French media is reporting that Tariq Ramadan, one of the most important leaders of the global Muslim Brotherhood, attended the annual gathering of the Union des organizations islamiques de France (UOIF) for the first time in a number of years. According to one report:
The UOIF has invited media star Tariq Ramadan which we had not seen at Le Bourget during the years when the movement close to the Muslim Brotherhood was trying to break into the French political sphere. “The links between the UOIF and Tariq Ramadan had strained for strategic reasons, when Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to nationalize french Islam,” said Caroline Fourest, author of Brother Tariq (Grasset). “But they have never had a disagreement on the merits.” For this year’s reunion conditions were met. On the one hand, the preacher used by the Interior Ministry to oversee British Muslims found here a platform of choice. On the other hand, the UOIF no longer need to give pledges of yesteryear, while the french Council of the Muslim religion is generally discredited by chronic crises.
The report also characterized this year’s UOIF gathering as “less sulphurous” and more family -oriented with “a strong presence of immigrants and fewer young people, it seems.”
Ramadan himself is an extremely important figure within the Global Muslim Brotherhood network, perhaps best described as an independent power base with sufficient stature as the son of Said Ramadan, and the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood to challenge positions taken by important Brotherhood leaders. His statements and writings have been extensively analyzed and he has been accused by critics of promoting anti-Semitism and fundamentalism, albeit by subtle means. On the other hand, his supporters promote him as as example of an Islamic reformer who is in the forefront of developing a “Euro Islam.”
(Note: translated source)