Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan by Caroline Fourest

and the third for Imam Hassan and his family." The Geneva
Islamic Center is more or less a replica. The ground floor serves as a reception room and conference hall, whereas the space upstairs is reserved for
more confidential meetings. Once a militant is sufficiently advanced in his
religious apprenticeship, he can go upstairs, where the rhetoric is far more
radical. Several former fellow travelers, interrogated in the course of investigations into terrorism in Europe, have confirmed the change oftone that they
observed. Unlike the language of the public lectures, which has to be read
between the lines, the preaching upstairs was apparently far more outspoken. No need to rush things. Whatever happens, demography is on the side
of the Muslims; a thousand years from now and Europe will be Muslim.

Tariq the conqueror
    It is in this Center, on Rue des Eaux-Vives, that Tariq Ramadan was born and
grew up, surrounded by the choicest samplings of Islamic activism. In his
book written with Alain Gresh, he fully accepts the fact: "He [Said Ramadan]
had been put in charge of the Muslim Brothers in exile. So, from my birth
in 1962, I was surrounded by the sayings and thoughts of Muslims who,
while living in Europe, were totally immersed in the realities of the Muslim
world, Arab but also Indo-Pakistani."19 Tariq Ramadan was born barely one
year after the creation of the Geneva Islamic Center. The family consisted
already of four boys (Aymen, Bilal, Yasser, and Hani) and one girl (Arwa).
Tariq was, then, the last-born in the heart of Europe. It was to seal his fate.
His parents did not pick a name for him at random: "Tariq" echoes the name
Tariq Ibn Zyad, the first Muslim conqueror to have set foot on the Christian soil of Spain. The name Gibraltar, which means "rock of Tariq" in Arabic, is a reminder. Tariq Ramadan is quick to explain to the press that this is
a mere coincidence. According to him, "Tariq" had no belligerent connota tion for his parents. Are we really supposed to believe that Said Ramadan and
Wafa al-Banna, who had just created a center in the heart of Europe in order
to Islamize the Old World, chose their son's first name at random? It appears
unlikely, especially when we know the extent to which the career of each of
the children was planned in advance. When he grew to manhood, Tariq, the
aptly named, was to marry Isabelle, the Catholic. It is not a play on words: his
wife is, in fact, called Isabelle, and she was Catholic up to the day she converted, donned the headscarf, and took the name of Iman in order to marry
Tariq Ramadan.2O

    The sense ofbeing responsible, from birth on, for continuing his heritage
was not limited to Said Ramadan's youngest son alone. Despite their quite
different careers and professions, his brothers all serve as administrators of
the Geneva Islamic Center. His oldest brother, Aymen, is a brilliant neurosurgeon, but he is no less of an Islamist and presides over the governing board
of the center. In a preface written for a re-edition of his father's book on the
sharia, Aymen paid homage to the man whose aura still surrounds each of
his children and grandchildren: "May God see to it that he remains the example of the true path we are to follow."" Said Ramadan, in charge of the Muslim Brothers in exile, is an example for everyone to follow-and in particular for Tariq, in whose eyes the greatest sin is to fail to honor one's father and
one's mother: "Tell me how you behave with your parents, and I will tell you
who you are," he insisted in a lecture devoted to the major sins.22 In a eulogy
after the death of his father, published as a preamble to his book on the confrontation of civilizations, he wrote: "Thanks be to God for having given me
such a father."13 Has Tariq really attempted to break free from the custody of
such an imposing father? No doubt he did try, as do all adolescents, but with
a fear of this patriarch and a respect for him that emerge even