Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan (23 page)

It is a question to ask of the fundamentalists. Even though they say their
only intention is to conform scrupulously to the Prophet's precepts, they do
everything they can to make things more confining for women. The headto-toe veil that its advocates call the niqab-a veil that covers the whole body,
with the exception of two little slits for the eyes-is never mentioned in the
Koran. Insisting that it be worn is a way for radical Muslims to prove that,
unlike Western husbands, they are masters over their wives. Similarly, it is
not because of Islam, but because of Islamism, that some Muslim women,
in defiance of Western values, began once again wearing the hijab towards
the end of the twentieth century, even though this tradition had almost disappeared. Even if a woman wanted to respect the Prophet's advice, why could
she not wear a hat or a wig? Why is she obliged to wear a burqa or a chador,
dark clothes that cover the body from head to toe even when it is 4o degrees
centigrade in the shade? Qaradawi, the scholar most frequently cited by Tariq
Ramadan, has an explanation: "This garment must not resemble what is
worn by infidels, Jewesses, Christian women, and idolaters. The attempt to
imitate these women is forbidden in Islam, which requires that Muslims be
different and independent in both their appearance and being. That is why
the Prophet decreed doing the opposite of what infidels do."'

This example shows that, despite their proclaimed objectives, the Muslim
fundamentalists' insistence on strict religious obedience is less an attempt
to follow in Mohammed's footsteps than a means to oppose and resist Western values. Their rhetoric varies according to the context and the immediate needs. Khomeini-when it was not a question of building an Islamic
state, but, on the contrary, of enlisting the support of women who could help
him take power from the Shah-declared: "There is absolutely no difference
between men and women." And he added: `According to Islam, women must
wear the headscarf, but are not obliged to wear the chador. A woman can
choose any kind of clothing to serve as a veil."9 During this period, the future
ayatollah even promised women education, freedom to travel, and the right
to take part in economic activities-promises that he lost no time in breaking
once his theocratic dictatorship was established. Less than one month after
coming to power, on March 7, 1979, Khomeini adopted the slogan "a veil or a crack on the skull." As for his successor, Khatami, even though he promised change, he never revised the policy. On the contrary, his two counselors,
Massoumeh Ebtekar and Zahra Chodja'i, reaffirmed that the chador was "the
superior form of national dress for Iranian women."

What did Ramadan, the great "reformer," do when faced with this crude
and sexist exploitation of the veil? He did nothing to influence the use made
of the veil in Iran; quite the reverse, for Iran was a model when it came to
"promoting women.i10 We return later to this subject. On the other hand,
in all that he has written, and in all his conferences, he savagely attacks the
Muslim moderates who try to oppose what Leila Babes calls "the doxa of the
veil," that is to say, a dogmatic conception in the service of political ambitions, rather than respect for the original intention of the Koran." He berates
the liberal reformers who are faithful to the spirit, and not the letter, of this
Koranic precept. The liberal Muslims interpret the two verses that deal with
the veil as expressing the desire to protect women from "offense." In keeping
with this intention, they encourage everything that can protect a woman and
promote her integration into society. From this perspective, whereas, in the
context of seventh-century Arabia, the veil served as a shield and a sign of discretion, in the context of twenty-first century Europe it has the opposite effect:
not only is it openly provocative, but it can be a social handicap that, far from
protecting women, renders them more vulnerable. Soheib Bencheikh, the
Marseille mufti, puts it this way: "Paradoxically, today what protects young
women s personality and promises them a future is schooling. It is by learning that women can defend themselves from offense to their femininity and
their dignity. Today, the veil for Muslim women in France is the school-secular, compulsory, and free. 1112

