Ramadan Quotes

The universe is pregnant with signs that recall the presence of the Creator. ~ Tariq Ramadan

There is nothing more Islamic than critical thinking. ~ Tariq Ramadan

If religious people deny paradise to their opponents or to 'non-believers,' atheists would likewise seek to eliminate 'dangerous' believers with their 'childish' ways and their heads in the clouds. ~ Tariq Ramadan

This simple truth is the essence of my message to Muslims throughout the world: know who you are, who you want to be, and start talking and working with whom you are not. Find common values and build with fellow citizens a society based on diversity and equality. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I can see myself sitting all day in my chair, immersed in lives, plots, and sentences, intoxicated by words and chimeras, paralyzed by satisfaction and contentment, reading until the deepening twilight, until I can no longer make out the words, until my mind begins to wander, until my aching muscles are no longer able to keep the book aloft. Joy is the anticipation of joy. Reading a fine book for the first time is as sumptuous as the first sip of orange juice that breaks the fast in Ramadan. ~ Rabih Alameddine

I think many thinkers and activists, even in the Islamist parties like the Muslim Brotherhood, and the people who left the Muslim Brotherhood to follow Abou el-Fatouh, these people do have an understanding that the relationship between religion and the state must be re-thought and re-assessed. They're not going to use the concept of secularism in any straightforward way, because the concept of secularism is still far too loaded in that part of the world. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Fear and its accompanying emotional reactions have become part of the public mindset. Such reactions, while often legitimate, are also being exploited with increasing frequency for political ends. ~ Tariq Ramadan

There are in you two qualities that God loves: clemency [al-hilm] and forbearance [al-ana, "nobleness," "tolerance"]. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Do not respond to attacks with attacks. Respond with Mercy & Respect ~ Tariq Ramadan

Emancipation can only come from within; it cannot be dictated by someone else. A law banning the wearing of headscarves changes nothing, except perhaps external appearance. Naturally, Islamic feminism must also include the right to education, to work and the freedom to select one's own husband. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Unfortunately there are some trends that are changing this but you don't have for example as strict and narrow understanding of the relationship between men and women. And then there is the philosophy we have to extract in the relationship between text and culture. ~ Tariq Ramadan

You can be a very charitable capitalist. Like [Nicola] Sarkozy was saying, we have to 'moralise capitalism', which for me is a contradiction in terms. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We have to free the Muslim mind from the obsession with limits and rules and forgetting the path and objective. This is truly a liberating process, and for me this is Islam: liberation from the ego, and in this case liberating ourselves from the wrong understanding of the religion. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We have to watch the world, and watch ourselves, with the humility of those who know, in the very depths of their being, that learning to become human is a process that never ends. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The point for me is people who are atheists or are coming from different religious traditions; they are coming from their own sources and specific roots. We should analyze these. ~ Tariq Ramadan

the belief in one God; namaz, or prayers five times a day; giving zakat, or alms; roza, fasting from dawn till sunset during the month of Ramadan; and Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, which every able-bodied Muslim should do once in their lifetime. ~ Malala Yousafzai

I look back and half of Ramadan is over in the blink of an eye. Before I know I'll be saying that about my entire life ~ Nouman Ali Khan

To Muslims, I repeat that Islam is a great and noble religion but that all Muslims and Muslim majority societies did not in the past and do not now live up to this nobleness: critical reflection is required about faithfulness to our principles, our outlook on others, on cultures, freedom, the situation of women, and so on. Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless. To Westerners, I similarly repeat that the undeniable achievements of freedom and democracy should not make us forget murderous "civilizing missions," colonization, the destructive economic order, racism, discrimination, acquiescent relations with the worst dictatorships, and other failings. Our contradictions and ambiguities are countless. I am equally demanding and rigorous with both universes. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The rich stick together; the poor and the marginalised are thrown together. ~ Tariq Ramadan

If people who cherish freedom, who know the importance of mutual respect and are aware of the imperative necessity to establish a constructive and critical debate, if these people are not ready to speak out, to be more committed and visible, then we can expect sad, painful tomorrows. The choice is ours. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Humility is my table, respect is my garment, empathy is my food and curiosity is my drink. As for love, it has a thousand names and is by my side at every window. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The desert is often the locus of prophecies because it naturally offers to the human gaze the horizons of the infinite. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Fasting is, first and foremost, an exercise for identifying and managing adversity in all its forms. With faith, in full conscience, fasting calls women and men to an extra degree of self-awareness. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Jack floated over, his blade shuddering and warbling like a hand saw. "Frigg? Oh, man, I don't like Frigg. She's too quiet. Too devious. Too--"
"She's my ma," Mallory grumbled.
"Oh, that Frigg!" Jack said. "Yeah, she's great."
"I hate her," Mallory said.
"Gods, me too!" Jack commiserated.
"Jack," I said, "why don't you go check on Sam? Maybe you can advise her on getting through those doors. Or you could sing to her. I know she'd love that."
"Yeah? Cool!" Jack zoomed off to serenade Sam, which meant Sam would want to hit me later, except it was Ramadan, so she had to be nice to me. Wow, I was a bad person. ~ Rick Riordan

