Religion and Theology

Who is Tariq Ramadan
Time magazine rated the Swiss scholar as one of the worlds top scientists and thinkers. Notre Dame University in Indiana gave him an offer to be one of its religion professors. His pedigree and talents made him well known. This offer was passed at the beginning of the year 2004, and he was given a work visa on February. However, on July 28, shortly before he could leave to America for the job, his work visa was revoked by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for National security interests and the safety of the public. According to DHS, he had used his prominence to endorse and expose terrorist acts. Five years down the line, in an open letter written by the members of faculty and the employees of Erasmus University Rotterdam in august 2009, shock had engulfed them due to the dismissal of the professor as a chair at the university and a renowned consultant (Lente, 2009). Tariq Ramadan is the man in question. He was born in Geneva in the year 1962. His birth in Geneva was as a result of his fathers escape from Egypt, following a Muslim brotherhood crackdown. The Muslim brotherhood is an Islamic institution which was formed in 1928 by his maternal grand father. Tariqs profession is teaching. He is in the academia field and also a writer on social, legal, political and religious issues. He is an activist scholar strongly in touch with the grassroots (Pipes, 2004).This essay will analyze the major works of Tariq Ramadan in relation to its influence in the society.

Reasons for his visa revocation and his dismissal from Erasmus
The DHS claimed that when the Sudanese politician Hassan Al-Turabi referred to him as The future of Islam, it was as a result of adoring Turabis brutal Islamists policies. In 1996, Tariq was banned from France as he was suspected of collaborating with an Algerian Islamist who was behind the initiation of a Paris terrorist campaign. According to a Spanish judge in 1999, he also had links with Ahmed Brahim for Al-Qaeda activities. Diamel Beghal, who had planned to ambush the Paris American Embassy, stated that he was Tariqs classmate. He is also a strong supporter of the claim that Bin laden was the mastermind behind the 911 USA bombings. The DHS accusation is supported by Jean-Charles Brisard, a French Intelligence Officer. In his work with some of the families affected by the 911 USA bombing, it is suspected that Tariq had a meeting with several Bin Laden supporters at a hotel in Geneva before the bombing. In addition, his address appears in an AlTaqwa bank in support of Islamic terrorism. There is also an intriguing possibility that Bin laden and Tariqs father were classmates and friends. Despite all the accusations, Tariq strongly states that they are unjustified as they result from political pressure (Pipes, 2004).

The Erasmus University had enough reasons for his dismissal. He is accused of hosting a programme financed by the Iranian government. According to the claims, it is not the content that matters, but his indirect relationship to the repressive Iranian regime. Despite his dismissal in Erasmus University, the students are interested in his lectures. He aids them in constructive and open debate, even if it means risking his life. He is also an expert who knows the west and the Muslim world. The students strongly feel that his dismissal goes against academic freedom. . (Lente, 2009).

The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikwan)
Hasan Al-Banna, Tariqs grandfather was the founder of this institution in 1924.The function of ikwan is to see that restoration of peace takes place. Unlike the past, the brotherhood has done away with violence and settled for better means in pursuing its goals. The objective of the brotherhood is Allah, being led by the prophet. Its law and way is the Quran and the jihad. Initially, it was a small group, which grew rapidly as its fame spread. Egypt was ready to collaborate with Germany so as to guide her in accessing the oil in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq, Iran and Arabia. This gave a great boost to the German war, which was however halted by Montgomery. Since then, the brotherhood tried all it could to destabilize the government of Egypt. However, most of its leaders were exiled, killed or jailed. Tariqs family therefore fled to Geneva, Switzerland and established an Islamic center where Tariq was born (Henrik, 2008).

Ramadans major ideas drawn from his works
All the works and thoughts of Ramadan roots from the claim that The one and only God, Allah, creator of the universe, twice offered revelations of His truth to humanity, twice saw these revelations corrupted in the course of human history, and, finally, conveyed the final revelation to an exemplary human, Prophet Muhammad, around whom a community of companions arose, taking pains to preserve this revelation, word for word, as a template for human action in the world (Sherman 2007). In his works, Ramadan brings out what Muhammad advocated for. Tariq talks about Muhammads faith and upholds him as a hero who could tolerate even non Muslims (Sherman, 2007).
     
Tariq states that his criticism has always been constructive. He has devoted a lot of his time in studying the Iranian political system and its internal dynamics and states that there is a very strong relationship between politics and religion in Iran. In addition, explores the issues without supporting the regime of Iran. He has never advocated for injustice or dictatorship in a Muslim society. Ramadan is a staunch Muslim believer who states that his work is to define ethics in relation to religion. His work emphasizes on his commitment to the principles of the Quran, that of freedom of conscience, religious diversity and respecting the differences in religion (Coleman, 2007).
         
