Tariq Ramadan on The Western Muslim

Mar 2007

Speakers: Tariq Ramadan

Tariq Ramadan speaks "Immigration and Inclusion: Rethinking National Identity" seminar in Salzburg. He asks whether the debate about the presence of ‘Muslims in Europe’ should be framed in those terms, or whether we should be talking about 'European Muslims'. He suggests that the former term implies that Muslims are not fully integrated into Europe, when he believes they are. As he points out, Islam is a European religion – the history of Europe is not based solely on Graeco-Roman or Judeo-Christian religions.

Ramadan suggests that the problem facinf European Muslims is the negative perception of Islam that is fostered by the mainstream media. The mainstream media promote an image of Islam that portrays even moderate Muslims as violent, discriminatory, and isolationist. But, he suggests, instead of adopting a victim mentality, European Muslims should seek stand up for their own responsibilities. He believes integration is a word of the past – ‘contribution’ is the word of the future; Muslims should be actively seeking to show that they are integrated and should be proving what they can contribute to society.