Tariq Ramadan ...

Submitted by Tim Holmes (United Kingdom), Jul 16, 2005 at 20:31

Mr Ramadan has responded at some length to these allegations, and in some detail
(http://www.tariqramadan.com/article.php3?id_article=0068&lang=en).

One example:

"Nothing of what I said about al-Turabi's policies is remotely favorable. After visiting Sudan in 1994, I wrote: "Nonetheless, one must clearly say that the present regime does not offer minimal guarantees for political pluralism, that opposition parties are muzzled and that cronyism is the rule. Muslims are called to remain vigilant, for the opposition of the United States and Israel is not enough to support the `Islamic' character of a project.""

Among other things Ramadan has written, for the record:

‘I never justified suicide bombings. My statements were always explicit. To kill innocent people is to be condemned. ... One can explain why it happened; it does not mean that one is justifying it. To explain is not to justify. This is my stand, this has always been my stand.';

And the following, of which a lot of people would do well to take note:

"The worst that can happen to a democratic society is to see its citizens being transformed to passive victims paralysed by fear. The proponents of the global clash of civilisations theory shall win if we accept to be individually colonised by emotional caricatures and suspicion towards people of other faiths and cultures."

Ramadan is, it seems to me, a voice of sanity, compassion and intellect; ...
Tim

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