islamic studies at the University of Leiden, but then declined to take up the position, citing professional reasons.[8][9] He was also a guest professor of Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam,[10][11][12] till August 2009 when the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed him from his positions as "integration adviser" and professor, stating that the program he chairs on Iran's Press TV, Islam & Life, was "irreconcilable" with his duties in Rotterdam. Ramadan described this move as Islamophobic and politically charged. Beginning September 2009, Ramadan, was appointed to the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University.
Ramadan established the Mouvement des Musulmans Suisses (Movement of Swiss Muslims),which engages in various interfaith seminars. He is an advisor to the EU on religious issues and was sought for advice by the EU on a commission on “Islam and Secularism”.In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the government of the United Kingdom.[3] He is also the President of the Euro-Muslim Network,a Brussels-based think-tank.
He is widely interviewed and has produced about 100 tapes which sell tens of thousands of copies each year
As of 2009, Tariq Ramadan was persona non grata in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia[19] Libya or Syria because of his "criticism of these undemocratic regimes that deny the most basic human rights".
Ramadan is married to a French convert to Islam and they have four children.
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June 2, 2010
I have been searching all over the place for this book and when I finally saw it in Kino's KL last weekend, I grabbed it and I went straight home. I finished reading it it one sitting. Time well spent.
If you are even remotely interested about Tariq Ramadan and his views but you're not sure where to start, this is THE book to read. This is basically his manifesto. His beliefs, his stand on the issues that he champions and his core opinions, compressed in a very easily understood volume. He wrote it with the express hope that those who read it will be able to understand his beliefs and views concerning Islam and a host of other things as well.
I am greatly impressed with his views in a lot of the issues that he champions, especially his views on pluralism. I am now really looking forward to read the rest of his works.
If you are even remotely interested about Tariq Ramadan and his views but you're not sure where to start, this is THE book to read. This is basically his manifesto. His beliefs, his stand on the issues that he champions and his core opinions, compressed in a very easily understood volume. He wrote it with the express hope that those who read it will be able to understand his beliefs and views concerning Islam and a host of other things as well.
I am greatly impressed with his views in a lot of the issues that he champions, especially his views on pluralism. I am now really looking forward to read the rest of his works.
August 12, 2010
So, I was feeling kind of lazy. You know that feeling when there's just so much you feel like you should be doing, you freeze up and don't do anything at all for a bit? Yeah, that was me earlier this week. Not even reading was working for me- I seriously resorted to watching back episodes of Gilmore Girls and smirking at Top Chef, people. It was getting dire. Then I remembered I had this little tiny book by Tariq Ramadan to read- entitled, blessedly simply, What I Believe, and that it was due to the library by the end of the week. I positively leaped onto it as my way back to the world of the active and properly enraged against the dying of the light. I'd been meaning to read one of Ramadan's works for awhile- he keeps being referenced in other works I read.
For those not familiar, Ramadan is a Swiss citizen who just so happens to be the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (trigger!), who spent a good part of his early life as a teacher (his dissertation was on Neitzsche) and a school dean, working on solidarity movements in the Third World as well as Europe. When Islamic terrorism became the world's new Big Bad, Ramadan decided that this was the next big challenge of the world and took 20 months off and moved his family to Egypt to complete an intensive (like 5 am-11 pm intensive) course in Islamic studies so that he could be qualified to be involved in the conversation. He has since tried to, in his words: "stand up for my religion, explain it, and above all, show that we have so much in common with Judaism and Christianity but also with the values advocated by countless humanists, atheists and agnostics." He's been banned from both conservative Muslim countries and the US (Bush administration revoked his visa in 2004, nine days before he was due to move to Indiana to take up a professorship at Notre Dame, we just allowed him to come back to the country this year). He continually gets called "controversial" by people who says he employs "doublespeak" (ie, saying one thing to Muslim audiences and another to Western audiences), neither fully Western nor "only" a Muslim. He says he is Swiss by nationality, Egyptian by memory, European by culture, universalist by principle and Moroccan and Mauritanian by adoption.
In other words- he's exactly the sort of guy I can root for. Which was going to make it even easier to get into this book. And he was going to make it super easy for me as a reviewer. His simple title gave way to a similarly straightforward introduction that told me exactly what he wanted this book to be.: "This book is a work of clarification, a deliberately accessible presentation of the basic ideas I have been defending for more than twenty years. It is intended for those who have little time to spare: ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists... Rather than entering my name in a web search (and coming up with the million links that mainly report what others have written about me) or being content with the so-called free virtual encyclopedias that are in fact so biased (like Wikipedia, where the factual errors and partisan readings are astounding), I give readers this opportunity to read me in the original and simply get direct access to my thought... Being an introductory work, it may not suffice to convey the complexity of a thought (which may moreover have evolved and gained in density in the course of time) but it will at least, I hope, help start an open, thorough, critical debate. This is greatly needed."
Fair enough, dude. No arguments here. Seems reasonable enough, definitely not "controversial." The sort of platitude that I think everyone has to at least pretend to agree with even if they don't like you personally. Just trying to ease people into what can be, as you say yourself, a very emotional, irrational topic that scares everyone on all sides. Fools rush in, and all that.
Here's my problem with this book: The entire thing is a platitude that everyone can agree with. It's the Little Platitude that Could- unrelenting, endless, monotononous and boring. Honestly, the book could just have easily been titled: "Why I Am Not A Terrorist Nor A Subversive Secret Imperial Agent Come For Your Souls! (... but I will take your abuse for the cause!)" (Okay, maybe it wouldn't have been just as easy to title it that.)
Look, I get it. Ramadan has been under pretty ridiculous attack for a good long time, from many very different people. I'm sure that gets wearing- so much so that you write a whole book just to get people to leave you alone. But Good Lord- for someone who has a lot of attention paid to him, you sure say some pretty useless things. Ramadan takes on pretty much the whole gamut of "Islamic" related issues that people care about in Western public discourse and clarifies what he thinks about all of them- communalism, multiculturalism, identity crisis (and multiple identities), different types of Muslims, dialogue between faiths, women's rights and the veil, extremism. I'd go through it all, but every single issue says the same thing in the end.:
Islam has a lot in common with other religions. Islam has different interpretations- we're not all terrorists. Western Muslims can be citizens of democracies and Muslims at the same time- there's nothing contradictory in that. Muslims are people too- and we're not just Muslims. Sometimes people make different choices than you and you have to respect that. The West is having its own identity crisis and projects ridiculous things on Muslim populations out of fear. Let's all communicate better, understand each other better, and let's make sure there's some room for communities to come together just as people rather than as "Muslim" or "Christian" or "immigrant' or "native" dialogue. Then let's build a campfire and sing kumbaya!
... yeah. He pretty much just repeats that for 120 pages. I fell asleep like four times reading this. I can only listen to the man piously repeat the same crap about us all loving each other for who we are and seeing beyond our differences to how much we have in common and coming together as a community beyond our divisions (but still celebrating diversity!) without any practical suggestions for so long. Who doesn't know this already? And when it comes with his very high opinion of himself, casting himself in the right in every situation, and some pretty dodgy writing to boot, my interest continues to decline. And he doesn't even really engage with the criticisms of his work that much- mostly just to say, here's the criticism (presented in a way as to make it seem bad), and here's two sentences about how I really feel- moving on. I found it deeply frustrating.
One caveat on this verdict: I did like one section very much. There's a part in the book where he talks about policies of "integration" directed towards "immigrant populations". He points out the very true fact that many of these "immigrants" are now fifth generation citizens of their countries and have never been to their "country of origin", have nothing much to do with it, and yet are still being demanded to "integrate." One of my favorite parts expressed something along the lines of: This is "Western now". These people live here. They are part of the story- they are not "foreign". This is French now, German now, etc. You have to make room for this. "Integration" is an ignorant, irrelevant, and offensive word. I really liked the idea of "post integration"- ie, that it is time to move on and solve other problems. "Islamizing" social issues is a cop out that will do nothing. Just because the majority of the population who is affected by an issue is Islamic does not mean that it is a Muslim problem- it probably means that it is a poor immigrant problem. Class issues are still around, guys. That part was a good rant.
