Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan (25 page)

Tariq Ramadan is, indeed, highly critical of the situation of women in
Saudi Arabia, but only as a prelude to his approbation of women's status in
another country that he considers to be a model of its kind: Iran! "Iranian
society today is, compared to other Muslim societies, the most advanced
as concerns the promotion of women," he explained, in all seriousness, in
one of his recorded lectures.55 He returned to the issue in his book of inter views with Neirynck, republished in 2004: "It must be said that Iran is,
without doubt, one of the Muslim countries that has done the most, over
the last twenty years, in terms of advancing women's rights."5G Sure of himself, and without ever encountering opposition, Ramadan insists on presenting Iran as the country "in the vanguard" when it comes to women's
rights in the Muslim world, way ahead of Saudi Arabia (agreed) and Egypt
(possibly), but also far ahead of Tunisia! Which is nothing but out-and-out
propaganda, for Tunisia is widely considered to have the most progressive Family Code in the Muslim world, so far as womeris rights are concerned, thanks to its secular institutions. But that is the nub of the problem. Tariq Ramadan does not think in terms of equality, and he is not in
the least bothered by the segregation that prevails in Iran. He forgets to
explain that, if Iran has made tremendous progress, it is because it had
such a long way to go. And even if Iranian women have begun appearing in
the public domain, this has taken place under a sexist, segregated dictatorship that denies them access to certain professions (as, for example, sitting
as a judge) in the name of decency and respect for their "nature."

Tariq Ramadan encourages women to take part in the Islamic renaissance,
but their participation is always subject to their remaining good mothers
and faithful wives. It is what he calls "balancing one's commitments"; that
is to say, the family is the number one priority for women: "No liberation
for women if it's detrimental to the family."57 This is a demand that he also
makes of men, but there is no secret as to who is to be sacrificed first. As he
puts it: "The family is the core of social organization and the core of the Muslim community. We consider it to be the fundamental ingredient."58 The fact
of considering the family as the basic element of social organization is not in
itself reactionary. It only becomes reactionary when the concept of the family
is reduced to a traditional, hetero-patriarchal definition, in which the family
stands as a citadel besieged by modernism and threatened both by the redistribution of male and female roles due to feminism and by the development
of new parental models. And it is to counter this evolution, which is part of progress and modernity, that Ramadan calls for the defense of the "traditional" family. "We will take up the struggle; we will be resistance fighters; we
intend to spread the idea of what is called the traditional family."59 And he
provides the definition: "What we want is a daddy, a mummy, and children
that establish just that sort of harmony. There's nothing worse than singleparent families. There's nothing gloomier than people who try to bring up
their children alone." Unlike strict Catholicism, Islam allows for divorce, but
Ramadan makes a point of citing this hadith: "Of all the things permitted by
God, it is the most detestable!"60 And he adds: "When you see that, in some
Western societies, two marriages in three end in divorce, it's terrifying!"

The defense of the family is a war waged as if civilization were at stake.
Tariq Ramadan asserts that "in all Western countries, the origins of catastrophe and breakdown are not in the economy, drugs or delinquency, but at the
level of the family."61 Which does not keep him from subsequently linking
the decline of the family with juvenile delinquency and drugs, as would any
Christian activist of the extreme Right.62 In 1988, the magazine Itineraires, a
Christian political fundamentalist publication, sent out this call to women:
"Make of your families mini-fortresses or, even better, houses of prayer and of
charity, that will stand up to the assaults of the world and its malevolence.""
Tariq Ramadan employs the same mystical, melodramatic tone when urging
women to protect their families against the evils that hover over them: "The
enemy is invisible, just as the devil is invisible; but the enemy is tangible, just
as the devil is tangible and real."64 The preacher is all the more tempted to
treat the family as a citadel under siege because he himself grew up in a family in exile, in a family that considered itself beset by adversity. It is almost as
ifhe were bequeathing his own family fears to his Muslim followers when he
declared, in emotional tones: "The family, yes the family! I care about it and
all ofus care about it, and we will fight for it; it's a battle; it's the personal jihad
of every one of us."G5

