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I don't think we should take the emotional reactions of a few people as more representative than those of the millions of people who took to the street in a non-violent way against dictators.

Tariq Ramadan

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Tariq Ramadan
Age: 62
Born: 1962
Born: August 26
Islamicist
Philosopher
Theologian
Writer
Genève
Thinking
Street
People
Streets
Took
Dictators
Emotional
Representative
Millions
Dictator
Take
Representatives
Way
Reactions
Think
Violent

More quotes by Tariq Ramadan

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The United States of America or the Western countries, they don't have a problem with Islamists as long as they are neoliberal capitalists and promoting the economic order. And the best example is the petro-monarchies. The petro-monarchies, they don't want democracy. They say there is no democracy in Islam. But they are within the economic system.
Tariq Ramadan
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We should not treat people as they treat us, we should treat them better.
Tariq Ramadan
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In my book Radical Reform I made it clear that we cannot talk about the environment or ecology if we don't also deal with the economy. There is a direct link between how we deal with the economy and how we deal with nature.
Tariq Ramadan
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The problem with what we call the 'Arab spring' is that these are very nationalistic experiences. Tunisians are concerned with Tunisia, Egyptians concerned with Egypt and so on.
Tariq Ramadan
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We need to realize that we should be on the side of any human being who is oppressed.
Tariq Ramadan
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We should say to the West: You have been supporting dictators for too many years. Don't expect the people to introduce democracy over night. It is going to take time. It took time with the French revolution, it took time with the Eastern European revolutions. And it is going to take time there.
Tariq Ramadan
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I wrote a call to the contemporary Muslim conscience, saying to the ordinary people that we might not like the video or the cartoons, but that violence certainly isn't the right answer. I don't think laws are going to solve the problem.
Tariq Ramadan
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The West hasn't been naïve, it has been patronizing the South by imposing its own views on what should be done - ironically after having been so close and so supportive of dictators who were not respecting the people.
Tariq Ramadan
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Muslims must decide, lest they end up divided by the very religion that calls upon them to unite.
Tariq Ramadan
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No one can deny that some Islamist groups have credential and popularity. But that does not mean they are a majority. If we are serious about democracy we cannot blame the people for choosing what they want. We must promote the kinds of procedures and processes that are helping the people move ahead.
Tariq Ramadan
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There is great potential and deep fragility [in Malaysia] that can be used by any group that stresses on religion, pushing towards Islam, rejecting people and alienating migrants - anything can be used to win the next elections. So these are the signs of fragility that is very much there.
Tariq Ramadan
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Prayer is better than to sleep. Wake up. Wake up & pray. This is the way you free yourself.
Tariq Ramadan
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Even the concept of the infidel is misleading, because the infidel is normally someone with a different faith, someone who refuses to recognize the truth of the words of the Koran, as revealed by God. He has every right to do so, as long as he does not question my right to believe in my truth.
Tariq Ramadan
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Saying that the origin of the Islamic State (IS) is within the Muslim Brotherhood organisation only strengthens IS.
Tariq Ramadan
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I am portrayed as a dangerous individual who can be fought thanks to their ideas.
Tariq Ramadan
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Muslims must speak out and explain who they are, what they believe in, what they stand for, what is the meaning of their life. They must have the courage to denounce what is said and done by certain Muslims in the name of their religion.
Tariq Ramadan
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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
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Lack of consistency is a weakness shared by all nations.
Tariq Ramadan
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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
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The dogmatic and, therefore, invulnerable core in Islam is understandably simple: acknowledgement of faith, prayer, charity and fasting. Almost everything else is open to interpretation and modification in space and time.
Tariq Ramadan