For those not familiar, Ramadan is a Swiss citizen who just so happens to be the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (trigger!), who spent a good part of his early life as a teacher (his dissertation was on Neitzsche) and a school dean, working on solidarity movements in the Third World as well as Europe. When Islamic terrorism became the world's new Big Bad, Ramadan decided that this was the next big challenge of the world and took 20 months off and moved his family to Egypt to complete an intensive (like 5 am-11 pm intensive) course in Islamic studies so that he could be qualified to be involved in the conversation. He has since tried to, in his words: "stand up for my religion, explain it, and above all, show that we have so much in common with Judaism and Christianity but also with the values advocated by countless humanists, atheists and agnostics." He's been banned from both conservative Muslim countries and the US (Bush administration revoked his visa in 2004, nine days before he was due to move to Indiana to take up a professorship at Notre Dame, we just allowed him to come back to the country this year). He continually gets called "controversial" by people who says he employs "doublespeak" (ie, saying one thing to Muslim audiences and another to Western audiences), neither fully Western nor "only" a Muslim. He says he is Swiss by nationality, Egyptian by memory, European by culture, universalist by principle and Moroccan and Mauritanian by adoption.
In other words- he's exactly the sort of guy I can root for. Which was going to make it even easier to get into this book. And he was going to make it super easy for me as a reviewer. His simple title gave way to a similarly straightforward introduction that told me exactly what he wanted this book to be.: "This book is a work of clarification, a deliberately accessible presentation of the basic ideas I have been defending for more than twenty years. It is intended for those who have little time to spare: ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists... Rather than entering my name in a web search (and coming up with the million links that mainly report what others have written about me) or being content with the so-called free virtual encyclopedias that are in fact so biased (like Wikipedia, where the factual errors and partisan readings are astounding), I give readers this opportunity to read me in the original and simply get direct access to my thought... Being an introductory work, it may not suffice to convey the complexity of a thought (which may moreover have evolved and gained in density in the course of time) but it will at least, I hope, help start an open, thorough, critical debate. This is greatly needed."
Fair enough, dude. No arguments here. Seems reasonable enough, definitely not "controversial." The sort of platitude that I think everyone has to at least pretend to agree with even if they don't like you personally. Just trying to ease people into what can be, as you say yourself, a very emotional, irrational topic that scares everyone on all sides. Fools rush in, and all that.
Here's my problem with this book: The entire thing is a platitude that everyone can agree with. It's the Little Platitude that Could- unrelenting, endless, monotononous and boring. Honestly, the book could just have easily been titled: "Why I Am Not A Terrorist Nor A Subversive Secret Imperial Agent Come For Your Souls! (... but I will take your abuse for the cause!)" (Okay, maybe it wouldn't have been just as easy to title it that.)
Look, I get it. Ramadan has been under pretty ridiculous attack for a good long time, from many very different people. I'm sure that gets wearing- so much so that you write a whole book just to get people to leave you alone. But Good Lord- for someone who has a lot of attention paid to him, you sure say some pretty useless things. Ramadan takes on pretty much the whole gamut of "Islamic" related issues that people care about in Western public discourse and clarifies what he thinks about all of them- communalism, multiculturalism, identity crisis (and multiple identities), different types of Muslims, dialogue between faiths, women's rights and the veil, extremism. I'd go through it all, but every single issue says the same thing in the end.:
Islam has a lot in common with other religions. Islam has different interpretations- we're not all terrorists. Western Muslims can be citizens of democracies and Muslims at the same time- there's nothing contradictory in that. Muslims are people too- and we're not just Muslims. Sometimes people make different choices than you and you have to respect that. The West is having its own identity crisis and projects ridiculous things on Muslim populations out of fear. Let's all communicate better, understand each other better, and let's make sure there's some room for communities to come together just as people rather than as "Muslim" or "Christian" or "immigrant' or "native" dialogue. Then let's build a campfire and sing kumbaya!
... yeah. He pretty much just repeats that for 120 pages. I fell asleep like four times reading this. I can only listen to the man piously repeat the same crap about us all loving each other for who we are and seeing beyond our differences to how much we have in common and coming together as a community beyond our divisions (but still celebrating diversity!) without any practical suggestions for so long. Who doesn't know this already? And when it comes with his very high opinion of himself, casting himself in the right in every situation, and some pretty dodgy writing to boot, my interest continues to decline. And he doesn't even really engage with the criticisms of his work that much- mostly just to say, here's the criticism (presented in a way as to make it seem bad), and here's two sentences about how I really feel- moving on. I found it deeply frustrating.
One caveat on this verdict: I did like one section very much. There's a part in the book where he talks about policies of "integration" directed towards "immigrant populations". He points out the very true fact that many of these "immigrants" are now fifth generation citizens of their countries and have never been to their "country of origin", have nothing much to do with it, and yet are still being demanded to "integrate." One of my favorite parts expressed something along the lines of: This is "Western now". These people live here. They are part of the story- they are not "foreign". This is French now, German now, etc. You have to make room for this. "Integration" is an ignorant, irrelevant, and offensive word. I really liked the idea of "post integration"- ie, that it is time to move on and solve other problems. "Islamizing" social issues is a cop out that will do nothing. Just because the majority of the population who is affected by an issue is Islamic does not mean that it is a Muslim problem- it probably means that it is a poor immigrant problem. Class issues are still around, guys. That part was a good rant.
April 29, 2015
A controversial intellect as they used to call him, accused of double-speak , but most of all the New "Martin Luther" of Islam! That's what I have been hearing & reading about "Tariq Ramadan" and with a limited knowledge about him personally as the grandson of Hassan el Banna (Muslim Brotherhoods founder).
As I didn't read anything by Ramadan except his adorable book "The Messenger", which was a narration to the life of Prophet Muhammed "pbuh", I wanted to discover this writer this time on his own words (as I have read lots of opposing articles about him). In this work, Ramadan managed to illustrate what he as a Muslim believes in and as an International Islamic public figure strives to achieve! He sees himself as [ A Swiss by nationality, Egyptian by memory, Muslim by religion, European by culture, universalistic by principle ).
Through this book, his message was clear! He aims to achieve such a radical reform! Between Western countries & Muslims living there already. To achieve that he introduces his plan of the 7 C's: "Confidence - Consistency- Contribution - Creativity - Communication -Contestation & Compassion" .. Read them again, yes ..that's what a Muslim in a Western country should do. Not to shut away in silence or help the media to categorize him as a terrorist and so!
He manage to illustrate his life, what he believes in, what type of problems current Muslims are facing & how to work on all those issues profoundly. He understood also his opponents, what they have accused him of and why .. He replied to all that, but finally he illustrated it beautifully by saying: ( So I say "Peace," with force, tranquility, and dignity, to all the instigators of lies, hypocrisies, and wars.)
I highly recommend this book, and to the writer all my admirations .. If only all Muslim Scholars having his dignity, bravery & insightfulness !
As I didn't read anything by Ramadan except his adorable book "The Messenger", which was a narration to the life of Prophet Muhammed "pbuh", I wanted to discover this writer this time on his own words (as I have read lots of opposing articles about him). In this work, Ramadan managed to illustrate what he as a Muslim believes in and as an International Islamic public figure strives to achieve! He sees himself as [ A Swiss by nationality, Egyptian by memory, Muslim by religion, European by culture, universalistic by principle ).
Through this book, his message was clear! He aims to achieve such a radical reform! Between Western countries & Muslims living there already. To achieve that he introduces his plan of the 7 C's: "Confidence - Consistency- Contribution - Creativity - Communication -Contestation & Compassion" .. Read them again, yes ..that's what a Muslim in a Western country should do. Not to shut away in silence or help the media to categorize him as a terrorist and so!
He manage to illustrate his life, what he believes in, what type of problems current Muslims are facing & how to work on all those issues profoundly. He understood also his opponents, what they have accused him of and why .. He replied to all that, but finally he illustrated it beautifully by saying: ( So I say "Peace," with force, tranquility, and dignity, to all the instigators of lies, hypocrisies, and wars.)
I highly recommend this book, and to the writer all my admirations .. If only all Muslim Scholars having his dignity, bravery & insightfulness !
February 28, 2015
أحسن بداية مع كتب طارق رمضان هي البداية بقراءة كتاب Mon intime conviction. (أو بالإنجليزية : What I believe)
كتاب صغير الحجم وفيه ملخص فكر طارق رمضان ألفه خصيصا لغير المتخصص أو من لا يكاد يجد وقتا للتعمق أو البحث لإيجاد المعلومة الشافية نظرا للعدد الكبير من الأقوال والأقوال المضادة المثارة حول المؤلف وفيه يتطرق الكاتب لأبرز المواضيع المثارة حول المسلمين في الغرب أو كما يريد الكاتب تسميتهم "الغربيون المسلمون".
