Muslim Brotherhood Heir: Radical or Voice of Moderation?

You might recall that back in July, Blaze contributor Erick Stakelbeck welcomed Islam experts on the Glenn Beck Program to discuss the growing threat of the Muslim Brotherhood since the militant Islamic group seized power in Egypt. During their discussion, Stakelbeck aired a portion of an interview he had conducted with Muslim Brotherhood heir Tariq Ramadan, an Oxford scholar and professor, who frequently holds lectures on Islam to impressionable young students.

On Friday following the bloody attacks on a host of U.S. embassies around the globe, the CBN correspondent released his entire interview with Ramadan (featured below). The content seems particularly noteworthy given the Muslim Brotherhood's possible role in these new rising tensions.

Ramadan, grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Bana, denies he is a member of the Brotherhood, but often speaks of shariah law in effusive tones, describing the Islamic legal system as benevolent and compatible with Western values and laws.

Despite claims that the Brotherhood is moderate, the symbol of this militant Islamist group, founded by the staunch Adolf Hitler-admirer al-Banna, still bears two swords and a Quranic reference to jihad. The Brotherhood's slogan is “dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”

Today, the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi, is attempting to convince the West that it is a voice of moderation within the Islamic world, but the recent attacks on the U.S. embassy in Cairo sings a different tune.

Still, if Brotherhood goes the benign route, like al-Banna's grandson has, even a raid on the U.S. embassy might not be enough to convince the public that the Muslim Brotherhood comprises militants bent on establishing a world caliphate, something experts unequivocally insist is the group's ultimate goal.

Tariq's father, Said Ramadan, helped establish Munich mosque which Stakelbeck reports became the Muslim's Brotherhood's "first beachhead in the West." Now, his Swiss-born progeny is helping to shape the world-view of Oxford students with his measured speech on the new, European-style of Islam. What's more, according to Stakelbeck, Ramadan has even advised the British government on terrorism issues.

"My position is to say, 'Look, sharia is a way," Ramadan told CBN News. "It's a path. So, for example, when I am based in Switzerland, my country, or in the West and the law of the country is saying that we are equal before law, I say, 'This is my sharia.'"

"So my understanding of sharia is not a closed system," he explained. "It's an open system."

Many would beg to differ.

The book Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan, examined the professor's sermons and claimed they have radicalized Muslim youth in the suburbs of France and in 2003 a French court found that Ramadan's brand of rhetoric incited young Muslims to rise up in acts of violence. He was banned from the country in 1990s over alleged terrorist ties and drew the ire of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy when he refused to call for a ban on stoning in 2003.

The Muslim Brotherhood heir has actually been banned from at least eight different countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and yes, the United States.

So why is Ramadan now traveling freely within the U.S., lecturing and attending conferences?

In 2004 the Bush administration revoked the professor's visa over his ties to a pro-Palestinian group affiliated with Hamas. At the time Ramadan had been slated to take on a teaching role at Notre Dame. But in 2010 the Obama administration lifted the U.S. ban on Ramadan, who is now at liberty to enter the country at will. He still portrays himself as a European academic who simply loves being a Muslim.

"I'm a European by culture," Ramadan said. "And being a European by culture doesn't mean I'm not going to respect the principles of my religion."