黑料社

PARIS, France 鈥� Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan has long been a media personality around Europe and beyond, but the controversial intellectual is now fighting to save his career after two women accused him of rape.

An Oxford professor, Ramadan is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of Egypt鈥檚 Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement.

Two French women in the past month have filed rape charges against the 55-year-old, 聽born in Switzerland, while further allegations of sexual misconduct against teenage girls in the 1980s and 1990s have emerged in the Swiss media.

A father of four married for decades to a French Muslim convert, Ramadan has furiously denied the allegations as a 鈥渃ampaign of lies launched by my adversaries鈥� and is battling them in the courts.

His conservative brand of Islam has garnered legions of fans. He counts two million followers on Facebook, many of whom have flocked to his defense decrying a 鈥淶ionist plot鈥� to ruin him.

But critics accuse him of changing his tune depending on who is listening, adopting a moderate tone on French TV while preaching a more radical line when addressing Muslims in Arabic.

The French writer Caroline Fourest, a vocal critic聽who has written a book about Ramadan, says the charisma that attracts crowds of students is also what drew his alleged victims to him.

鈥淭hese women are under his spell. At the beginning they are fascinated 鈥� they may even be attracted to him,鈥� she told AFP.

The two women who accuse Ramadan of rape have come forward in the wake of the global sex abuse allegations unleashed by the scandal engulfing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. 聽They say they first approached the Islamic scholar seeking religious advice.

鈥楪oing to die鈥�

In the case of Muslim feminist activist Henda Ayari, online exchanges over whether to wear the veil led to him suggesting they meet at a hotel in Paris in 2012.

She told Le Parisien newspaper that she was raped violently. 鈥淗e choked me so hard that I thought I was going to die.鈥� she alleged.

A second accuser, a disabled woman who has remained anonymous, has alleged Ramadan beat her while raping her multiple times in a hotel in Lyon in 2009.

鈥淗e kicked my crutches and threw himself on top of me saying, 鈥榊ou made me wait, it鈥檚 going to cost you鈥�,鈥� she told Le Monde.

A legal source told AFP investigators are looking into the women鈥檚 allegations jointly as part of a preliminary probe for rape, sexual assault, violence and death threats.

Ramadan鈥檚 lawyers have hit back with charges of witness tampering to demand an investigation into whether the women could have colluded.

They are notably targeting Fourest, who said she had been in contact since 2009 with three alleged victims.

Death threats

Never one to shy from controversy, satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo depicted Ramadan on this week鈥檚 front cover with a giant erection, saying, 鈥淚 am the sixth pillar of Islam.鈥�

Its editor said the magazine, which suffered a deadly jihadist attack in 2015, had received fresh death threats for the cartoon.

Former prime minister Manuel Valls, who ruled out granting Ramadan his request for French citizenship last year, decried 鈥渟ections of the press鈥� for granting Ramadan ample air time in the past.

He blasted Ramadan on Monday as a 鈥渟o-called intellectual鈥� who had 鈥渄one terrible harm to our youth with his tapes, his preaching in our mosques, his invitations to appear on screen鈥�.

Ramadan remains in his post at Britain鈥檚 prestigious Oxford University, where he teaches contemporary Islamic studies.

Over the years Ramadan has repeatedly been accused of anti-Semitism, which he has rejected, fiercely defending his right to criticise the state of Israel.

Critics further charge that he has encouraged sectarianism and encouraged young women to hide themselves behind the veil.

He has brushed these claims aside, saying he encourages young Muslims to take an active role in society, that the veil is a matter of choice and that he rejects violence and encourages worshippers to read Islamic texts 鈥渋n context鈥�.

Ramadan first entered the public eye when he was banned from entering France in 1995 following Islamist bombings in Paris.

Authorities had apparently confused him with his more radical brother Hani, who once wrote a column in Le Monde justifying the stoning of women.

Ramadan was later banned from entering the United States from 2004 to 2010 on ideological grounds.

The bitter exchanges between pro- and anti-Ramadan camps following the sex assault allegations are testament to how divisive he is, notes Fateh Kimouche, founder of Muslim website Al-Kanz.

Ramadan is 鈥渢he first Muslim media intellectual鈥�, he told AFP. Naturally, he said, the debate has been 鈥渧ery passionate鈥�. /cbb