الكتاب تطرق لمواضيع مختلفة وناقشها في فصول متفرقة أبرزها بدايات طارق رمضان في الاهتمام بقضية المسلمين في الغرب وبيئته التي تأثر فيها وبعض المواقف التي أثرت فيه وبطبيعة الحال تحصيله العلمي وتكوينه سواء الأكاديمي أو الشرعي (وهذه الأخيرة في مصر)، مسائل شخصية قد تبدو هامشية ولكنها ذات أهمية في مجتمع تكون متهما فيه بالعمالة ومثارة حولك شبهات وتصل التهم إلى دعم وتمويل الإرهاب (حركة حماس، كما حدث له في أمريكا من حجز جواز سفر واستجواب) وتمتلئ الساحة الإعلامية خاصة الانترنت بمواضيع مشوشة على ذهن المتابع وتبذر الشكوك والريبة.
قضية المرأة عالجها الكاتب في فصل مع التطرق للحركات النسوية الغربية ومواقفهم تجاه المسلمين وخاصة المرأة المسلمة واعتبارهم أن المرأة المسلمة لا يمكنها ان تكون متدينة ومحجبة وفي ذات الوقت مدافعة على حقوقها، انفصام شخصية الغربي تتجاوز هذا الموضوع لتصل لتقسيم حاد بين أوروبا المسيحية الكاثوليكية وبين أوروبا الديمقراطية متعددة الثقافات والمشارب، الكاتب عمل لبلورة "نحن" جديدة تبنى على خلفيات إنسانية متعددة الثقافات دافعة لتقبل الآخر لا لتجاوزه أو تهميشه ومحاربته. تحدث الكاتب عن المكتسبات والتحديات في تلاقح الحضارات هذا، عن واجبات المسلمين من مراجعات لأوضاعهم السياسية ونظرتهم للآخر ومراجعة الفقه ودعا لمشروع متكامل لمراجعة أصول الفقه ذاتها. دون أن ينسى حظه من نقد الإعلام والسياسيين لتحويلهم لقضايا مهمة مثل قضية المسلمين وتعدد الحضارات في الغرب لقضية آنية مرهونة بمكتسبات ومجرد تجارة، لكنها رابحة خاصة لأقصى اليمين. الصهيونية وفلسطين، الحكومات العربية، Les 7 C، التيارات الإسلامية الناقدة له والتيارات الليبيرالية ... إلخ كلها تلقاوها ...
كتاب ممتاز يعتبر مقدمة جيدة للبداية مع طارق رمضان، كتاب صغير الحجم من 200 صفحة، واضح، صريح، شامل، عقلاني جدا ويدعو للتفكير وخال من المثالية، فيه العديد من الوقائع والحقائق .. ومقنع جدا. ويحيل دائما على مصادر للتعمق. كتاب جيد للإطلاع.
May 14, 2012
This book is short, easily approachable and very well organized in small chapters. It is so informative, thought-provoking and enlightening and I greatly recommend it, whether you're Muslim or not. Tariq Ramadan is one of the most brilliant Muslim scholars today, in my opinion, especially since he allows you room to think for yourself, instead of dictating your beliefs
Want to read
November 29, 2018Once in the “Le Matin”, on its cover, it was written: “Does he threaten democracy? ” [menace t’il la democracie?]; and on the Swiss TV program Infrarouge, a headline: "Not understood or dangerous?" [incompris ou dangereux?]
In a debate with journalist Lionel Favrot, he had the chance to listen to these accusations: of being an “Islamite”, a “dangerous impostor”, having a “double face” , being an “Islamic priest”, of mixing “politics and religion”. Ramadan was questioned on the source of the law; should it be the Koran or the Constitution? Plus, the journalist charged Ramadan of speaking of a State (État de droite) not in the western mode.
Ramadan did well in the interview. Spoke of the western hypocrisy regarding the Saudi money. Asked for a moratorium on this issue of women’s “lapidation”/stoning , a subject which should be discussed.
As a Swiss “fonctionnaire”, he expressed his duty of reserve.
On another debate someone asked him and others attending to “define themselves”. One of the interviewers defined himself as a “French Jew”. Ramadan preferred using the definition inside of one of his latest books. Which says:
[my translation] “of Swiss nationality, Egyptian by memory, of Muslim religion, European by culture, universalist on principles; and Moroccan and Mauritian by adoption”.
Yet, I would like, one day, Ramadan to comment on this: “There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without sword, without gun, without conquest. We don’t need terrorists; we don’t need homicide bombers. The 50 plus million Muslims (in Europe) will turn it into the Muslim Continent within a few decades.” [Muammar Gaddafi said]
In a debate with journalist Lionel Favrot, he had the chance to listen to these accusations: of being an “Islamite”, a “dangerous impostor”, having a “double face” , being an “Islamic priest”, of mixing “politics and religion”. Ramadan was questioned on the source of the law; should it be the Koran or the Constitution? Plus, the journalist charged Ramadan of speaking of a State (État de droite) not in the western mode.
Ramadan did well in the interview. Spoke of the western hypocrisy regarding the Saudi money. Asked for a moratorium on this issue of women’s “lapidation”/stoning , a subject which should be discussed.
As a Swiss “fonctionnaire”, he expressed his duty of reserve.
On another debate someone asked him and others attending to “define themselves”. One of the interviewers defined himself as a “French Jew”. Ramadan preferred using the definition inside of one of his latest books. Which says:
[my translation] “of Swiss nationality, Egyptian by memory, of Muslim religion, European by culture, universalist on principles; and Moroccan and Mauritian by adoption”.
Yet, I would like, one day, Ramadan to comment on this: “There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without sword, without gun, without conquest. We don’t need terrorists; we don’t need homicide bombers. The 50 plus million Muslims (in Europe) will turn it into the Muslim Continent within a few decades.” [Muammar Gaddafi said]
October 12, 2013
I've been listening to Tariq Ramadan's lectures and speaks for a while now, and this book was a must read in order for me to take the next step in understanding his ideas and new ways of thinking in reforming Islam.
Although this book was written in order to give his critiques the chance to read his true ideas nad thoughts instead of following the stream that calls him a "controversial intellect", to clarify his main ideas and thoughts regarding Muslims in the west, I found in it a good start for those who wish to investigate more in his ideas and his new ways of thinking.
Although his main stream of ideas is targeting Muslims in the west, I can say that personally I managed to understand most of the issues he was addressing, as for me working in an environment were being a Muslim is a minority and being confronted with secularism and atheism and even doubtful muslims face to face for the first time, it was really challanging and this book really helped me in shaping some new ways of understaing this new environment and at least accept for the first time that these things are for real and you need to live with it!
For sure this book was a start and I will move on Insha'Allah in the quest for meaning with Dr. Ramadan.
Although this book was written in order to give his critiques the chance to read his true ideas nad thoughts instead of following the stream that calls him a "controversial intellect", to clarify his main ideas and thoughts regarding Muslims in the west, I found in it a good start for those who wish to investigate more in his ideas and his new ways of thinking.
Although his main stream of ideas is targeting Muslims in the west, I can say that personally I managed to understand most of the issues he was addressing, as for me working in an environment were being a Muslim is a minority and being confronted with secularism and atheism and even doubtful muslims face to face for the first time, it was really challanging and this book really helped me in shaping some new ways of understaing this new environment and at least accept for the first time that these things are for real and you need to live with it!
For sure this book was a start and I will move on Insha'Allah in the quest for meaning with Dr. Ramadan.
July 15, 2015
As a reader it feels different when you meet an author and then read him, fortunately I had the chance to meet Tariq Ramadan last year at the MAS-ICNA convention held in Chicago, if not previously I only listened to him, I didnt read him well except for some online articles. His meeting and attending to his lectures gave a different impression to encounter him when reading, he is too critical which I live about him.
What I Believe, is a book if his thoughts and encounters in past, it gives the reader a foundation to what he beehives about (Islam, west, and contemporary movements) to his other readings, I suggest any reader to first read this books and then the other ones.
What I Believe, is a book if his thoughts and encounters in past, it gives the reader a foundation to what he beehives about (Islam, west, and contemporary movements) to his other readings, I suggest any reader to first read this books and then the other ones.
