The very model of a modern Muslim “moderate”

Is Tariq Ramadan, the Swiss born Muslim professor whose grandfather founded the Egyptian Brotherhood, a “moderate” or a “radical”? According to SwissInfo,

His elder brother, Hani, director of Geneva’s Islamic centre, was fired from his public teaching job after he told a French newspaper that stoning a woman for adultery was acceptable.

Ramadan has so far only called for a moratorium on stoning.

Now this is perfect. Ramadan, in calling for a moratorium on stoning, would appear to some people (including Notre Dame which hired him) as a “moderate” Muslim. But of course he hasn’t renounced stoning as such. How could he? He’s a Muslim. For a Muslim to oppose Shari’ah law in principle is an impossibility. But delaying and temporizing—saying, “We’re not ready to seek Islamic stoning in Europe now“—is perfectly in keeping with Islam. Muslims are told by their religion that when outward circumstances make it hard to wage jihad, it’s ok to have a truce with the dar al-harb, the realm of the non-Muslims. But it’s only a temporary expedient, to be abandoned as soon as possible.

Ramadan’s position on stoning reminds me of what one of the Democratic presidential candidates said to David Frost in an interview during the 1988 primaries. Frost broadcast a series of interviews with each of the candidates. He asked each of them what they thought of the idea of a homosexual being president of the U.S. One of the candidates, I think it was Bruce Babbitt, said it was irrelevant. Babbitt was being a consistent, i.e., radical, liberal. Another candidate, I forget which one, gave Frost the “moderate” answer: “We’re not ready for that yet.” This is like Ramadan saying he supports a “moratorium” on the stoning of women.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 25, 2004 04:45 PM | Send