VZCZCXRO8827
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHGI RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHMA RUEHPA
RUEHPW
DE RUEHDK #2307 2681114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251114Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6382
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS DAKAR 002307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/AE, AND INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KISL KDEM PINR SG
SUBJECT: TARIQ RAMADAN ENCOURAGES SENEGALESE MUSLIMS TO 
SEEK POWER IN A DEMOCRATIC CONTEXT 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (SBU) Tariq Ramadan, the Islamic scholar of Egyptian 
origin, gave a series of conferences to Islamic audiences in 
Senegal in August.  His talks drew large audiences and 
enthusiastic press coverage, focused on his dual messages 
encouraging Muslims to take active part in politics but, at 
the same time, to do so with a critical, democratic approach. 
 Ramadan presented his audience with a different and softer 
approach to Islam, one in contrast to fundamentalist views 
which have, thus far, fallen on largely deaf ears in Senegal. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
DRAWING MUSLIMS TO POLITICS AND DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶2.  (U)  Invited by the Association of Muslim Students of 
Senegal, Ramadan spoke at their summer camp, the University 
of Dakar, and the Islamic Institute of Dakar.  He was given a 
warm welcome by the press and the Western Islamic elite, as 
well as by the traditional Tidiane Brotherhood, the largest 
Islamic grouping in Senegal.  He urged his audiences to 
become politically involved and to identify principles of 
democracy that are "trans-historic," or able to endure.  He 
also said these democratic principles should be applied to a 
model constructed to suit Muslim societies and in congruence 
with Muslim beliefs and values.  He singled out the tenets of 
equality of citizens, separation of powers, majority rule, 
and accountability as fundamental and universal. 
 
WARNING AGAINST APPLYING ANACHRONISTIC MODELS 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶3.  (U) Ramadan tempered his message with a warning against 
the temptation to apply historic models, such as the system 
used by the Prophet Mohammed in Medina in the Seventh 
Century.  Ramadan said such a system would not allow Muslims 
to manage a "neighborhood" in modern societies, let alone an 
entire country.  He invited Muslims to make a methodological 
difference between what belongs to dogma (Ibadat), which can 
not be discussed or altered, and what belongs to the realm of 
politics and social affairs (Muhamalat) in which Muslims 
should exercise creativity and the right to dissent. 
 
CRITICIZING GOS MEASURES, AFRICAN LEADERS, AND US DEMOCRACY 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
¶4.  (U) Criticizing GOS arrests of opponents and African 
presidents who are "democratically elected for life," he 
called for Muslims to be introspective.  At the same time, he 
asked them to resist cultural alienation and the ideology 
spread by "orientalists" in Western academic institutions, 
whom he accused of deliberately confusing "reformists" and 
"terrorists" and of decreeing that Islam is incompatible with 
modern democracy.  Ramadan lashed out at what he referred to 
as distortions of democracy in the United States, labeling it 
a "democracy for the wealthy."  He added that Muslims should 
resist all forms of manipulation by large corporations and 
the media that infiltrate the political process and influence 
decisions in non-democratic ways. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶5.  (SBU) Ramadan's remarks presented a more approachable 
context to the Islamic Brotherhoods and served as an 
encouragement to both Islamic elites and traditional Muslim 
leaders.  He argued that Islam can provide ethics to 
supplement what he considers the deficient democratic models 
currently in place.  The favorable echo received by his 
message is an indication of the timid but growing desire 
among some of Senegal's younger Muslim leaders to play a 
political role to have direct access to power, rather than 
remaining simply allies of secular political elites.  END 
COMMENT. 
JACOBS