Truth is found in sticking to your own convictions, not in finding error in your neighbour’s.
That seemed to be the message from Dr. Tariq Ramadan, who spoke to an audience that filled the lower level at Centennial Hall Thursday evening (March 14).
They listened for about 90 minutes as the Swiss-born Oxford University professor of contemporary Islamic studies and theology spoke about the importance of diversity, non-judgment, conviction, civil engagement and ethical consistency.
Ramadan has been named by Time magazine as one of the seven most important religious leaders alive today, and one of the world’s 100 most important intellectuals.
He was invited to London by the Office of Campus Ministry at King’s University College as part of its Religious Life Lecture Series. The lecture was co-sponsored by the college’s Council on Muslim, Jewish and Catholic Learning.
An advocate of interfaith and intercultural dialogue, Ramadan said again and again that it doesn’t matter what faith you follow, as long as your actions are consistent with whatever convictions and ethical beliefs you hold.
“You can be Atheist or Agnostic, it doesn’t matter,” he said. " If you are consistent with your principles, you can’t be passive with what is happening in our society. It means to be active.”
If you are unsatisfied with the education system, for example, is it better to leave it to teachers and students and passively complain about what is happening, or take action to improve it?
“Show us how you are committed to your principles by working together for more justice.”
He said there is a dangerous trend in modern society that treats open-mindedness and religious conviction as mutually exclusive. A deep commitment to one’s faith is critical, he argued, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to and learn from people who hold another faith, or even a different interpretation of your own.
“If God had willed it, he would have made you one community,” he said. “But he is challenging you. It’s a competition for the good. The way you deal with your truth, what your truth is telling you about the others, it’s a necessity. They’re helping you to be better.”
He made reference to the fact that even within his Muslim faith, there is a deep division between Shias and Sunnis. In fact there are some who believe he is “outside of Islam” for advocating dialogue with other faiths.
He said true citizens of a society are willing to bear “witness” to the perspective of other faiths, and use it to learn about their own.
As a young man Ramadan travelled to South America and was exposed to Christian missionaries. He said it was that experience which brought him “back to himself,” giving him perspective on, and ultimately strengthening his Muslim faith.
“The liberation theologians at the grassroots there were talking so much about love,” he said. “Muslims don’t talk about love not because there is no love in Islam, but because they are obsessed with rules and they forget about the point. So it was Christians in South America who helped me come back to myself.”
Ramadan spoke at length about the importance of intellectual humility when searching for transcendental truth, adding it’s an important aspect of respecting the beliefs or “truths” of others.
He said it is important for people of faith to accept that they “belong to the truth, but that the truth does not belong to them.”
He referenced the tenets of south Asian spiritualities such as Buddhism, which tend to describe many paths arriving at one universal truth in the middle. He invoked the image of a mountain with many different paths to the summit.
The metaphor illustrated his argument for diversity of peoples as a necessity, as well as the importance of humility in a relationship with a higher power.
“I look at the mountain from the valley, not from the top, not from God’s view,” he said. “It means your relationship with truth is you never get it all.”
In closing, he said demonstrating a deep commitment to one’s faith in a cultural setting that doesn’t necessarily coincide with its core teachings, such as a Western country, is not easy but that the social justice that would result is worth the struggle.
“These are difficult times,” he said. “Every country in the world is in need of true believers. Witnesses. Show me what truth is to you. This is what I’m expecting.”
Waiting to meet the professor afterward were Catholic teacher Anne Bouchard, her daughter, Kathryn Bouchard 30, and friend Farah Ghonaim, 25. Ghonaim is a lifelong Muslim, while Kathryn converted five years ago.
“I felt extremely inspired by what he had to say,” Anne said. “In a way that I feel I want to reach out more. To know this was sponsored by the different faiths, I think that’s a step forward. I like to read his books, my daughter has some of his books.”
This was Kathryn’s second time hearing Ramadan speak.
“I think it’s good for us here because there is a lot of division with different faiths but he is a very moderate Muslim and he’s very educated so he can bring people together and find a commonality with everyone,” she said. “I think we need more people like him.”
For Ghonaim, hearing Ramadan speak served as a reminder of the deeper values of her faith.
“We’re busy in life, so sometimes we just need someone to remind us of the goal and about why we’re here,” she said. “So listening to a speaker like him will provide that reminder.”
