> Leading Islamic reformer to speak at SFU

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Contact:
Ellen Vaillancourt, Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures, 778.782.5278; edvailla@sfu.ca (can arrange interviews Feb. 23, 6 a.m. -2:30 p.m. PST)
Julie Sloan, History, 778.782.5512; julie_sloan@sfu.ca

Correction Appended

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Swiss Muslim intellectual and reknowned Islamic reformer, Tariq Ramadan, will outline his views Feb. 23 during a lecture at SFU’s Vancouver campus entitled The Scope and Limits of Reforming Islam.

Ramadan, who teaches Islamic studies at Oxford, is a leading advocate for a revitalized Islam in the West. His recent book, Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation, proposes an approach that integrates both spiritual and ethical objectives for contemporary Muslims, enabling them to more fully participate in the civic life of secular western countries.

The main roadblock, he argues, is the traditional methodology Islamic jurists use to interpret scripture, which often renders their rulings incompatible with modern, democratic societies. It’s not Islam but “the Muslim mind” that needs “radical reform in the way we are dealing with scriptural sources," he told The Canadian Press last December.

Ramadan says what’s needed is a more democratic process in which Muslim experts from all professions collaborate with jurists to find innovative solutions to contemporary challenges ranging from abortion and HIV/AIDS to globalization and climate change.

The controversial Geneva-born theologian, a vociferous critic of George W. Bush’s Middle East policies, was refused a U.S. visa in 2004 with no official explanation after accepting an endowed professorship at the University of Notre Dame.

But he has also been dubbed one of the world’s top “spiritual innovators” by Time magazine. And a New York Times Magazine profile praised his “reasoned but traditionalist approach to Islam (that) offers values that are as universal as those of the European Enlightenment.”

Ramadan has written more than 20 books, and lectures extensively on the ethics of citizenship, social justice and dialogue between civilizations.

SFU’s Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures and the School of International Studies are co-sponsoring the lecture, which takes place at 7 pm in the Segal Graduate School of Business, 500 Granville Street.

For reservations call 778.782.5100 or email cs_hc@sfu.ca; to register online visit: http://websurvey.sfu.ca/survey/29659345

Correction: Feb. 6, 2009
The original version of this release mistakenly referred to Tariq Ramadan in the first paragraph as being “renowned for his questioning of Islam’s mainstream beliefs.” Ramadan does not question Islam’s mainstream beliefs but instead calls in his latest book for “a transformative reform” of Islam.

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