Posted on 07/29/2004 10:28:51 AM PDT by nypokerface
Paris (CNSNews.com) - A Swiss-born Muslim scholar scheduled to begin teaching at a U.S. university next month is a controversial figure in Europe, where he is accused of anti-Semitism and advocating violence against women.
Tariq Ramadan plans to teach at Indiana's Notre Dame University, instructing students on Islam, conflict and peace building.
Ramadan is the grandson of Hassan Al-Banna, the Egyptian founder of the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
With a perfect command of the language and a tailored western look, he is well-known in France, where disaffected Muslim youths listen to his speeches on Islamic pride. But some municipalities have barred him from speaking because he is considered a threat to public order.
Ramadan has denied allegations in the French media that European agencies suspect him of meeting with senior al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Geneva, in 1991.
Late last year, in a television debate with French government minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Ramadan refused to condemn "lapidation" - the stoning of adulterous women, a punishment that is carried out under strict interpretations of the Koran.
A public outcry followed the publication of an article in which Ramadan accused French intellectuals of being pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian purely for sectarian reasons -- that is, because they were Jewish. They were placing their religion above their obligation as scholars, he charged.
Not all the intellectuals he singled out were, in fact, Jews. The article brought him vitriol at a time when France has seen a rise in anti-Jewish violence, often originating in the Muslim community.
"His thoughts seem European and appeal to Muslims living in the West," said Yonathan Arfi, president of the Union of Jewish Students of France. "And then he talks about 'lapidation.' We took a long time to understand his discourse, but now he has been unmasked."
In August, Ramadan will go to Notre Dame University on a tenured appointment to teach about Islam.
Scott Appleby, director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the Catholic institution, said he was aware of the controversy surrounding Ramadan.
"If we felt Tariq Ramadan were anti-Semitic or opposed to women or an advocate of violence, those would be barriers to him joining our faculty," he said. "We don't believe that those are fair accusations."
Appleby said that since 9/11 there is a greater awareness in the U.S. of the need to better understand Islam and communicate with Muslims - particularly those who have views that are very different from standard western ones.
"We find Ramadan to be an important and influential intellectual who is attempting to speak to two different and disparate audiences - to the West, so far primarily to France and Switzerland in western Europe; and to the Muslim world, in the West and beyond it."
Appleby said there was a great deal of curiosity on the Notre Dame campus about Ramadan and what he would be teaching.
"There's a general concern about Islam and the need to understand it better and for this, we need to have people who are Muslims and Muslim intellectuals."
Ramadan, who did not reply to a request for an interview, has described himself as a liberal progressive who helps Muslims adapt traditional Islam to their daily westernized lives.
But some analysts have accused him of hiding an Islamist agenda.
Last January, he complained that his freedom of speech was being violated after several French cities, including a neighborhood in Paris, refused to rent him halls for speaking engagements because they deemed his presence to be a security threat.
His talks on Islam have made him somewhat of an icon to Muslim youth, who are in search of an identity in a French society that has failed to integrate them socially and economically.
France has one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe, about five million-strong, comprising mostly immigrant workers from North Africa and their descendents.
In other words, he's a modern day Muslim.
One question.......WHY?
Spot on.
When he gets here maybe someone will throw him out a highrise window.
A Swiss-born Muslim scholar scheduled to begin teaching at a U.S. university next month is a controversial figure in Europe, where he is accused of anti-Semitism and advocating violence against women.
Tariq Ramadan plans to teach at Indiana's Notre Dame University, instructing students on Islam, conflict and peace building.
The following should be on the required reading list:
"lapidation"? A fancy French word for stoning, I suppose.
LOL! This guy must have a nice fat grant all ready for him, probably paid for out of a Saudi charity.
That's just a run-of-the-mill, steaming pile of a raghead who can read more than 5 words in Arabic, knows more than 10 ways to murder a defenseless hostage, and is familiar with more than 15 positions with livestock, willing or otherwise.
Stinking retrograde moronic cult of death.
A 'catholic' university that welcomes instruction on Islam as part of its course offerings. Like other CINO colleges and universities, this one is sliding down that slippery slope. Here is yet one other example of this university's support for those on the fringe ...
A Blessing For Going Away To College
May the autumn leaves carpet
beneath your feet
and the angels lead you through
the class day maze.
May your homecoming time be extra sweet and your heart warm with Indian summer days.
Like Jesus may you grow in wisdom,
age and grace.
May you learn to read and write
and think and sing.
May you swiftly run in learning's rapid race and God's kind love to all your roommates bring.
May God hold you in the palm of
his hand until we meet again.
And keep you safe and well.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
by Andrew Greely
Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list
The last thing we need is more Islamic "scholars."
When will this stupid country wake the hell up?
After a nuclear blast?
http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/su2004/ramadan.html
A Muslim scholar rated by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world joins the Notre Dame faculty this fall.
Tariq Ramadan is expected to teach Islamic philosophy and ethics in the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He'll hold the Luce Chair in Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding, a full-time, tenured position.
Ramadan's appointment has drawn plenty attention. In its April 26 edition, Time said that in the past five years Ramadan had become highly influential among Muslims throughout Europe. He often writes and lectures about how Muslims can remain true to their religion and culture in the modern world.
His views are both liked and disliked by many, according to an article by Chicago Tribune religion reporter Geneive Abdo. His grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, founded an influential conservative religious and political organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1928. The grandson's views, Abdo writes, are considered too conservative by some Muslim modernists and too modern by Muslim traditionalists, including his grandfather's followers.
Some Jewish leaders accuse him of being anti-Semitic for criticizing the Israeli occupation of land claimed by Palestinians. But Scott Appleby, Regan Director of the Kroc Institute, said that accusation is unfounded. Appleby also said the Kroc Institute is committed to "engaging a variety of influential voices and perspectives" in seeking alternatives to violent conflict and that Ramadan is "but one of many such voices."
(July 2004)
Actually, Saudi Arabia doesn't have to worry, because few Jesuits seem to know or care much about Christianity in any case.
Why? Because the Islamics have paid to fund his "chair"-- It's not as if Our Lady could turn down some oil cash.
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