Islamic scholar feels the need for more debates on ethics in Europe

Tariq Ramadan spoke as part of the lecture cycle

Islamic thinker Tariq Ramadan from Switzerland called on Western civilisation to take stock of its values and principles. Europe was in great need of debates on ethics in politics, business, society and culture, the Oxford University fellow said at the cluster of excellence “Religion and Politics” of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster.

Modernity brought freedom, progress and individuality to the people, but these rights would be on the verge of becoming an end in itself as Western societies were avoiding the question of the deeper purpose to their coexistence.

Many similarities

If there were more ethics debates, this could also bring together Muslims and Non-Muslims, the scholar, who is a native of Egypt, stated. “It is better to share hope than to always seek out the differences.” In Islam, the basic issues of living together played a fundamental role. The values of Enlightenment could be perfectly reconciled with the Muslim tradition, and the majority of today’s Muslims were open to this, Ramadan said. In accordance with their views, however, the right to individuality must not be pushed to extremes and people’s reason must not turn into arrogance. Western societies should also face up to these dangers.

Ramadan referred to the efforts concerning human dignity and nature conservation as examples of concurrent conceptions of Muslims and Non-Muslims. The scholar spoke as part of the lecture cycle “Modernity – Religion – Politics. Concepts, Results and Perspectives” of the cluster of excellence. His lecture was entitled “Islam and Modernity”. (vvm)