This is not at all how Tariq Ramadan sees things. Even if he claims to be
interpreting the spirit of the Koran and not the letter, he reads these verses
literally and considers that a worthy Muslim woman must wear a headscarf
that covers her hair: `According to scholars ... it's an obligation in Islam.""
To be sure, he immediately adds: "The headscarf is an obligation, but it cannot be forced on someone."14 Here we touch on the very heart of Ramadans
rhetoric, a subtle blend of "voluntary coercion." He knows perfectly well how, in order not to antagonize young European Muslim women, to speak of the
headscarf as an object of pride and not of submission. There is no question of
forcing it on them, but rather of making them understand on their own how
much freer they will feel by willingly adopting this symbol of submission to
Islam. "The veil is an act of faith," but "it took fifteen years [after the coming
of the Prophet] to have women understand it as such," he explained.'-' Taking
this as an example, Tariq Ramadan claims to respect women who make the
effort to similarly "discover their way." Even if, of course, there is no question
of their getting lost in transit. In terms of "discovering their way," it would be
more accurate to speak of finding the way mapped out for them. For if Ramadan speaks of respecting the "stages of faith," then the wearing of the headscarf stands as the final stage for all women who aspire to be good Muslims.
"There are women who have gone the whole way and who wear the headscarf. It's a good thing. Next to this there are, to be sure, women who are still
seeking their way .... They cant be forced to wear it, but there is one thing on
which we must all agree if we want to create a real Muslim community-one
thing that is a necessity for all of us-and that is decency." 16 In a word, a Muslim is not forced to wear the headscarf right away, but a good Muslim must be
chaste. And the height of chastity is the wearing of the headscarf. How many
of his sisters would turn down the chance of appearing as the ideal Muslim
in the eyes of Tariq Ramadan? Certainly not those who have a hand in running the Muslim associations influenced by the preacher, all ofwhom end up
wearing the Islamic headscarf.

In the last fifteen years, the preacher has persuaded many young girls to wear
the Islamic headscarf-a concrete illustration of the profoundly conservative influence he wields. Whereas the 1989 cases in France concerned young
girls forced to wear the headscarf because of family pressure, recent cases
have had to do with young girls firmly determined to wear the headscarf in
the face of their family's disapproval.

The immigrant women of the first generation wore the headscarf in the
traditional manner. Their daughters, because they had been to school and were in contact with secular society, wanted to be free of these traditions. The
third generation-totally integrated and, for the most part, culturally assimilated-suddenly took to wearing the headscarf as a reproof to their mothers, even if they did not always understand its religious significance, but saw
it rather as a symbol of pride in a newly discovered identity. The October 14,
2003 edition of Le Monde published a long report on young girls who wore the
headscarf "from choice." Included was a particularly lively exchange between
Leila, sixteen years old, and her mother of Moroccan origin. The latter simply could not understand why her daughter insisted on wearing such a cumbersome headpiece at her young age: "You're not the sort of girl to be pushed
around. You're not submissive." Leila's reply: "I am submissive to God." The
exchange tells us a lot about the family quarrels set off by those who take
advantage of the generation gap to encourage young girls to wear the headscarf despite their parents' advice. It so happens that Leila had been attending
the UOIF mosque in La Courneuve. She had thus been fed sermons encouraging the abandonment of tradition for the Ramadan brothers' version of
Salafist reformism. Her father, Algerian by birth, was so upset at this radical turn of events that he threatened to throw out any headscarves he could
lay his hands on! As for Leila, she just kept repeating over and over again that
it was "her choice," In reality, even if they are determined, these young girls
have not always taken the time to study the matter or to think it over before
making a choice that will be decisive in the formation of their identity as a
woman. In the same article, we are introduced to Nadia, whose parents are
active supporters of the UOIF. At the age of seventeen, she had just been
expelled from the Saint-Ouen lycee, where she was a student in the "economics and society" program, for having refused to remove her headscarf as was
required by school rules. For her, wearing the headscarf was a religious duty,
and therefore non-negotiable. However, when the reporter asked her on what
verses of the Koran she based her decision, the young girl was embarrassed.
She searched in her room, returned with Hani Ramadan s books and Tariq
Ramadans cassettes, then tried to find the right verses in the Koran, but without success. Never mind, it's written there, "she's sure of that." Later on, she
wants to be a schoolteacher but only if she can keep on wearing her head scarf. Meanwhile, she would rather take correspondence courses or go to a
private school than take the headscarf off and return to the lycee. Tariq Ramadan would not be the one to dissuade her.

