“The U.S. government is so convinced that Tariq Ramadan is dangerous, it revoked the Muslim scholar’s visa to teach at the University of Notre Dame. Some in Europe think Ramadan is an anti-Semite who preaches moderation out of one side of his mouth and hate out of the other. Others, though, think he’s the man to reconcile Islam with modernity. So, who is right?”
Interview with Tariq Ramadan in Foreign Policy, November-December 2004
“On October 24, 2004, the liberal Arab websites www.elaph.com and www.metransparent.com published a manifesto written by Arab liberals, in which they petition the UN to establish an international tribunal which would prosecute terrorists, as well as people and institutions, primarily religious clerics, that incite terrorism.
“The idea to petition the U.N. with this request was raised by the Jordanian writer and researcher Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi in early September 2004, in response to the fatwa issued by Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi – one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and one of the most important religious authorities in Islamist circles – which called for the abduction and killing of US citizens in Iraq. The idea was developed and written up by Al-Nabulsi, Tunisian intellectual Al-‘Afif Al-Akhdhar, and former Iraqi Minister of Planning Dr. Jawad Hashem.”
MEMRI reports the launch of a widely publicised petition against the “sheikhs of terror”. The report omits to mention that the accusation against Qaradawi which prompted the petition – that he “called for the abduction and killing of US citizens in Iraq” – was in fact entirely false.
For Abu Aardvark’s demolition of the charge against Dr al-Qaradawi, see here.
For MEMRI’s Special Dispatch No.812, “Arab Liberals Petition the UN to Establish an International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Terrorists”, see here.
Parents and pupils in one of Britain’s largest Muslim communities have clashed with their council after the introduction of a ban on girls wearing strict Islamic dress to school. At least three girls are staying away from classes in protest at the ban in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Others face possible expulsion by continuing to wear the clothing in defiance of the restriction.
Angry cries from several far-left and Jewish student groups demanded Tariq Ramadan’s removal from the European Social Forum (ESF), which was held two weeks ago in London.
In an emergency motion put forth by the National Union of Students (NUS), the renowned European Islamic scholar was deemed a threat to student interests because of his support of Shari’ah (Islamic Law), which the resolution states “denies basic human rights for women and homosexuals.”
The move enraged Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), the umbrella federation group of student Islamic societies in Britain, who said it was passed without any sound proof or consultation with a Muslim organisation. “They provided no evidence whatsoever,” said Jamal El-Shayyal, an executive member of FOSIS.
“If any of these people were to read one chapter of Ramadan’s [book] To Be a European Muslim they would see that any of the accusations levelled against him are not only false but ludicrous. Particularly seeing as he has recently been promoted by the Foreign Office as a model for integration and positive participation in Western societies.”
“If you’re going to call Ramadan an extremist then who’s next?” he added.
A new study reveals one in four Americans still hold stereotypes of Muslims.
The study, sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, found many Americans still believe Muslims teach their children to hate and that they value life less than others.
“We have mixed feelings [about the poll]. On the one hand it’s disappointing to see there is such a high number of Americans holding negative views. It explains the animosity there is against Muslims both by the government and fellow Americans,” Director of the CAIR Chicago chapter Yaser Tabbara said.
Muslims number around 150 in the Bloomington-Normal area with about seven million across the United States. Since 9-11, the Muslim community has taken center stage in politics and the news.
“The media is the main source of these stereotypes. The news is sensational and a lot of people don’t have anything else to compare it to, so they are only getting that side of the story,” Tabbara said.
“Muslims are the new immigrant group and they have stereotypes against them like all other new immigrant groups did before us,” Tabbara added.
Addressing the European Social Forum in London on 16 October, Salma Yaqoob gave a brilliant speech in defence of the democratic right to wear the hijab. A transcript can be read here on the website of the National Assembly Against Racism.
Interview with Tariq Ramadan in Egypt Today, October 2004
Portrait of Tariq Ramadan in the New York Times, 6 October 2004
According to a poll released today by a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, 1-in-4 Americans believes a number of anti-Muslim stereotypes and negative images of Muslims are 16 times more prevalent than positive ones.
SEE: http://www.cair-net.org/downloads/pollresults.ppt
The poll, sponsored by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and conducted by an independent research firm, was designed to understand what Americans think about Muslims, identify variables associated with anti-Muslim prejudice and to seek out ways in which to combat the Islamophobic prejudice that often leads to discrimination or even hate crimes.
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi should be congratulated, not branded “extremist”.