Tariq Ramadan on selective listening

In the New York Times, Ayaan Hirsi Ali charged Tariq Ramadan - Islam scholar and spokesman for a European Islam – of remaining silent when it comes to the application of Islamic law in Saudi Arabia or Sudan. Ramadan rebuffs this accusation, in a text reprinted in the International Herald Tribune: "In Western countries as well as in Islamic countries, we witness a kind of selective hearing. People are invited to listen only to what apparently comforts their prejudices or suits some ideological agenda. This polarization is dangerous because it engenders enmity... The reason why voices such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali's are not heard in Islamic countries is not because she raises irrelevant questions (some of her arguments are indeed very relevant) but because her criticisms appear to be obsessive, excessive and unilateral. It is as if she wants to please the West and, yes, the West is pleased. But the Muslims are deaf to her voice. The future belongs to those who are able to consistently exercise self-criticism in the name of shared universal values and not because of blindly belonging to the artificial construct of 'Western' or 'Islamic' civilization, or because of a hidden ideological agenda.

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