September 13, 2011
I must admit that I have not read any of Tariq Ramadan’s works other than perhaps a brief essay or two. I have heard a couple of his interviews on Democracy Now, and liked his perspective, but did not find it necessarily compelling enough that I would want to take the time to read a book of his in its entirety. This book was on sale at Borders—I picked it up feeling that I had neglected to read the work of an important contemporary Muslim intellectual and that I needed to gain some knowledge to amend that neglect. He had, after all, lectured with my teacher and someone I have trusted intellectually and spiritually for nearly two decades, Shaikh Hamza Yusuf, and Shaikh Hamza’s cardiologist, Muhammad Ashraf, had recently mentioned Tariq Ramadan’s opinions to me a few weeks ago in relation to the issue of Islamic schools versus public schools, etc. So, as often happens in life, there were signs on the path, and I was led to a learning experience.
After an initial introduction which was fairly conventional, the first chapter “The Early Years” pulled me in and touched my heart. I knew that Tariq Ramadan was the grandson of Hasan Al-Banal, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that he was a Western educated intellectual and believing Muslim with what I considered to be a balanced and needed public voice, but I did not know he, like me had been a high school teacher. And what impressed me was the empathetic relationship with the human beings who comprised “Western” society he taught in—how interacting with the students of the high school helped him to understand so much about the societies he was a part of and himself. Ramadan was highly involved in the movement for solidarity awareness for oppressed and exploited peoples in ghettos and in the Third World throughout his educational career—much before he became “a public Muslim”—and I find this admirable. I have always endeavored to make this an essential element of my role as a teacher as well.
I had been a teacher, then a very young dean in a Geneva high school, and I had launched solidarity awareness operations in primary and secondary schools. A practicing believer in my private life, I respected professional discretion in my public position: I never put forward my religious affiliation. This was as it should be. Both the school system and the media praised the “Exemplary work” performed in mobilizing the young for solidarity in Third World countries as well as in the West, for we had also launched awareness operations targeting extreme poverty among the underprivileged in industrial societies and the aged….The point was to place the learning process at the heart of the city and use the teaching of French literature as a means to communicate with women and men facing social problems or simply differences. Those years taught me a lot about listening, patience, nonjudgment, and empathy. Early on, one of my former students had died of a drug overdose. I have never really forgotten him. I was his teacher, he taught me. He died when I was sure he had stopped using drugs. I understood that nothing is ever finally achieved and that our frailties remain…behind masks of strength. Strength indeed lies in accepting one’s frailties and not in persuading oneself that one has “overcome” them. But “overcoming” them may simply consist in accepting them. Thierry, my student with “difficult affection,” taught me those aspects of the educational relationship. It was not easy. One day, in the conflict, he also taught me empathy and critical distance. His sister had called me because he had hit his mother. Her upper lip had got stuck between her teeth. When I reached the hospital I was angry, I could not imagine such behavior: hitting one’s mother! When I walked into the waiting room, his sister rushed to me and explained that violence had been the language at their home and that I had to understand: both of them had seen their father beat their mother and experienced violence in their daily lives. “Violence was our means of communication!” she whispered to me. Suddenly I “understood” the probable causes of his attitude. I understood without accepting or justifying. To understand is not to justify: empathy makes this distinction possible and, through understanding, intelligence can help us to adopt a critical stance that allows us to look for solutions. I was young and my student had thrown those truths to my face. He made me grow up. I have never forgotten those teachings, his lessons.
That solidarity commitment, in Geneva, Brazil, India, Senegal, or Burkina Faso, led to many rich experiences. Such personalities as the Dalai Lama, Dom Helder Camara, the Abbe Pierre, Pierre Dufresne, or Sankara of course impressed me and I owe them a lot. But even more important were the nameless: the silent brave, resisting in the dark. They taught me so much, away from media and public attention. On one occasion, I had invited a Colombian social worker to our school as part of our solidarity meetings during the lunch hour. He was to speak about the problems of injustice, poverty, and crisis in his country. I sat at the back and listened. During the first half of his talk, he spoke about traditional Colombian dances, complete with music and illustrations. I looked on and told myself that he had misunderstood what I expected of him. Suddenly he stopped and explained to the students: I wanted to tell you about Colombian music and traditional dances so that you should know that as well as having problems, we Colombians have an identity, a dignity, traditions, and a culture, and that we laugh, and smile, and live. In thirty minutes he had taught me an unexpected lesson: never reduce the other to my perception, to his problems, his poverty, or his crises. He had taught me a lesson about the pedagogy of solidarity. I had been mistaken. After that I launched a movement in Geneva schools, calling for a true “pedagogy of solidarity.” One should begin with the being, the smile, the dignity, the culture that fashions the person before reducing him to a sum of needs which “I” support. Those thirty minutes of my life radically changed my outlook on others and on life. The twists and turns of that commitment taught me so much about life, wounds, hopes, and frailties: the power of knowledge, the strength of emotion, the necessity of patience, the need to listen. I have tried daily to forget nothing.
Ramadan pp. 9-11
When I first studied teaching academically in the 1990’s, I encountered the ideas of Paolo Friere—the “pedagogy of the oppressed”; I have always worked to make his ideas a core philosophical element in my classroom. Ramadan’s “pedagogy of solidarity” is needed—much in congruence with the “people’s history” approach to teaching literature and writing that I use in my classroom. But what really resonated with me in this passage was the naked truths Ramadan speaks about the process of learning from the human beings one interacts with—the establishment in truth of what Friere called a “dialogical relationship” between teacher and students. The heart of learning is empathy.
More Muslims need to be teachers.
If you buy the book, read the Appendix on Thierry, the student who taught Ramadan so much.
Ramadan on “Islamic schools” in the West:
I have explained in many books and articles that my position is to encourage Muslim citizens to enroll their children in the public school system where they will learn to live with their fellow citizens of various origins and cultures. Private schools, which anyway only receive 2 or 3 percent of Muslim children, are neither a panacea nor a future-oriented choice. Engaging in the state school system, as parents and as students, is a necessity. It remains that the system should be reformed in depth, for the mixing of social statuses and cultures is but an illusion in what ought to be common, equal schooling for all. Some state schools are actually social and cultural ghettos, and inequalities in treatment within the public system are simply unacceptable. If nothing is done in this field, it can be no surprise that some people think of creating efficient alternative structures exclusively for Muslims…. (Ramadan 137)
An openly Muslim intellectual is after all most unsettling: he reflects to Western society a mirror of not always acknowledged contradictions or, by his mere presence, reveals unconscious Western-centrism with its suppressions, its hang-ups, possibly its traumas. (113)
Compelling a woman to wear a headscarf is against Islam, and compelling her to remove it is against human rights. Tariq Ramadan. What I Believe
Experience has shown me, both with young and older people, that day-to-day mingling and personal involvement is what awakens minds, brings awareness, and spurs the desire to go further, to understand better, and to carry out a dialogue. This is why we must really live and work together on shared projects.
The question is in effect simple. Over and beyond all the theories that could be devised, it is important to ask everyone, as I often do when concluding lectures: how many women and men from outside your “own universe of reference” have you met during the past month? How many women and men have you met in the past month, or two or six months, with whom you have experienced cultural, religious, and social diversity, been positively questioned, and been compelled to reconsider your way of thinking, your certainties, and your habits as well as some of your prejudgments and prejudices? It is easy to think of oneself as “open” in a universe peopled with always the same citizens and friends, and where openness is thought rather than actually experienced. Mental ghettos are not mirages; they actually exist in palpable reality: being “open” inside one’s mental or intellectual ghetto does not open its door but simply allows one to harbor the illusion that there is no ghetto and no door. The most dangerous prisons are those with invisible bars. Tariq Ramadan, What I Believe. Page 113
After an initial introduction which was fairly conventional, the first chapter “The Early Years” pulled me in and touched my heart. I knew that Tariq Ramadan was the grandson of Hasan Al-Banal, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that he was a Western educated intellectual and believing Muslim with what I considered to be a balanced and needed public voice, but I did not know he, like me had been a high school teacher. And what impressed me was the empathetic relationship with the human beings who comprised “Western” society he taught in—how interacting with the students of the high school helped him to understand so much about the societies he was a part of and himself. Ramadan was highly involved in the movement for solidarity awareness for oppressed and exploited peoples in ghettos and in the Third World throughout his educational career—much before he became “a public Muslim”—and I find this admirable. I have always endeavored to make this an essential element of my role as a teacher as well.
