Modern times have finally reached Islam, as a third woman has come forward to accuse Islamist philosopher Tariq Ramadan of sexually harassing her a few years ago.
Tariq Ramadan, 55, is a philosopher and writer who used to teach Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at St Antony’s College, Oxford, but was essentially expelled from Oxford University over multiple rape allegations.
In October 2017, secular activist Henda Ayari filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office of Rouen, northern France, stating that Ramadan had sexually assaulted her in a Paris hotel. Ayari had described the incident in her 2016 book “I Chose to be Free,” but had kept the identity of her attacker secret. But in October she announced on Facebook: “This is a very difficult decision, but I have decided it is time to denounce my aggressor, he is Tariq Ramadan.”
A statement Oxford university released on November 7 said, “By mutual agreement, and with immediate effect, Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, has taken a leave of absence from the University of Oxford. Professor Ramadan’s teaching, supervising and examining duties will be reassigned, and he will not be present at the University or College.”
Now a third woman, using the pseudonym Yasmina, has told Le Parisien the professor had threatened her with rape in 2012.
“At first he gave me religious advice through his website, and then asked me for my picture so that he would know who he was talking to. He found me beautiful, and since that day, things became pornographic between us,” she told Le Parisien. “Two years later he called me to a hotel in the suburbs and then threatened me that he had compromising things on me,” she said.
On Friday, a second woman filed a complaint in France against Ramadan for rape and sexual assault, following Henda Ayari’s complaint.
Tariq Ramadan is persona non grata in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria, and Israel. So, hey, there’s at least one thing everyone in the region agrees on.