In a cassette on "Married life in Islam," Tariq Ramadan gives us his definition of the ideal couple: A Muslim couple must be made up of a man who has faith and a woman who has faith."66 The statement can be taken in two
ways: either as a means of encouraging religious practice, or as a refusal
to countenance mixed marriages, since it is a common faith that unites
the couple. Tariq Ramadan promises women a peaceful home if they submit to God and conform to the family model proposed by Islam: "I promise that you will transform your household if you first transform your own
self-if you display to your husband, to your children, to your entourage, to
your relatives, that faith has made of you a being who ascends and not one
content with mere appearances."67 Advice that should be taken as encouragement to behave with decency, which means wearing a headscarf, and,
above all, not seeking professional recognition that could be prejudicial to
home and husband. Under the pretext of offering women a "balanced" family model, it is meri s interests that Ramadan has in mind: "We want wives
that are pious. The best thing that can be granted a man is a pious wife.
And the best thing that can be granted a woman is to be pious."68 A statement punctuated by cries of `Allah Akbar!" that rose from the Ivory Coast
audience listening to his speech.

Within the family, consisting of a man offaith and a woman offaith, Ramadan insists on the maternal role: "The heart of the family, it's the mother. ,61
He often repeats the two hadiths that reveal with what emotion Mohammed,
who was an orphan, evoked the image of the mother. The first reads "paradise is at the feet of one's mother." The second gives Mohammed's reply to
someone who asks ofhim: "To whom do I owe respect?" And the reply: "Your
mother, your mother, your mother, and then your father." This way of honoring the mother, while it is tenderhearted, obviously has nothing very feminist about it. It belongs to the classic patriarchal repertoire, by which women
are given an almost domineering role within the household, so that they forget all that is denied them in the outside world. Shortly after having recalled
these two admirable hadiths, Tariq Ramadan sets things straight: "One has
heard it said that women must be obedient to men, and it's an excuse to
do just about anything! But a woman is to obey a man only if he is a model
Muslim."70 Let us be clear what he means. The statement can appear positive, in that Tariq Ramadan is coming to the defense of women confronted by potentially violent husbands, but it also reminds us that this compassion
for women is worlds apart from accepting the principle of equality between
the sexes; it argues for a relation of complementarity, in which the woman
obeys the man if the man obeys God. It can bring to mind what St. Paul said:
"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head
of the woman is man.,7 'Tariq Ramadan is of the same opinion when he says
he wants to see "paternal authority" within the family reaffirmed.72 "Islam
proposes a setting that fosters a global conception of human beings, of men,
women, and the family. Two principles are vital: the first affirms the equality of men and women in the eyes of God; the second affirms their complementarity within society. In terms of this conception, it is the husband that is
responsible for managing the household, but the mother's role is central. ,71
On the face of it, the aim is to reassure the father and have him participate
more actively,but obviously the statement's primary effect is to reactivate the
good old patriarchal reflexes.

"One thing that we hold fast to, even today in our contemporary societies, where people have lost their bearings, is that there exists in Islam the conviction that a man is responsible for his household in financial terms and is
responsible for guiding it."74 It is on the basis of this conception of the couple that fatwa number 32, published by the European Fatwa Council with a
preface by Tariq Ramadan, authorized husbands to act like domestic tyrants:
"The husband has the right to forbid his wife to visit certain women, Muslim or not, if he fears that it will be prejudicial or harmful to his wife, his children or his marital life."75 Tariq Ramadan can repeat as often as he likes that
"being responsible isit being a dictator," but it is clear that, even if he is in
favor of dialogue and exchange between the couple, he is defending a particularly patriarchal and reactionary model.

Unlike Christian fundamentalists, Muslim fundamentalists have, in theory,
no qualms about speaking of sex. Even Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood's theologian, who preaches on Al-Jazeera TV, is known for his juicy
sexual metaphors. As Gilles Kepel put it: "Islam has never been encumbered by our Victorian prudishness, for while zina (fornication) is condemned on
all sides-which results in an apparent desexualization of public societysex, once it is within the law, is considered an excellent thing, since it provides pleasure (for men at any rate) and perpetuates the species."76 Heir to
the tradition inaugurated by a Prophet who was keen on women, Tariq Ramadan encourages Muslim men to think of sex as something natural, and even
to take women's feelings into account. "Don't be brusque." But removing the
guilt attached to sexuality has its limits. While they are far from devoting a
cult to chastity (as do fundamentalist Christians, following St. Paul's example), Muslim fundamentalists live in constant fear of engaging in unlawful
sexual acts. Websites such as Fatwa Bank or Fatwa-Online are inundated with
questions that reveal a fear of transgression-a fear that the Islamist leaders are keen to foster. Even in marriage, relations are so codified that certain
Islamic publishing houses have specialized in producing instruction manuals. For instance, Le manage en Islam: Modalites et finalites [Marriage in Islam:
Means and Ends]-a manual you can find in any Islamist bookshop associated with the Muslim Brotherhood-recommends reciting an invocation
before sexual relations: "When one of you approaches his wife, if he says to
himself: `In the name of God, 0 God, keep Satan away from all that you will
give us,' and if a child is then granted you, Satan will be helpless to harm him
and will have no power over him." 77

