THE HAGUE: Controversial Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan said Wednesday he had turned down a chair of Islamic studies post at a Dutch university amid criticism from the far right.
But while acknowledging his critics, Ramadan said they had nothing to do with his decision not to accept the job.
He said in a statement on his website that he had to think of family concerns, other major academic projects, and other extremely serious proposals already under consideration.
In addition to many positive reactions, usual criticism has been expressed but it has not been – in any way – a factor in my decision, he wrote.
The 45-year-old, who currently lives in Britain where he is a senior research fellow at Oxford, has been barred from entering US territory.
The US State Department revoked his visa in July 2004 on the recommendation of officials in the Department of Homeland Security.
As a result, he was not able to take up a teaching post at the University of Notre Dame in the US state of Indiana.
His grandfather was founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Islamic studies chair offer that Ramadan turned down came from the University of Leiden in the western Netherlands.
He was an interesting candidate who met all the requirements, said a university spokesman, Wim van Amerongen.
Even before the offer was officially announced, far-right groups denounced the move. They also criticised the sultanate of Oman s financing of the chair at a level of 2.5 million euros.
But the Dutch culture minister, Ronald Plasterk, refused to intervene.
We are in a free country, where the university is free to make its own choices, he said.
Ramadan saluted Dutch officials and the university in his statement Wednesday.
I wish only that the current American administration had adopted such a fair and dignified attitude of respect for the principle of free speech for university professors, he said. -AFP
