Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan by Caroline Fourest Page B
Authors: Caroline Fourest
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World Islamic Congress in Jerusalem and
damaging relations between Syria and Egypt. Years later, the Egyptians were
to try to mend relations with the Brotherhood by proposing that Said Ramadan request that his nationality be reinstated; but he refused the opportunity,
because-according to the Geneva Islamic Center-"he considered that he
had never stopped being Egyptian." He could have asked for Swiss nationality, but had always scorned the idea. As a result, his children had a total of six
different nationalities acquired in the course of his various political negotiations, but which he considered borrowed identities, and which, for a long
time, kept them from making a place for themselves as real Swiss citizens.
Tariq Ramadan readily admits that "this remained with me as something terribly disturbing and painful."17
For years, he felt himself to be a foreigner living in Switzerland. As a
youngster, he had but one obsession: to return to Egypt-not that he had been born there, but he always considered it as his real homeland: "I always
dreamed of returning to Egypt; it meant returning to my roots. Egypt was
the land I most cherished and that deep down was `my' country. Nothing in
my political or religious concerns made me feel Swiss." In 1978, the opportunity arose. At a time when the relations between the Egyptian authorities
and the Brotherhood were on the mend, Sadat was ready to try out a policy
of appeasement. Hassan al-Banna's grandson took advantage of the chance
to return to his native land. At the age of sixteen, he imagined Egypt to be a
hotbed of radicalism, where all the politico-religious passions that he had
known since childhood were to be found concentrated. The encounter with
this mythical land was a real letdown. Suddenly he realized that the heroes of
Muslim fundamentalism that he had dreamed of meeting in Egypt were not
in Egypt, but in Switzerland. And he had grown up surrounded by them. The
Egypt he discovered was a peaceful country, totally unlike the image of radicalism that he had fashioned for himself: "I must say that what I found there
came as a great surprise. Basically, it was a great disappointment. In Switzerland I lived in a dynamic world intellectually, one that was activist .... For
me, Egypt stood for the myth of the encounter with the concrete realities of a
world that other militants had devoted their lives to. When I got there in 1978,
I found a quite different political reality .... I did, to be sure, find the roots
of a past with which I immediately felt in harmony, but I understood, despite
my young age, how timid and insipid the political convictions were-far less
developed than my family's."28 Ramadan is quite clear. Disappointed not to
have found in Egypt ideologists as fundamentalist as his parents, he decided
to return to Europe and learn to take advantage of his Swiss citizenship, the
better to advance the cause of political Islam, and one day-why not?-take
the revenge so longed for by his father. He even envisaged asking for French
citizenship, which he could have obtained, thanks to his wife. But, for the
time being, he could not keep still. Since nowhere did he feel at home, why
not be at home everywhere? The sense oftotal rootlessness drove him to want
to travel the world-but not any old way. At eighteen, he joined an Islamic
relief organization.
From Islamism to pro-Third World Islamism
When journalists ask him about his personal evolution, Tariq Ramadan prefers to describe himself as a "Third-World Muslim' who graduated from relief
work to being a militant alongside trade unions and leftist organizations. He
is apt to talk of Coup de Main (A Helping Hand), an association he set up
with fellow teachers when he was assigned to a secondary school in Coudrier
(Switzerland) in the r98os. The laudable objective of the organization was to
encourage young students to act responsibly and develop a sense of solidarity, in particular
damaging relations between Syria and Egypt. Years later, the Egyptians were
to try to mend relations with the Brotherhood by proposing that Said Ramadan request that his nationality be reinstated; but he refused the opportunity,
because-according to the Geneva Islamic Center-"he considered that he
had never stopped being Egyptian." He could have asked for Swiss nationality, but had always scorned the idea. As a result, his children had a total of six
different nationalities acquired in the course of his various political negotiations, but which he considered borrowed identities, and which, for a long
time, kept them from making a place for themselves as real Swiss citizens.
Tariq Ramadan readily admits that "this remained with me as something terribly disturbing and painful."17
For years, he felt himself to be a foreigner living in Switzerland. As a
youngster, he had but one obsession: to return to Egypt-not that he had been born there, but he always considered it as his real homeland: "I always
dreamed of returning to Egypt; it meant returning to my roots. Egypt was
the land I most cherished and that deep down was `my' country. Nothing in
my political or religious concerns made me feel Swiss." In 1978, the opportunity arose. At a time when the relations between the Egyptian authorities
and the Brotherhood were on the mend, Sadat was ready to try out a policy
of appeasement. Hassan al-Banna's grandson took advantage of the chance
to return to his native land. At the age of sixteen, he imagined Egypt to be a
hotbed of radicalism, where all the politico-religious passions that he had
known since childhood were to be found concentrated. The encounter with
this mythical land was a real letdown. Suddenly he realized that the heroes of
Muslim fundamentalism that he had dreamed of meeting in Egypt were not
in Egypt, but in Switzerland. And he had grown up surrounded by them. The
Egypt he discovered was a peaceful country, totally unlike the image of radicalism that he had fashioned for himself: "I must say that what I found there
came as a great surprise. Basically, it was a great disappointment. In Switzerland I lived in a dynamic world intellectually, one that was activist .... For
me, Egypt stood for the myth of the encounter with the concrete realities of a
world that other militants had devoted their lives to. When I got there in 1978,
I found a quite different political reality .... I did, to be sure, find the roots
of a past with which I immediately felt in harmony, but I understood, despite
my young age, how timid and insipid the political convictions were-far less
developed than my family's."28 Ramadan is quite clear. Disappointed not to
have found in Egypt ideologists as fundamentalist as his parents, he decided
to return to Europe and learn to take advantage of his Swiss citizenship, the
better to advance the cause of political Islam, and one day-why not?-take
the revenge so longed for by his father. He even envisaged asking for French
citizenship, which he could have obtained, thanks to his wife. But, for the
time being, he could not keep still. Since nowhere did he feel at home, why
not be at home everywhere? The sense oftotal rootlessness drove him to want
to travel the world-but not any old way. At eighteen, he joined an Islamic
relief organization.
From Islamism to pro-Third World Islamism
When journalists ask him about his personal evolution, Tariq Ramadan prefers to describe himself as a "Third-World Muslim' who graduated from relief
work to being a militant alongside trade unions and leftist organizations. He
is apt to talk of Coup de Main (A Helping Hand), an association he set up
with fellow teachers when he was assigned to a secondary school in Coudrier
(Switzerland) in the r98os. The laudable objective of the organization was to
encourage young students to act responsibly and develop a sense of solidarity, in particular
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