Zuher Ramadan Quotes

Life is not black and white when it comes to perception. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Advertising, music, atmospheres, subliminal messages and films can have an impact on our emotional life, and we cannot control it because we are not even conscious of it. ~ 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

To be kind is good. To be kind without expecting anything in return is better. ~ 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

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 process of reclaiming the self is one of reconciliation with meaning. ~ 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 be very cautious not to accept the scam of polarization we see in the media. It is not in fact between secularists and Islamists, it is a battle within the Islamic reference. ~ Tariq Ramadan

National politics and elections are dominated by emotions, by lack of self-confidence, by fear of the other, by insecurity, by infection of the body politic by the virus of victimhood. ~ Tariq Ramadan

This is the profound meaning of at-tawbah, offered to everyone: sincerely returning to God after a slip, a mistake, a sin. God loves that sincere return to Him and He forgives and purifies. The ~ Tariq Ramadan

The Turkish road is not my model because I am critical of the way you are dealing with freedom of expression, of how you are dealing with the treatment of minorities, and your economic vision. ~ Tariq Ramadan

South Africa never leaves one indifferent. Its history, its population, its landscapes and cultures - all speak to the visitor, to the student, to the friend of Africa. ~ Tariq Ramadan

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

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

Your enemy is not the refugee. Your enemy is the one who made him a refugee. ~ Tariq Ramadan

Always walking along despite the dangers and adversities, despite the injustices and horrors, trusting in God so as not to despair of men and events. ~ 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

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

Our problem is one of spirituality. If a man comes to speak to me about the reforms to be undertaken in the Muslim world, about political strategies and of great geo-strategic plans, my first question to him would be whether he performed the dawn prayer in its time. ~ Sa'eed Ramadan

I am talking about anything that is a provocation - ignore it. When something falls under freedom of expression, you can read it and take a critical distance. ~ 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

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

Our democratic societies are in danger. In allowing ourselves to be infiltrated by fear, to be blinded by the passion of identity, we are entertaining the most serious illusions about our freedom. ~ Tariq Ramadan

A Muslim should be sincerely religious AND politically aware. ~ Tariq Ramadan

We need to acknowledge that there is a real issue with how the Scriptures are being interpreted. Whenever I am told that terrorists are not Muslim, I systematically reply that they actually are, and they cannot be marginalised, the same way they are marginalising other Muslim people. Scriptures are quoted even though their interpretations are twisted. In the face of misinterpretation the only way out would be using another interpretation of the Scriptures. ~ 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

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

There is the philosophy embedded in the culture we are living. It is quite clear for example that Arabs have a different culture than Malaysians. ~ Tariq Ramadan

And the crowd often betrayed the people ~ Tariq Ramadan

Serve humanity, regardless of religion. Show solidarity for those suffering and oppressed. ~ Tariq Ramadan

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

Intellectual modesty is humility as to what I know; intellectual humility is modesty as to what I do not know ~ 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