In His infinite mercy, Allah has
sent the light of Ramadan to erase the night. He has sent the month of the Qur'an so that He might
elevate us and bring us from our isolation to His nearness. ~ Yasmin Mogahed

51% of the French people - who are not very religious - were thinking that what "Charlie Hebdo" did was unwise. They aren't asking for a law to prevent Charlie Hebdo from publishing caricatures, but they are calling on its editors to be a bit more sensible. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The challenge for Muslims in America is to respect the fears of ordinary people while resisting the exploitation of those fears by political parties, lobbies and sectors of the media. To meet this challenge, Muslims must reassess their own involvement, behavior and contributions in American society. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Still I have been invited I don't know how many times to Turkey, where Turkey has been following very quickly in the footsteps of what is sometimes referred to as the movement of cyber-dissidents. They have been training young people and also encouraging them to come into contact with western Muslims. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Islam has no problem with women, but Muslims do clearly appear to have serious problems with them ~ Tariq Ramadan

To be more precise, it's ethics and liberation, and as a consequence there is an ethics of liberation. ~ Tariq Ramadan

In Ramadan, you should eat less and think more. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month. ~ Barack Obama

Just take Germany and the suffering of Jews during and after the Second World War. It would be legal to ridicule and to laugh at this suffering, but since it was such a trauma on the European conscience, no one is going to do it. It is an open scar, an open wound, an open reality. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Your heart is the center of humility, your mind could be the source of arrogance. ~ Tariq Ramadan

North-South imbalances and the exploitation of men and raw materials, combined with the resignation of the peoples of the North, produce a much more devastating violence than that of armed groups, even if the latter are spectacular. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Being Muslim has become synonymous with pointed questions, with tension and mistrust, even with conflict. It has become a global phenomenon with profound consequences for inter-communal relations, political rhetoric and policies at the local, regional, national and international level. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We fail when we try to give simple answers to complicated problems. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The problem, once again, as in all sciences is the attitude of the mind that is dealing with whatever field. The problem is not philosophy but the lack of intellectual humility. It is when reason becomes arrogant that we lose track. But intellectual humility with science: this is spirituality - this is the way we are with God. So we should not be scared and we must reconcile ourselves. ~ Tariq Ramadan

[Human] wisdom is the believer's lost belonging; he is the most worthy of it wherever he finds it. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Islam came to teach us that there is no faith without intelligence and here we are: destroying our intelligence in the name of faith. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We need to deal with three things that are important: first, we need a very deep reconsideration of how we are dealing with the economy. Second, there must be a very deep reconsideration of our way of life. We cannot simply adopt American-style consumer culture. To Islamize that is to de-Islamize Islam.Thirdly, it is important for us to understand the economy and the environment are common challenges for everyone. This is where the singularity of Islamic principles needs to join the universal values that we share with others. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Proud to be a Muslim isn't a stamp you have on your heart, it's a light you have in your heart. ~ Tariq Ramadan

To be courageous is to be a voice for the voiceless ~ Tariq Ramadan

Muhammad particularly loved cats, but, more generally, he constantly made his Companions aware of the need to respect all animal species. He ~ Tariq Ramadan

Jihadists are acting against the interests of every single country. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We need to challenge the dominant culture: by ethics, principles and values. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The international community would like to see an agreement in Libya before Ramadan, let me be very cautious about the possibilities for an agreement. ~ Bernardino Leon

Praise belongs to God who appointed among those roads His month, the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, the month of submission, the month of purity, the month of putting to test, the month of standing in prayer, in which the Quran was sent down as guidance to the people, and as clear signs of the Guidance and the Separator. ~ Imam Zayn Al 'Abidin Al-Sahifat Al-Sajjadiyya

We want to tell people how great Islam is yet we are not great Muslims. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Unlike his sometime rival Tariq Ramadan, who'd been tainted by his old Trotskyite connections, Ben Abbes had kept his distance from the anticapitalist left. He understood that the pro-growth right had won the "war of ideas," that young people today had become entrepreneurs, and that no one saw any alternative to the free market. But his real stroke of genius was to grasp that elections would no longer be about the economy but about values, and that here, too, the right was about to win the "war of ideas" without a fight. ~ Michel Houellebecq