I had been a teacher, then a very young dean in a Geneva high school, and I had launched solidarity awareness operations in primary and secondary schools. A practicing believer in my private life, I respected professional discretion in my public position: I never put forward my religious affiliation. This was as it should be. Both the school system and the media praised the “Exemplary work” performed in mobilizing the young for solidarity in Third World countries as well as in the West, for we had also launched awareness operations targeting extreme poverty among the underprivileged in industrial societies and the aged….The point was to place the learning process at the heart of the city and use the teaching of French literature as a means to communicate with women and men facing social problems or simply differences. Those years taught me a lot about listening, patience, nonjudgment, and empathy. Early on, one of my former students had died of a drug overdose. I have never really forgotten him. I was his teacher, he taught me. He died when I was sure he had stopped using drugs. I understood that nothing is ever finally achieved and that our frailties remain…behind masks of strength. Strength indeed lies in accepting one’s frailties and not in persuading oneself that one has “overcome” them. But “overcoming” them may simply consist in accepting them. Thierry, my student with “difficult affection,” taught me those aspects of the educational relationship. It was not easy. One day, in the conflict, he also taught me empathy and critical distance. His sister had called me because he had hit his mother. Her upper lip had got stuck between her teeth. When I reached the hospital I was angry, I could not imagine such behavior: hitting one’s mother! When I walked into the waiting room, his sister rushed to me and explained that violence had been the language at their home and that I had to understand: both of them had seen their father beat their mother and experienced violence in their daily lives. “Violence was our means of communication!” she whispered to me. Suddenly I “understood” the probable causes of his attitude. I understood without accepting or justifying. To understand is not to justify: empathy makes this distinction possible and, through understanding, intelligence can help us to adopt a critical stance that allows us to look for solutions. I was young and my student had thrown those truths to my face. He made me grow up. I have never forgotten those teachings, his lessons.
That solidarity commitment, in Geneva, Brazil, India, Senegal, or Burkina Faso, led to many rich experiences. Such personalities as the Dalai Lama, Dom Helder Camara, the Abbe Pierre, Pierre Dufresne, or Sankara of course impressed me and I owe them a lot. But even more important were the nameless: the silent brave, resisting in the dark. They taught me so much, away from media and public attention. On one occasion, I had invited a Colombian social worker to our school as part of our solidarity meetings during the lunch hour. He was to speak about the problems of injustice, poverty, and crisis in his country. I sat at the back and listened. During the first half of his talk, he spoke about traditional Colombian dances, complete with music and illustrations. I looked on and told myself that he had misunderstood what I expected of him. Suddenly he stopped and explained to the students: I wanted to tell you about Colombian music and traditional dances so that you should know that as well as having problems, we Colombians have an identity, a dignity, traditions, and a culture, and that we laugh, and smile, and live. In thirty minutes he had taught me an unexpected lesson: never reduce the other to my perception, to his problems, his poverty, or his crises. He had taught me a lesson about the pedagogy of solidarity. I had been mistaken. After that I launched a movement in Geneva schools, calling for a true “pedagogy of solidarity.” One should begin with the being, the smile, the dignity, the culture that fashions the person before reducing him to a sum of needs which “I” support. Those thirty minutes of my life radically changed my outlook on others and on life. The twists and turns of that commitment taught me so much about life, wounds, hopes, and frailties: the power of knowledge, the strength of emotion, the necessity of patience, the need to listen. I have tried daily to forget nothing.
Ramadan pp. 9-11
When I first studied teaching academically in the 1990’s, I encountered the ideas of Paolo Friere—the “pedagogy of the oppressed”; I have always worked to make his ideas a core philosophical element in my classroom. Ramadan’s “pedagogy of solidarity” is needed—much in congruence with the “people’s history” approach to teaching literature and writing that I use in my classroom. But what really resonated with me in this passage was the naked truths Ramadan speaks about the process of learning from the human beings one interacts with—the establishment in truth of what Friere called a “dialogical relationship” between teacher and students. The heart of learning is empathy.
More Muslims need to be teachers.
If you buy the book, read the Appendix on Thierry, the student who taught Ramadan so much.
Ramadan on “Islamic schools” in the West:
I have explained in many books and articles that my position is to encourage Muslim citizens to enroll their children in the public school system where they will learn to live with their fellow citizens of various origins and cultures. Private schools, which anyway only receive 2 or 3 percent of Muslim children, are neither a panacea nor a future-oriented choice. Engaging in the state school system, as parents and as students, is a necessity. It remains that the system should be reformed in depth, for the mixing of social statuses and cultures is but an illusion in what ought to be common, equal schooling for all. Some state schools are actually social and cultural ghettos, and inequalities in treatment within the public system are simply unacceptable. If nothing is done in this field, it can be no surprise that some people think of creating efficient alternative structures exclusively for Muslims…. (Ramadan 137)
An openly Muslim intellectual is after all most unsettling: he reflects to Western society a mirror of not always acknowledged contradictions or, by his mere presence, reveals unconscious Western-centrism with its suppressions, its hang-ups, possibly its traumas. (113)
Compelling a woman to wear a headscarf is against Islam, and compelling her to remove it is against human rights. Tariq Ramadan. What I Believe
Experience has shown me, both with young and older people, that day-to-day mingling and personal involvement is what awakens minds, brings awareness, and spurs the desire to go further, to understand better, and to carry out a dialogue. This is why we must really live and work together on shared projects.
The question is in effect simple. Over and beyond all the theories that could be devised, it is important to ask everyone, as I often do when concluding lectures: how many women and men from outside your “own universe of reference” have you met during the past month? How many women and men have you met in the past month, or two or six months, with whom you have experienced cultural, religious, and social diversity, been positively questioned, and been compelled to reconsider your way of thinking, your certainties, and your habits as well as some of your prejudgments and prejudices? It is easy to think of oneself as “open” in a universe peopled with always the same citizens and friends, and where openness is thought rather than actually experienced. Mental ghettos are not mirages; they actually exist in palpable reality: being “open” inside one’s mental or intellectual ghetto does not open its door but simply allows one to harbor the illusion that there is no ghetto and no door. The most dangerous prisons are those with invisible bars. Tariq Ramadan, What I Believe. Page 113
June 9, 2013
In this book, Tariq Ramadan attempts to summarize his ideas about religious, political and social trends that affect the life and status of Muslims in the West, in particular in Europe. Very briefly, Ramadan deconstructs some of the theories and preconceptions that both Muslim immigrants and Western societies hold towards each other.
The book puts a lot of dense ideas into a few short chapters and allows the reader to get a glimpse into the mind of an intellectual who has defied the stereotype time and time again and who has become quite controversial in the last few years.
In trying to defend himself against some of his detractors, Ramadan comes across occasionally as self absorbed and the book comes across in some of its chapters as revolving mainly around him. That said, the book still offers an alternative and worthy point of view on why the divide has become so wide and how we can bridge it.
My main concern with the book is the focus on what Western societies need to change within themselves to achieve real inclusiveness and accept Muslims but it does not put enough emphasis on what kind of critical review Muslims need to go through to reform their own approach to religion. It also completely ignores the role oil wealth in propagating the literalist/extremist views of countries like Saudi Arabia and this influence on the collective thinking of Muslims worldwide.
The book puts a lot of dense ideas into a few short chapters and allows the reader to get a glimpse into the mind of an intellectual who has defied the stereotype time and time again and who has become quite controversial in the last few years.
In trying to defend himself against some of his detractors, Ramadan comes across occasionally as self absorbed and the book comes across in some of its chapters as revolving mainly around him. That said, the book still offers an alternative and worthy point of view on why the divide has become so wide and how we can bridge it.
My main concern with the book is the focus on what Western societies need to change within themselves to achieve real inclusiveness and accept Muslims but it does not put enough emphasis on what kind of critical review Muslims need to go through to reform their own approach to religion. It also completely ignores the role oil wealth in propagating the literalist/extremist views of countries like Saudi Arabia and this influence on the collective thinking of Muslims worldwide.
Read
April 5, 2011This book is quite challenging, I admit I'm having a hard time reading it.
Many people questioned his thoughts; he was banned from speaking in the US, and now he's banned by other 6 countries.
I had no idea who the guy was till I saw him on stage last week. Shame on me.
Anyway.. as he wrote in his introduction, it is better to read his book and know about his thoughts rather than googling what other people wrote about him. Fair enough!