Confronted by this avalanche of taboos, all the more agonizing because
they are vaguely worded, Tariq Ramadan seems to provide an alternative
for these youngsters, terrified lest they confound what is haram (illicit) with
what is halal (licit). He disapproves ofthe binary, systematic way of approaching a religion that he sees, above all, as "a religion of the heart": "How have
we come to make of Islam a technical system of rules and regulations?" he
asked, in vexed tones, ofhis Muslim audience, which was relieved to hear this
sort of language.78 Unfortunately, the let-up was not to last for long. For the
open-mindedness that Tariq Ramadan displays is only superficial. In content
he says exactly the same things as is written in the books he refers to, published by houses with which he is on good terms. The rules-Yusuf al-Qar-
adawi's speciality-governing what is "licit or illicit," end up being applied. Ramadan asks of young people "an Islamic conception of sexuality," that is
to say "exclusively within the context of marriage."79 He is ready to admit that
sexuality is "a natural need," but he asks his followers to exercise self-control
"in order to remain worthy in the eyes of God." "Sexuality is natural; it is to
be lived naturally," he asserts, before insisting on the necessity of remaining
chaste until marriage.

The fact of "exercising self-control until marriage" is presented as a gift
comparable to the alms given to "him or her that one loves in the eyes of
God,"'° which is exactly the approach taken by traditionalist Christians. A few
years ago, I interviewed a young activist in the movement Love and Truth, an
association responsible for promulgating the Catholic Churchs position on
chastity. He explained his point of view in the same terms.', To be sure, abstinence is a perfectly respectable choice, so long as one does not try to make
those who have another conception of sexuality feel guilty, especially at a
time when talking openly is essential because of the threat of AIDS. What
does Tariq Ramadan have to say on the subject? Does he take advantage of
his unbelievable prestige to advise young Muslims to "protect" themselves? I
have never heard him pronounce the words `AIDS" or "condom' in his talks
on sexuality. No doubt because, as with the Catholic Church, he considers
that the model he proposes provides the remedy in itself: abstinence, then
faithfulness, and too bad for those who lose their way.

On the other hand, unlike many fundamentalist Christians, he has nothing against contraception by natural means, so long as it is between married
couples. Mohammed himself permitted one of his contemporaries to practice coitus interruptus so as to avoid his wife becoming pregnant once again.
Tariq Ramadan specifies that it must be "a natural form of contraception' that
is no danger to health, and that it must be performed with the wife's consent.
He remained, however, sufficiently vague for a member ofthe audience to feel
it necessary to ask him if contraception involving anything other than natural
means was authorized. His reply: A man and a woman have sexual relations
in the framework of a marriage with the idea offounding a family ... buts chol-
ars are in favor of all forms of contraception that respect Islamic values ."12
Which hardly made things crystal clear. In the event, it turns out that "Islamic values" authorize contraception if a couple already have too many children,
but not if it is a question merely of protecting what Ramadan calls "a couple"s
selfishness." One suspects also that artificial contraception is authorized if
there is no health risk or danger of permanent sterilization. On the other
hand, at no point in his conference on the "Islamic conception of sexuality"
does he say a word about abortion. To know more, the faithful are obliged to
solicit the opinion of the European Fatwa Council, the theological apparatus
ofthe Union of Islamic Organizations of France. In one case, Yousouflbram,
a Union militant, issued afatwa refusing to grant the right of abortion to a
woman who had asked his advice, a mother of four children who could not
stand being constantly pregnant year after year.83 The Council's fatwa number
22-published in the selfsame book that has a preface by Tariq Ramadan-reiterated that recourse to abortion was forbidden: `Abortion is illicit in terms
of the Islamic sharia"84-an opinion confirmed by Ramadan himself in his
book of interviews with Jacques Neirynck: `Abortion is forbidden, except in
cases where scholars have unanimously decided that the life of the mother is
in danger."85 Christian "scholars" have ignited controversy for less than that.