French Secularism 
One of the major works of Tariq is the relationship between France and religion, and particularly the Islam religion. The ideas brought out in this work was that a number of laws were adopted by France in 1905.These laws limited religious expressions in the public sphere, particularly in all state institutions and in the school system. It was ensured that there was total separation between the state and religion. He argued that there was a lot of discrimination towards the French Muslims due to their religion. Improper meals were offered in schools and mosques were never constructed. He strongly supports the role of religion and its place in contemporary society. He denounces Muslims who separate religion and the state, and who consider religion as private (Coleman 2007).
       
Europe and Muslim
Ramadan wrote his book To be a European Muslim in 2003, supported by the Islamic foundation. According to his works on the relationship between Europe and Islam, contemporary Muslims must be citizens of their countries, witnesses to their beliefs and should have coherence in their actions. One has to be recognized by a society and understand its diversity so as to be confident. His ideas from this work were to convince the Muslim leaders that it was important for them to begin their on European reformation. They had to integrate so that they could feel at home (Ramadan, 2003).Tariq offers several philosophical arguments. He argues that Islam is a religion whish is universal and has a set of principles guiding it. He urges all people that there is no point in trying to decide whether the European culture can be integrated with Islam because there is freedom of worship in Europe. He argues that there is new development. He strongly states that there is nothing like minority, or what he commonly calls Second class in Europe. He urges them not to support those politicians who support building of mosques only when they need to be voted in, thus getting votes through the use of religion (Bechler, 2006).

Womens liberation  
We are not going to enter into the logic which unfolded itself in European countries, where women have struggled and become feminists against men.These are the hostile words of Tariq on women liberation. He ridicules feminism and is critical of the western society, which advocates for women to Become brick workers or lorry drivers to show that women are effectively liberated He states that the liberation of the women should not be a cause of ruined families. He strongly believes that women should be totally submissive to their husbands (Coleman, 2007).

On issues that pertain to the Muslim women dressing, he states that the veil (hijab) is supported by all Islam schools of thought. However, he objects that the word hijab is not in the Quran. To justify the hijab, he states that men are naturally weak, and therefore the veil serves as protection for the mens weakness. Women therefore have to be secretive of their bodies to protect men from lust. They should also avoid any use of ambiguous looks. Any woman who does this does not take a spiritual path (Coleman, 2007).

Physical violence against women and stoning
Tariq is against physical violence subjected to women when it is related to Islams name. He argues that a thorough debate should be held in the Muslim community so as to put to a halt to physical violence against women. One of the procedures he strongly advocates against is that of women, which he states that a final agreement should be reached on the said issue (Coleman, 2007).
       
Womens rights
Tariq Ramadan has a macho attitude regarding the right of women to work. He believes that women are not supposed to earn their living. If they should work and become financially independent, they are not supposed to have any financial duty in their homes. This is in a bid to show that women are less equal to their husbands. Certain sports are forbidden from women, especially those which unveil nakedness. One of these sports is swimming. He strongly condemns the idea of mixed swimming pools. He states that they are not supposed to exist (Coleman, 2007).
         
Jewish Intellectuals
In 2003, an article written by Tariq known as New communitarian intellectuals provoked a violent debate. It was written to criticize Israels support by the French Jewish intellectuals. He argues that the intellectual scenes of France are dominated by the Jews. He claims that the most crucial divisions are those of social communities, and not those of religious communities in France. He has previously claimed that he respects all the holy books, including the bible (Coleman, 2007).

Islamic censorship 
Tariq was a strong participant to stop Geneva from staging and financing a play which attacked fanaticism and religion and is against Christianity, and supports Islam. In this act, he is seen as favoring censorship. In his book To be a European Muslim, he declares that it is alright to watch and listen to music, look at photographs and watch cinemas as Muslims, but all these should agree with the ethics dictated by the Islam culture. Tariq calls for all Muslims to stand strong and advocate for censorship, as long as they adhere to Muslim values and cultures. He argues that Catholics do the same to ban all works of art which are against Christian morals (Coleman, 2007).
   
Sexuality, contraception, abortion and homosexuality 
Ramadan is against flirtation and premarital sex. He believes that when a woman and a man are in a room alone, they are taking risks, therefore they should avoid such situations. In relation to contraception, natural conception is the only way seen as true by Prophet Muhammad, and therefore should remain. On matters pertaining abortion, Tariq believes that no law should guarantee abortion, but Muslim authorities should be the decision makers on whether abortion should take place or not. Ramadan is strongly in opposition with homosexuality. Unlike in Europe, homosexuality in the Islam society is not tolerated. Tariq states that God is a God of order, and his order was that men were meant for women and vice versa (Coleman, 2007).
   