A true teacher doesn't teach you to think like him, but to think without him. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Ramadan was over. We celebrated, we exchanged gifts, and Navid devoured the contents of our entire kitchen. ~ Tahereh Mafi

Religious symbols should be visible in public space, in a dignified and non-provocative manner. Christmas trees here, Jewish menorahs there and, further along, a minaret - these symbols represent human life in all its diversity. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I think we are making a mistake, a very big mistake if we look at what we call the Arab Awakening only by looking at the whole dynamics in political and not in economic terms. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Faith must recognize the autonomy of reason and its ability to produce a rational, secular ethics. By the same criterion, reason must accept that it is legitimate for the heart, consciousness and faith to believe in an order and ends thar exist prior to its observation, discoveries and hypotheses. Once the distinction between the realms of faith and reason, and religion and science, has been accepted, it is therefore futile to debate, and still less to dispute, the hierarchy of first truths or the nature of the authority granted to their methods and their references. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I keep on repeating something told to me by an American psychologist: "When you are making a joke about someone and you are the only one to laugh, it is not a joke. It is a joke only for yourself." If people are making a joke they have the right to laugh at me but I will ignore them. Ignoring doesn't mean that you don't understand. You understand it so much that you don't want to react. ~ Tariq Ramadan

What I'm advocating is an intellectual revolution - it's a different mindset concerning the ethical benchmarks by which we live. ~ Tariq Ramadan

You're asking me how not to doubt. Good question.My answer is, you can't. This is life ~ Tariq Ramadan

When terrorism is directly aiming at Western countries, it is automatically and abnormally enlarged in order to instill emotions and fear. However, when attacks happen in the Middle East, is it conveniently downplayed and less talked about. Unless they would benefit more from a heavy coverage. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The universality of Islam is not uniformity, it is unity with diversity. ~ Tariq Ramadan

To seventy excuses for him. If you cannot find any, convince yourselves that it is an excuse you do not know.13 ~ Tariq Ramadan

We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that is alive around us, and reconcile ourselves with our environment. ~ Tariq Ramadan

What you need to do is protect the structures and dynamics that are helping the people choose. The only thing that we can do is to respect the will of the people when it comes to majority processes. It is not for us to impose a model, it is not for us to impose answers to some critical questions. ~ Tariq Ramadan

What we also need to have a discussion on the philosophy of art: so we must ask what is it that we want in the first place? Is it just about saying and doing whatever you want, or is it about something more? We should let the artist be free, but we must also question how exactly he deals with freedom. Is it arts for elevation or arts for destruction? Is there dignity in the process? ~ Tariq Ramadan

Let our religions unite us for human kindness rather than dividing us on what we believe. Eid Mubarak ~ Hockson Floin

Ramadan makes you closer to God. ~ Saddam Hussein

Nevertheless, I have no political agenda whatsoever, even though some might think the contrary. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Culture constitutes an essential element of social and political liberation. As people rise up across the Middle East and North Africa, the diversity of their cultures is not only the means but also the ultimate goal of their liberation and their freedom. ~ Tariq Ramadan

When Ali was killed by a Kharijite wielding a poisoned sword during Ramadan in A.H. 40 (A.D. 661), he became one of the earliest victims of Islamic terrorism. ~ Robert Lacey

Arabic is the language of the Qur'an, but Arab culture is not the culture of Islam. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Part of the French political class is realising that there is are large number of Muslim people coming from the ghettos who want to make themselves heard, politically, especially about foreign policy issues. Its electoral weight can bring back to the forefront the Palestinian issue. ~ Tariq Ramadan

In one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans. ~ Herman Melville

Shaking up whole region means that Israel needs the US for its safety and military camps are "flourishing" everywhere in the Middle East. It has been said that [Barack] Obama is less interested in the Middle East. I don't think so. This mess has been created and maintained. Maybe the US is pretending to be less interested, however, it allows them to take their power back when it comes to security. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Man is certainly free, but he is responsible for this freedom before God as before men. This responsibility is inevitably moral. In order of this morality, to be free is to protect the freedom of others and their dignities. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We should not treat people as they treat us, we should treat them better. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Malaysia is a country unlike any other: Full of promise and fragility. Its history, cultural and religious diversity make it a rich, compelling and surprising land. ~ Tariq Ramadan

A time will come when you're going to be numerous but your impact in the world will be like nothing ~ Tariq Ramadan