NOT COMPLETED
Many people questioned his thoughts; he was banned from speaking in the US, and now he's banned by other 6 countries.
I had no idea who the guy was till I saw him on stage last week. Shame on me.
Anyway.. as he wrote in his introduction, it is better to read his book and know about his thoughts rather than googling what other people wrote about him. Fair enough!
NOT COMPLETED
August 19, 2013
EXCELLENT !!!
Un de mes philosophe préféré.
Ce livre je pourrais en parler pendant des heures donc je vais pas trop m'emballer mais il faut absolument lire ce livre si vous voulez connaitre la/les pensée(s) de T. Ramadan.
Je trouve qu'il est cohérent avec ce qu'il dit depuis 25 ans et le style d'écriture est très accessible ce qui est souvent rare chez les philosophes qui se prennent pour la Reine d'Angleterre.
Un de mes philosophe préféré.
Ce livre je pourrais en parler pendant des heures donc je vais pas trop m'emballer mais il faut absolument lire ce livre si vous voulez connaitre la/les pensée(s) de T. Ramadan.
Je trouve qu'il est cohérent avec ce qu'il dit depuis 25 ans et le style d'écriture est très accessible ce qui est souvent rare chez les philosophes qui se prennent pour la Reine d'Angleterre.
April 13, 2015
Je n'ai pas pu terminer le livre que j'ai lu ca fait maintenant un an, mais j'ai trop apprécié le style de l'écrivain et sa façon de présenter ses idées et se présenter lui même, étant incapable de suivre les émissions de Tariq Ramadan j'ai pu trouver dans ce livre beaucoup de réponses don j'avais besoin.
Je peux dire aussi que Ramadan a réussi à se dévoiler de la manière la plus simple possible.
Je peux dire aussi que Ramadan a réussi à se dévoiler de la manière la plus simple possible.
April 2, 2018
Le controversé, l’intellectuel diabolisé en France, l’incontournable Tariq RAMADAN présente dans cet ouvrage son « intime » conviction et ses prises de positions par rapport aux sujets mis –et remis à chaque fois – en question en Occident.
J’ai pas pu m’arrêter de me demander, tout au long de cette lecture, pourquoi toute cette haine ? pourquoi toutes ces accusations ? faut-il vraiment faire taire les voix de la paix, l’amour et du pardon ? faut-il négliger toutes les travaux de réconciliation et d’intégration pour garder toujours la dénomination du « Nous » et « eux », et des musulmans « minoritaires » toujours incapables de s’adapter et s’intégrer dans la société Occidentale dont ils appartiennent pendant au moins trois génération ?
M.Ramadan ici est triste, prenant une position défensive dont il n’a pas besoin.. et son ouvrage porte beaucoup de réflexions et résultats conclus de son engagement de plus de vingt ans.
June 30, 2017
"Mon intime conviction" est ma première lecture pour Tariq Ramadan, dans ce livre l'auteur retrace un peu son parcours tout en essayant de répondre à des questions très complexes en relation avec les citoyens de confession musulmane.
Dans une langue très claire et simple l'intellectuel controversé développe ses idées et partage sa pensée avec le lecteur en 17 Chapitre ou il s'adresse tantôt aux citoyens occidentaux de toutes les confessions, tantôt aux citoyens occidentaux musulmans ! Il parle de l'integration des immigrants, du traitement médiatique des faits divers en relation avec les musulmans et de l'instrumentalisation politique de l'islam en occident pendant les élections, des problèmes socio-économiques dans les ghettos ou les musulmans y résident et de la place de l'islam et des musulmans dans les pays laïques !
Faisant appel aux musulmans occidentaux de mettre fin à leur isolation et de chasser ce sentiment de victimisation par l'engagement dans un dialogue citoyen au niveau local et national qui leur permettra de défendre leur religiosité et de pratiquer leur citoyenneté à la fois, Tariq Ramadan prône une nouvelle ère pour les musulmans en Europe, USA, Australie....etc
C'est un livre qui mérite d'être lu, même si l’ambiguïté y est encore, j'ai pu me faire à travers ce récit une idée globale sur la question de l'islam en occident.
Dans une langue très claire et simple l'intellectuel controversé développe ses idées et partage sa pensée avec le lecteur en 17 Chapitre ou il s'adresse tantôt aux citoyens occidentaux de toutes les confessions, tantôt aux citoyens occidentaux musulmans ! Il parle de l'integration des immigrants, du traitement médiatique des faits divers en relation avec les musulmans et de l'instrumentalisation politique de l'islam en occident pendant les élections, des problèmes socio-économiques dans les ghettos ou les musulmans y résident et de la place de l'islam et des musulmans dans les pays laïques !
Faisant appel aux musulmans occidentaux de mettre fin à leur isolation et de chasser ce sentiment de victimisation par l'engagement dans un dialogue citoyen au niveau local et national qui leur permettra de défendre leur religiosité et de pratiquer leur citoyenneté à la fois, Tariq Ramadan prône une nouvelle ère pour les musulmans en Europe, USA, Australie....etc
C'est un livre qui mérite d'être lu, même si l’ambiguïté y est encore, j'ai pu me faire à travers ce récit une idée globale sur la question de l'islam en occident.
June 6, 2010
in a nutshell: "Discourse between two universes of revefence, "civilizations" and cultures, shot through with doubts, crises, inconstencies and power plays, must expect to come under double critical fire. At least for a while history shows that time levels things out and normalizes what our current fears and tensions cannont conceive,"
Leading Islamic thinker prevented from entering the U.S. by the Bush administration. Ruthless investigator interrogrates how politics and religion come to bear on policy. Fantastic read.
Leading Islamic thinker prevented from entering the U.S. by the Bush administration. Ruthless investigator interrogrates how politics and religion come to bear on policy. Fantastic read.
October 6, 2014
le premier livre de tareq ramadan que j'ai lu et par là j'ai pu découvrir ce penseur qui lutte pour défendre les musulmans et l'islam et surtout pour changer la fausse image que l'occident a de l'islam. dans son livre, 'auteur raconte son voyage en Caire pour s’approfondir dans l'étude des sciences de la religion chose qui va l'aider dans l défense de sa cause.
November 15, 2012
I'm not impressed. Rasanya terlalu mendatar. Mengambil kira buku ini hanya sebagai ringkasan kepada 'what he believes and what he stand for', mungkin aku perlu membaca buku2 beliau yang lain sebelum boleh membuat penilaian yang lebih baik terhadap Tariq Ramadan dan ideanya.
June 30, 2013
« Il est anti-islamique d'imposer le foulard à une femme et c'est une atteinte aux droits de l'homme que de lui imposer de l'enlever»
January 26, 2014
Style d’écriture simple, bouquin plein de réflexions les idées et les arguments sont structurés, si l’auteur vous intéresse je vous le conseil c’est un tres bon livre que j’ai aimé .. c’ bon !!
April 5, 2016
Honestly, I was disappointed with this book.
Ramadan begins by saying that he receives plenty of criticism, all of which is groundless. What he fails to do is address any of the criticisms levied against him, even though that is what he claims was the purpose of writing this book. He perhaps does this briefly only when talking about his critics for his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but aside from this, it was mostly a sense of "X says Y about me which is just false." End of, no expansion.
Frankly, the whole book was rather repetitive. Ramadan is gifted with articulation, but he does this to hide the fact that his actual points lack much substance. If you remove the flowery talk, there really is little to what he says. It was mostly along the lines of: Islam is compatible with secularism, Muslims should stop with the whole victim mentality and we should all unite and live happily ever after. Essentially, the points he brings up are extremely generic and I did not learn anything from them.
I also felt as though Ramadan lacked some humility while narrating his book. There is a lot of "I was the first person to say [this]" or "I have been saying this for 25 years" that makes it sound as though Ramadan views himself as seminal/a propagator in the development of Western Muslims. Furthermore, taking a 20-month course in Islamic studies does not make one an Islamic scholar, even if it was "intensive".
If you haven't heard much discourse about Muslims in the West, then maybe you will find some wisdom in Ramadan's book. Personally, however, I found it unoriginal. I wanted to like it and give it a chance, especially as I had heard many criticisms against Ramadan and also because I enjoyed his 'The Messenger' book. Sadly, this was not the case.
Ramadan begins by saying that he receives plenty of criticism, all of which is groundless. What he fails to do is address any of the criticisms levied against him, even though that is what he claims was the purpose of writing this book. He perhaps does this briefly only when talking about his critics for his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but aside from this, it was mostly a sense of "X says Y about me which is just false." End of, no expansion.
