Tariq Ramadan Considered Islam’s Modern Reformer

October 26, 2005

Source: The Herald

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/49511.html

On October 26, 2005 The Herald reported, "It is the lot of the prophet to be simultaneously vilified and acclaimed, and so it is with Tariq Ramadan, who is both the subject of visa refusals and the recipient of eager invitations from the West to explain the heart of darkness in the Muslim East. As for Ramadan himself, he acknowledges the very mention of his name is divisive: those trapped in religious or right-wing zealotry damning him as a heretic, those of liberal persuasion welcoming him as the Martin Luther of his ancient faith. The result is that the Swiss-born Islamic intellectual has emerged as a compelling enigma, which is why he will pack the debating chamber of the Oxford Union when he lectures there tonight. In Britain alone, during the past few months, Ramadan has reeled from pariah status to a recognition that his is the mobilising voice for an Islamic reformation. After the July bombings in London, the Sun railed against him coming to the UK to address a conference, only to abandon its knee-jerk anger days later to proclaim the professor as 'a hero of young Muslims.'"