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Professor Tariq Ramadan is a man of no need to introduction. He holds MA in Philosophy and French literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva. In Cairo, Egypt he received one-on-one intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars. Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony’s College ). He is also teaching at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. He is at the same time a Visiting Professor in Qatar (Faculty of Islamic Studies) and in Morocco (Mundiapolis) and a Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan).[/symple_box]
The day after a sad day … 17 people killed in total. Such violence. Our sympathy to the victims’ families again. Nothing can justify these horrors, again and again.
The day after, we must be dignified, wise and determined to defend our principles, the value of life, justice, equality, rejection of all forms of racism, freedom of expression. Nevertheless, it requires from us not to fall into the simplistic emotional reaction: “You are either with us or against us” that G.W. Bush wanted to impose unto us with no room for reflection, questioning and/or criticism from the reasonable reason. The day after … requires our collective lucidity.
The day before … “the great march of unity” in Paris, it is imperative not to be mistaken as to our slogans or questions. To experience such a gathering through an emotional momentum condemning the murders and reducing it to a support for freedom of expression (in Charlie’s style) will not be a French or a European pledge of unity. Unity must be based on both our common values and our legitimate questions that we need to address together.
The unity and union of citizens are superficial if they consist only on reacting, with our heart, to tragedies (or sport victories). Tomorrow everything can start again, with serious and deep fractures. Unity in diversity requires that all beings, men and women, of all colors, all religions or no religion, be invited in an egalitarian way – daily – to speak, to be heard and to share their hopes, questions, doubts, frustrations and criticisms, both nationally and internationally: the freedom of expression within a nation must be equality of expression for those who constitute it.
We must walk tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, for social justice, equal rights, respect for people, for all, everywhere and for everyone. There remains a real risk of being satisfied after having killed “the three murderers” and, yet, being blind to the objective reasons that are the source of the world’s violence, daily terrors that will continue to kill there, and here.
For the Presidents and Ministers to march two hours with their people is, per se, beautiful. Yet for the Presidents and Ministers to have the courage to instigate true national and international policies for equality, freedom and diversity, as to influence the march of History, this is the demanding request and hope of people striving for justice.
Peace has a price, this is the price. There, and here.
[symple_box]
Professor Tariq Ramadan is a man of no need to introduction. He holds MA in Philosophy and French literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva. In Cairo, Egypt he received one-on-one intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars. Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony’s College ). He is also teaching at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. He is at the same time a Visiting Professor in Qatar (Faculty of Islamic Studies) and in Morocco (Mundiapolis) and a Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan).[/symple_box]