One of the fifty demands in the program of the Muslim Brotherhood is
that it is necessary "to combat all forms of provocative or ostentatious behavior and to summon women, in particular teachers, schoolgirls, students,
doctors, etc., to behave respectfully."17 Tariq Ramadan is in full agreement.
Whereas the fight against forced marriage is not one of his priorities, this
issue certainly is. In one of his cassettes on the "duty of women to participate," he warmly encourages women not to be intimidated, to wear the headscarf, and to go to court if this right is denied them: "It's also necessary to call
on the law and on our rights, so that we're taken seriously in those terms." "'
He added that it is out of the question to give way in the face of difficulty, or
through fear ofhaving "problems with colleagues" or "at school." Paying tribute to the young girls who had demonstrated "the courage it takes," he asked
the Muslim community to support them: "They need to have the community behind them." In this regard, the Geneva Islamic Center worked hard
to encourage Swiss schoolmistresses to come to class wearing the headscarf
and to target regulations forbidding teachers to display their religious preferences in class. Whenever a case concerning the Islamic headscarf makes
headlines, Tariq Ramadan and his brother are not far off. In his role as spokesman for the outside world, the preacher makes a point of explaining to Muslims how to justify their decision, so as to bring about change, have the headscarf worn more and more frequently, and then have it finally accepted: "The
more we make ourselves known, the more women with their hyab make their
appearance in society and in debates, explaining their approach, explaining
who they are ... the more the mentality will evolve and the more things will
change.""

On this point, there is one thing Tariq Ramadan understands: a woman
who stands up in favor of the Islamic headscarf is far more credible than a
man. He knows full well that his vision of society, patriarchal and religious
in nature, could not take hold unless it is backed by women: "We are not
regarded as credible when we speak for women ...... he explained to his fol- lowers.20 Hence the idea of "developing a discourse" to be produced for and
by women: "I promise that when a woman speaks, when she is understood,
when she says: `Listen to me, the headscarf I wear, it's not forced on me by my
father, it's not forced on me by my husband, it's a requirement of my faith,
and an act of my heart. I ask all of you who look at me to consider me as a
human being and not simply as a body; to see that I am made for God and not
for your eyes ...' Well, when women speak this way, I promise you they will
have an effect on a great many women, for there are a great many women in
the West and elsewhere that suffer from having become objects ...."21 That
should be sufficient to convince husbands that it's worth letting their wives
speak to journalists. Acting as the benevolent elder brother, Tariq Ramadan
induces women to speak in moving terms: "You are witness to a totally new
way of speaking: be human beings who will become beings in the eyes ofhim
who accompanies them." He suggests that they put things this way: "I don't
want to be looked at any old way. I order you, I require you, I command you to
respect what is in my heart. That is the message of women for the future."22

One can catch a glimpse of the future that Tariq Ramadan envisages for
women by taking a look at the way his acolytes are treated. Malika is more or
less his "second in command." He taught her everything she knows, and she
follows him everywhere, carrying his personal belongings and his briefcase.
Jacqueline Costa-Lascoux remembers having known her during the period
she was with Tariq Ramadan at the Education League. She was struck by
Malika's evolution, by the way she become more and more discreet, even
self-effacing: "In the beginning she would often intervene. Then she came
wearing a headscarf, then two headscarves, and then three. In the end, she
made a habit of sitting at the back of the room and no longer taking the floor.
One day I asked her what had become of her plan to be a teacher. She replied:
`I let it drop. With the headscarf they would never hire me. -23 No matter. .
. Like other disciples of Tariq Ramadan, she can always serve as one of the
preacher's spokeswomen. Or be like Asma Lamrabet, who published a book,
Musulmane tout simplement [A Muslim Woman, No More, No Less], that urged
women to discover "Islamic feminism."24 The contents were "cut and pasted"
from Tariq Ramadan's lectures.