Frankly, the whole book was rather repetitive. Ramadan is gifted with articulation, but he does this to hide the fact that his actual points lack much substance. If you remove the flowery talk, there really is little to what he says. It was mostly along the lines of: Islam is compatible with secularism, Muslims should stop with the whole victim mentality and we should all unite and live happily ever after. Essentially, the points he brings up are extremely generic and I did not learn anything from them.
I also felt as though Ramadan lacked some humility while narrating his book. There is a lot of "I was the first person to say [this]" or "I have been saying this for 25 years" that makes it sound as though Ramadan views himself as seminal/a propagator in the development of Western Muslims. Furthermore, taking a 20-month course in Islamic studies does not make one an Islamic scholar, even if it was "intensive".
If you haven't heard much discourse about Muslims in the West, then maybe you will find some wisdom in Ramadan's book. Personally, however, I found it unoriginal. I wanted to like it and give it a chance, especially as I had heard many criticisms against Ramadan and also because I enjoyed his 'The Messenger' book. Sadly, this was not the case.
February 12, 2017
I've been hearing during many years of Tariq Ramadan, the author, but I've never been to one of his lecture and heard him in a TV debate. This is the first book I read from this author. Like the title implies, this book presents the author's personal opinions on the identity crises occurring in the Western world whether among the French non-Muslims and French Muslims and same in other Western countries and how the Muslims in those countries should react and face the various political/Media attacks on them. It is easier for a person familiar or aware of these problems to read this book than a person unaware. The author presented his various opinions on the problems and solutions in very broad terms, general expressions, and vague. There are no detailed information, specific examples, detailed statistics to support his argument and make himself better understood by the reader. Unfortunately, although I believe that the problems presented don't necessarily need to be detailed because it is widely informed in the media, his opinions on the potential solutions should have been more precise, detailed and accompanied with specific examples.
Like any reader depending on his personal experience, I agreed with some of his opinions and disagreed with others. A reader interested in these topics should read first Orientalism and also Les Identités meurtrières, which are much better books. This book is not good enough to make me want to read more from this author, but I'll give one of his book another try.
Like any reader depending on his personal experience, I agreed with some of his opinions and disagreed with others. A reader interested in these topics should read first Orientalism and also Les Identités meurtrières, which are much better books. This book is not good enough to make me want to read more from this author, but I'll give one of his book another try.
June 5, 2010
A great read,.. What I've been looking for for a long long time! We need more Muslim scholars like Tariq Ramadan, his ideas are so basic, simple and straight-forward, yet revolutionary at the same time because I've never heard any other scholars say what he has said. But it's what most of us living in the West already know: To be good Muslims, we shouldn't isolate ourselves in our corner and be separate from society; on the contrary, we should be at the forefront. and for GOD'S SAKE, yes we may be victims but we shouldn't always play the victim card!!!!! That's a vicious cycle with no way out! Victims should stand up and demand their rights and with God's help they will get them :)
Great read for non-Muslims too..
Only negative (why I didn't give it five stars) of the book, besides having to read each sentence two or three times - lol, is that since it's a synopsis of all of Ramadan's ideas it is sort of incoherent at times... Just felt like he covered so many topics in so few pages. But there is an underlying thread tying it all together so it wasn't too bad.
Great read for non-Muslims too..
Only negative (why I didn't give it five stars) of the book, besides having to read each sentence two or three times - lol, is that since it's a synopsis of all of Ramadan's ideas it is sort of incoherent at times... Just felt like he covered so many topics in so few pages. But there is an underlying thread tying it all together so it wasn't too bad.
February 8, 2012
Tariq Ramadan describes himself as a mediator or bridge between Islam and West, particularly Europe and adds that a bridge never belongs to one side only. He believes in multi-identity and says multicultural society is a fact.
He also believes that we must now return to the sources of the fundamentals of law and jurisprudence (usûl al-fiqh) and question the original categorizations and methodologies: this is called radical reform by him.
He has a clear position about homosexuality: not sharing the opinions and actions of homosexuals as to their sexuality does not prevent him from respecting who they are.
He has created the idea of seven C's: Confidence, Consistency, Contribution , Creativity, Communication, Contestation, and Compassion. And stresses that only through such personal efforts can Muslims learn to communiacte with their environment in more than a reactive or emotional and too defensive manner.
He also believes that we must now return to the sources of the fundamentals of law and jurisprudence (usûl al-fiqh) and question the original categorizations and methodologies: this is called radical reform by him.
He has a clear position about homosexuality: not sharing the opinions and actions of homosexuals as to their sexuality does not prevent him from respecting who they are.
He has created the idea of seven C's: Confidence, Consistency, Contribution , Creativity, Communication, Contestation, and Compassion. And stresses that only through such personal efforts can Muslims learn to communiacte with their environment in more than a reactive or emotional and too defensive manner.
November 11, 2011
For those who want to grasp the stance of Tariq, this is a must read. This book is an exposition and a response for his critics.
It imperative to understand his stance in a context as Muslim western. A reader must read his work as a Muslim living in a west. He is indeed very positive in his own approach. The very striking idea of his is post-integration, revolution of trust. He advances numbers of innovative convincing ideas. I may not necessarily embrace all what he put forward as I am in a world he lives in, but I have a sense of understanding of his position.
He is a scholar we are in need of today. He is very universal which I think very effective way of advancing the message. Indeed, Pen is mightier than words.
I will read more of his works. insha Allah.
It imperative to understand his stance in a context as Muslim western. A reader must read his work as a Muslim living in a west. He is indeed very positive in his own approach. The very striking idea of his is post-integration, revolution of trust. He advances numbers of innovative convincing ideas. I may not necessarily embrace all what he put forward as I am in a world he lives in, but I have a sense of understanding of his position.
He is a scholar we are in need of today. He is very universal which I think very effective way of advancing the message. Indeed, Pen is mightier than words.
I will read more of his works. insha Allah.
April 16, 2017
هذا الكتاب ليس لنا بالدرجة الأولى، إلا لو أردنا أن نفهم بشكل مكتوب أن الغرب لنا كمسلمي الشرق أكبر بكثير من دعاء (على النصارى واليهود ومن عاونهم) على منبر يطلقها إمام مع منتهى احترامي له لم تتجاوز قدماه بلده أو البلدان التي جاورها وإن حدث فهو يذهب إلى دولة غربية ليخطب في مسجد لا أكثر لا أقل.
هذا الكتاب بالدرجة الأولى لمسلمي الغرب، الذي يصنَّف كاتبه منهم، وقد وجدتُه في الخطابة ساحرًا أكثر منه في كتابه أو أنني اعتدت قراءة مثل المكتوب في الفترة الأخيرة لم يعتدها مسلمو الغرب الذين نقلوا مشاكل الشرق معهم وتأخروا في مراجعتها لكثير من العوامل، أو أنها الترجمة.
لو اجتهد طارق رمضان في دراسة الشرق أكثر، لكان علي عزت بجوفتش آخر، طارق ممنوع في الجانبين، ويشق بصعوبة طريقًا ثالثًا، الكتاب خفيف لطيف يمكن قراءته واصطحابه معك لو أردت أن تقرأ شيئًا مفيدًا وسهلًا في آن.
هذا الكتاب بالدرجة الأولى لمسلمي الغرب، الذي يصنَّف كاتبه منهم، وقد وجدتُه في الخطابة ساحرًا أكثر منه في كتابه أو أنني اعتدت قراءة مثل المكتوب في الفترة الأخيرة لم يعتدها مسلمو الغرب الذين نقلوا مشاكل الشرق معهم وتأخروا في مراجعتها لكثير من العوامل، أو أنها الترجمة.
لو اجتهد طارق رمضان في دراسة الشرق أكثر، لكان علي عزت بجوفتش آخر، طارق ممنوع في الجانبين، ويشق بصعوبة طريقًا ثالثًا، الكتاب خفيف لطيف يمكن قراءته واصطحابه معك لو أردت أن تقرأ شيئًا مفيدًا وسهلًا في آن.