Controlling school programs
Tariq states that school programs should be controlled so as to transmit the correct Islam values. He states that the official curricula should be inculcated with the Islamic education. According to critics, if parents are allowed to manipulate the school curriculum to meet its wants, it would affect the critical thinking of children, their reasoning capacity and the development of their intellect. This is because the content of the curriculum will more or less be teaching religion. The students will have an attitude of segregating the other children from different religions (Coleman, 2007).
 
Marriage, polygamy and divorce
The clash between Muslim religion, Secular and Christian societies is a book written by Ramadan. According to his views, a man from the Muslim religion can marry a woman from any other religion, but the vice versa cannot happen. However, he states that mixed marriages are difficult, and therefore men should avoid them the best they can. Tariq does not forbid polygamy. According to him, a wife who does not accept polygamy should be ready to write a special clause in the marriage agreement forms. It is up to all women to speak for themselves, so that they will not be subject to any dehumanization. Ramadan strongly rejects divorce and states that God hates divorce, as stated in the Bible and the Quran (Coleman, 2007).
   
Reason, Science and Religion
Quran obliges us to think. These are the words of Tariq, who says that any Muslim is supposed to read the Quran with a lot of adoration as it is a source of intelligence and life. In a bid to hide the difference between religion and science, he uses the word scientists to refer to the Muslim theologians. Exact sciences can make any criminal mistakes, like they contributed to the use of atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Racism has even been justified by the various social sciences that exist. However, religious faith in the Bible, Quran and the Torah defy with science and reason (Coleman, 2007).
 
Reflections on Ramadans work
Tariq is a strong defender of his Muslim religion. He states that during President Obamas election campaign, Obama had to repeat severally that he was a Christian and not a Muslim, as if it was dangerous to the American people. During the first few months of his leadership, he respected the Islam and promised the closure of the Guantanamo bay. He states that Obama has to see them as people the Americans can learn from (Sheikhyermami, 2009). This shows he is ready to defend his religion, no matter what it takes, as it will be for the benefit of the Islam culture and the muslin religion.
         
Tariq has indeed been of great help to advocate for Muslim women. He has clearly shown that the hijab is not a compulsory form of dressing. He however states that the main reason is so as not to tempt men to lust. In a womens conference in South Africa, Tariq criticized the fact that women were not supposed to go to mosques (Saffiyah, 2009).
       
However, he seems to be degrading women when he states that a woman cannot be married to a man from another religion, while the vice versa can happen. A woman should not be seen as a lesser being, as this will only increase male chauvinism in any society. Once a woman is appreciated, she will perform better in any family, and the society will generally become better.
   
The school curriculum offered in schools determines to a large extent the kind of future that a society is going to have. Teaching Islam in the formal schools is not wrong. However, if it is taught as a means of self defense, that will be wrong as hatred will be passed on from the teachers to the students in regard to other religions.
       
Tariq is a strong supporter of Bin Laden. He strongly supports him even if he knows very well that he worked secretly behind the 911 USA bombings. According to his views on science, the Quran should be led with a lot of adoration as it is a source of intelligence. He seems to be saying that any person who reads the holy Quran is not capable of causing harm .This statement is contradictory as he supports Bin Laden who is one of the most wanted men in the world for Islamic terrorism acts.

Though Tariq is against separation of Islam and religion and terms it as French secularism, it has many positive aspects. It does away with religious conflicts which may arise in the public sphere. French citizens who are Muslims oppose him as they want equal rights as everyone else. The system of integrating Muslim and French has not failed as some critics say. This is because any society can solve it problems if they are creative and bold enough.

One of his most discussed works is the relationship of various regions in a society. All religions, be it the Jews, Arabs and Christians should strive more for social justice. This will help all societies to avoid intellectual, cultural, religious and mental veils, and work together as one. As the Holy Quran and the bible put it, God hates divorce. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every married couple to make sure that their marriages work. This will keep the family intact, and their children will not   have to suffer for lack of parental love.
     
If the society would adopt some of the Islam culture on women, then we would be living in a better society in terms of morality. Muslims strongly believe in virginity for girls before marriage. A woman is not supposed to tempt men seductively. A womans role is to be submissive. She should esteem the husband as the head of the household.

Tariq has been seen as one who brings life to Prophet Muhammad. This I because of his strong support of the Muslim religion, just like prophet Muhammad. A lot of lessons are learnt from his works. Though faced with a lot of criticism, he is a symbol of hope of the Muslim culture as he advocates for their rights. His aim is to make sure that they are not segregated in any way or viewed as inferior. He strongly believes that all religions and cultures can actually learn so much from each other. This will lead to a better society, and inter-religious wars will be unheard of.