An 'Islamic economy' or 'Islamic finance' doesn't mean anything to me. But I do think that in the multi-polar world, it is time to find new partners, to find a new balance in the economic order. And this could help you to find an alternative way forward. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Discomfort levels in our societies are rising, or so it would seem. In theory, we invoke diversity and tolerance. But in real life, we raise our hackles and withdraw into ourselves. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I had no intention to cover my tracks since I am not a politician and I do not represent anybody. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The Prophet answered: "How could I but be a thankful servant?"1 He did not demand of his Companions the worship, fasting, and meditations that he exacted of himself. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We are not here to adopt Western values, we are here to colonize the U.S. (and Canada) and spread Islamic sharia law Canada has one of the easiest legal systems to penetrate and advance sharia from within ... but if that doesn't work, we won't hesitate to use violent jihad. ~ Tariq Ramadan

No one must ever let power or social, economic, or political interest turn him or her away from other human beings, from the attention they deserve and the respect they are entitled to. nothing must ever lead to a person to compromise this principle or faith in favor of a political strategy aimed at saving or protecting a community from some peril. The freely offered, sincere heart of a poor, powerless individual is worth a thousand times more in the sight of God than the assiduously courted, self-interested heart of a rich one. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The different religions confused me. Which was the right one? I tried to figure it out but had no success. It worried me. The different Gods - Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Mohammedan - seemed very particular in the way in which they expected me to keep on good terms with them. I couldn't please one without offending the others. One kind soul solved my problem by taking me on my first trip to the planetarium. I contemplated the insignificant flyspeck called Earth, the millions of suns and solar systems, and concluded that whoever was in charge of all this would not throw a fit if I ate ham, or meat on Friday, or did not fast in the daytime during Ramadan. I felt much better after this and was, for a while, keenly interested in astronomy. ~ Richard Erdoes

It is only through the opposition of ideas that we can learn to be self-critical, to work towards intellectual humility. ~ Tariq Ramadan

There is a claim coming from the West that says that all art must be outside any moral consideration. I can understand this as a provocation, but I also believe that we can still have very profound creativity with a moral sense. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We need to realize that we should be on the side of any human being who is oppressed. ~ Tariq Ramadan

When I came here [to Malaysia] I heard that there is a problem with the concept of pluralism whereby pluralism is understood in a very narrow way, which I think is wrong. This is not to diminish your sense of truth in what you believe but to acknowledge the fact that we live in a world where we need to deal with pluralism. It's a fact. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I am dealing with people with both sides. I see people who are liberating themselves but they want to forget the world. And I see people who want to liberate the world but they forget themselves. Neither is the way I want to go. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Cultures are never merely intellectual constructs. They take form through the collective intelligence and memory, through a commonly held psychology and emotions, through spiritual and artistic communion. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Questioned by a Companion about the best possible hijrah, the Prophet was to answer: "It is to exile yourself [to move away] from evil [abominations, lies, sins]."12 This requirement of spiritual exile was to be repeated in different forms. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Eid is a time of joy, after a season of fasting and prayer and reflection. Each year, the end of Ramadan means celebration and thanksgiving for millions of Americans. And your joy during this season enriches the life of our great country. This year, Eid is celebrated at the same time as Hanukkah and Advent. So it's a good time for people of these great faiths, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, to remember how much we have in common: devotion to family, a commitment to care for those in need, a belief in God and His justice, and the hope for peace on earth. ~ George W. Bush

Those young ones who want to try military jihad are facing a triple issue. First of all, they are missing the point when it comes to understanding what there is at stake from a political viewpoint. How come so many of them are going to Syria and so few to Palestine, even though, when it comes to symbolism, Palestine definitively wins.Then, it is essential to understand that it is not a religious matter. Finally, let's not forget about the recruiters behind their screens. Those ones are quite skillful and well-supported financially. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We must re-center philosophy within our frame of reference which I think is the way to deal with it. ~ Tariq Ramadan

There is One God. We have an epistemic center. There is meaning. ~ Tariq Ramadan

I'm not talking about reforming #Islam..it is to reform the #Muslim minds & the Muslim understandings of the texts. ~ Tariq Ramadan

The very moment you understand that being a Muslim and being American or European are not mutually exclusive, you enrich your society. Promote the universal principles of justice and freedom, and leave the societies elsewhere to find their model of democracy based on their collective psychology and cultural heritage. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Teach the heart not to give way to proud emotions and arrogant thinking; bring the mind to heart-soothing solutions that make it possible to control oneself gently and wisely. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Our emotions are often beautiful, but they can also be dangerous. They represent our spontaneity, and seem to speak to us of our freedom. ~ Tariq Ramadan

When I go back to the Quran I see that the context of Revelation is creation in its entirety. The universe is a Revelation and this of course includes nature, plants and animals. In other words, what is coming from the Quran as rules and objectives are set within the larger scheme of the universe and nature as part of Creation. ~ Tariq Ramadan