March 7, 2013
Un bilan de réponses concises et profondes sur les défis que rencontrent les musulmans sur plusieurs plans tout en appelant à rejeter les préjugés et toute forme d'incompréhension et d'extrémisme.Les mots ne sauront jamais résumer les pensées profondes d'un grand intellectuel comme Tariq RAMADAN.
et pour ceux qui ne prennent pas la peine de fouiller dans les sens je dirais "quand on vous montre la lune,ne regardez pas le doigt"
et pour ceux qui ne prennent pas la peine de fouiller dans les sens je dirais "quand on vous montre la lune,ne regardez pas le doigt"
May 5, 2014
A must read book for muslim intellects around the world. It is very important source for non-muslims to know how islam teaches tolerance and integrity.
The book is about the main ideas of Tariq Ramadan that he fought for in the last 25 years or so. Many ideas in this book promotes peace and total integrity of muslims in the western societies as citizens not as immigrants.
Muslims can live in a secular country with total freedom of belief and practice.
The book is about the main ideas of Tariq Ramadan that he fought for in the last 25 years or so. Many ideas in this book promotes peace and total integrity of muslims in the western societies as citizens not as immigrants.
Muslims can live in a secular country with total freedom of belief and practice.
February 22, 2013
Une analyse profonde,livre interssant
July 9, 2016
In light of recent events, many observations and ideas expressed by Ramadan in this book are particularly pertinent. The book is a response to his critics - a medium to explain his beliefs in his own words. He describes his vision for the Muslim community, and how this vision can become reality. Some of what he writes may seem obvious but sometimes it is necessary for someone to put down clear, common-sense ideas for progress in black and white. He could arguably have addressed his critics more directly and with more depth, though I assume this would require 10 more volumes. There were moments where I would have liked him to expand on certain points; I'm hoping he does so in his other works.
These are some quotes which resonated with me:
"All of us should show humility, respect, and consistency. Humility, by admitting that nobody, no civilization or nation, holds a monopoly on universals and on the good, and that our political and social systems are not perfect; respect toward others because we should be convinced that their richness and achievements can be beneficial to us; and last consistency, because the other’s presence acts like a mirror in which we should confront our own contradictions and inconsistency in the concrete, day-to-day implementation of our noblest values."
"To Muslims, I repeat that Islam is a great and noble religion but that all Muslims and Muslim majority societies did not in the past and do not now live up to this nobleness: critical reflection is required about faithfulness to our principles, our outlook on others, on cultures, freedom, the situation of women, and so on. Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless. To Westerners, I similarly repeat that the undeniable achievements of freedom and democracy should not make us forget murderous “civilizing missions,” colonization, the destructive economic order, racism, discrimination, acquiescent relations with the worst dictatorships, and other failings. Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless."
"Muslims often have psychologically integrated this perception (that is projected on them) and also refer to themselves as a “minority,”confusing the factual numbers of their religious community with the meaning and legal substance of their belonging as citizens. However, in the order of citizenship, of relationship to the law, or of the treatment of individuals, the minority concept is inoperative: there is no such thing as “minority citizenship”! They must therefore overcome this “minority”mind-set and fully participate in citizenship on an equal footing with the “majority.”"
"Muslims will be called upon to take responsibility for themselves and get rid of the victim mind-set. This is a major challenge: it is urgent to stop blaming “society-that-does-not-like-us” or “islamophobia” or “racism” and thereby justifying guilty passivity. That such phenomena exist cannot be denied, but Muslims must tackle them by getting involved as citizens and by fighting against injustice, racism, discrimination, populist stigmatization discourse, and hypocrisies."
"We all have to be consistent: guaranteeing women’s freedom entails accepting that they might make a choice one understands or another choice one does not understand."
"in France or in Britain, after three, four, or even five generations, people still speak of French or British citizens “of immigrant origin.” African American Muslims are still too African or too Muslim to be treated equally."
"We must elaborate a “post-integration” approach and discourse, revisiting the way in which people represent and analyze themselves and thereby taking into account the transformations in Western societies."
"at the national level, many political parties claim that religious affiliation should be distinguished from citizenship: yet on the local level one can observe that practices are quite different and that officials and representatives not only take religious affiliation into account but also rely on that feeling to attract votes or appeal to voters."
"The scientific, legal, philosophical, and religious input of Muslim scholars and intellectuals has been overlooked to such an extent—both in the collective memory and in school syllabi—that one cannot but see this as an ideological choice in the process leading to self-construction."
"Discourse and policies that instrumentalize fear and play on polarization to win elections may indeed attract confused, anxious citizens in the short run, but they are dangerous, inoperative, and misleading and dishonest in the long run."
"What used to be said about Jews (doublespeak, double allegiance, and obscure connections with “international Judaism”) is now reproduced in almost similar terms about Muslims..."
"It is easy to think of oneself as “open”in a universe peopled with always the same citizens and friends, and where openness is thought rather than actually experienced. Mental ghettos are not mirages; they actually exist in palpable reality: being “open”inside one’s mental or intellectual ghetto does not open its door but simply allows one to harbor the illusion that there is no ghetto and no door. The most dangerous prisons are those with invisible bars."
"This is what I have called the three “Ls,” which Muslim citizens have now acquired: mastering the national language, respecting the law, and (even) maintaining critical loyalty to their society."
These are some quotes which resonated with me:
"All of us should show humility, respect, and consistency. Humility, by admitting that nobody, no civilization or nation, holds a monopoly on universals and on the good, and that our political and social systems are not perfect; respect toward others because we should be convinced that their richness and achievements can be beneficial to us; and last consistency, because the other’s presence acts like a mirror in which we should confront our own contradictions and inconsistency in the concrete, day-to-day implementation of our noblest values."
"To Muslims, I repeat that Islam is a great and noble religion but that all Muslims and Muslim majority societies did not in the past and do not now live up to this nobleness: critical reflection is required about faithfulness to our principles, our outlook on others, on cultures, freedom, the situation of women, and so on. Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless. To Westerners, I similarly repeat that the undeniable achievements of freedom and democracy should not make us forget murderous “civilizing missions,” colonization, the destructive economic order, racism, discrimination, acquiescent relations with the worst dictatorships, and other failings. Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless."
"Muslims often have psychologically integrated this perception (that is projected on them) and also refer to themselves as a “minority,”confusing the factual numbers of their religious community with the meaning and legal substance of their belonging as citizens. However, in the order of citizenship, of relationship to the law, or of the treatment of individuals, the minority concept is inoperative: there is no such thing as “minority citizenship”! They must therefore overcome this “minority”mind-set and fully participate in citizenship on an equal footing with the “majority.”"
"Muslims will be called upon to take responsibility for themselves and get rid of the victim mind-set. This is a major challenge: it is urgent to stop blaming “society-that-does-not-like-us” or “islamophobia” or “racism” and thereby justifying guilty passivity. That such phenomena exist cannot be denied, but Muslims must tackle them by getting involved as citizens and by fighting against injustice, racism, discrimination, populist stigmatization discourse, and hypocrisies."
"We all have to be consistent: guaranteeing women’s freedom entails accepting that they might make a choice one understands or another choice one does not understand."
"in France or in Britain, after three, four, or even five generations, people still speak of French or British citizens “of immigrant origin.” African American Muslims are still too African or too Muslim to be treated equally."
"We must elaborate a “post-integration” approach and discourse, revisiting the way in which people represent and analyze themselves and thereby taking into account the transformations in Western societies."
"at the national level, many political parties claim that religious affiliation should be distinguished from citizenship: yet on the local level one can observe that practices are quite different and that officials and representatives not only take religious affiliation into account but also rely on that feeling to attract votes or appeal to voters."
"The scientific, legal, philosophical, and religious input of Muslim scholars and intellectuals has been overlooked to such an extent—both in the collective memory and in school syllabi—that one cannot but see this as an ideological choice in the process leading to self-construction."
"Discourse and policies that instrumentalize fear and play on polarization to win elections may indeed attract confused, anxious citizens in the short run, but they are dangerous, inoperative, and misleading and dishonest in the long run."
"What used to be said about Jews (doublespeak, double allegiance, and obscure connections with “international Judaism”) is now reproduced in almost similar terms about Muslims..."
"It is easy to think of oneself as “open”in a universe peopled with always the same citizens and friends, and where openness is thought rather than actually experienced. Mental ghettos are not mirages; they actually exist in palpable reality: being “open”inside one’s mental or intellectual ghetto does not open its door but simply allows one to harbor the illusion that there is no ghetto and no door. The most dangerous prisons are those with invisible bars."
"This is what I have called the three “Ls,” which Muslim citizens have now acquired: mastering the national language, respecting the law, and (even) maintaining critical loyalty to their society."
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