[YELLING]
Reporter: AS THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD TIGHTENS ITS
GRIP ON EGYPT, WESTERN
GOVERNMENTS ARE TRYING TO
GET A HANDLE ON THIS
POWERFUL GROUP.
IS IT A RADICAL JIHADIST
MOVEMENT OR A VOICE FOR
REFORM THAT OPPOSES
VIOLENCE.
TERIK RAMADAN FACES THOSE
SAME QUESTIONS.
I'M THE GRANDSON OF THE
FOUNDER OF THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD.
Reporter: HIS FAMILY
LINEAGE GIVES RAMADAN AN
INSTANT CREDIBILITY.
WHILE HIS GRANDFATHER
FOUNDED THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD, HIS FATHER DID,
TOO.
IN A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH
CBN NEWS, HE DENIED ANY
INVOLVEMENT WITH THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD.
I'M NOT A MEMBER.
Reporter: STILL, HE
PRAISES HIS FOREFATHER'S
WORK AND SAYS, QUOTE,"THERE
IS NOTHING IN HIS HERITAGE
HE REJECTS."
IT IS THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD'S FIRST BEACH
HEAD IN THE WEST.
NOW HIS SON, TERIK RAMADAN,
IS CARRYING ON THAT LEGACY
HERE AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
Reporter: HE TEACHES
ISLAMIC STUDIES AT OXFORD.
IN WRITINGS AND SPEECHES, HE
PROMOTES WHAT HE CALLS A
MODERN, EUROPEAN VERSION OF
ISLAM.
HE HAS ADVISED THE BRITISH
GOVERNMENT ON TERRORISM
ISSUES AND SAYS SHARI'A LAW
IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE U.S.
CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW.
Reporter: DO YOU THINK
THERE IS A PLACE FOR SHARI'A
IN THE LAW?
SHARI'A IS A WAY, IT IS A
PATH, FOR EXAMPLE.
WHEN I AM BASED IN MY
COUNTRY, OR IN THE WEST, AND
THE LAW OF THE COUNTRY IS
SAYING THAT WE ARE EQUAL
BEFORE LAW, THAT IS
SHARI'A.
SO MY UNDERSTANDING OF
SHARI'A IS NOT THE CLOSED
SYSTEM.
IT IS AN OPEN SYSTEM.
Reporter: RAMADAN
PACKAGES CONCEPTS LIE
SHARI'A IN A BENIGN WAY FOR
NON-MUSLIM AUDIENCE.
HIS CRITICS CHARGE IT IS A
DIFFERENT STORY WHEN HE
SPEAKS TO MUSLIMS.
BROTHER TERIK, THE
PROFESSORS CEREMONIES HAVE
RADICALIZED COUNTLESS YOUNG
PEOPLE.
IN 2003, A FRENCH COURT
FOUND THAT LANGUAGE USED BY
PREACHERS LIKE RAMADAN CAN
INFLUENCE YOUNG MUSLIMS, AND
INCITING THEM AS A FACTOR.
HE ALSO CAUSED AN UP ROAR
WITH NICOLAS SARKOZY WHEN HE
REFUSED TO CALL FOR A BAN ON
STONING.
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
Reporter: CONTROVERSY
CONTINUED TO FOLLOW RAMADAN
IN 2004, WHEN THE BUSH
ADMINISTRATION REVOKED HIS
VISA AND REFUSED TO LET HIM
ENTER THE COUNTRY JUST DAYS
BEFORE HE WAS TO BEGIN
TEACHING AT NOTRE-DAME.
HE USED THE PATRIOT ACT
BECAUSE I WAS SUPPORTING
PALESTINIAN ORGANIZATIONS.
HE SAID THIS PALESTINIAN
ORGANIZATION WAS LIKELY TO
BE HAMAS.
CONNECTED TO HAMAS OR GIVING
MONEY TO HAMAS.
THIS ORGANIZATION WAS, AT
LEAST IN 2003, AND I GAVE
THE MONEY BETWEEN '98 AND
200 2002, SO I STOPPED ONE
YEAR BEFORE.
Reporter: HAMAS IS A
U.S. DESIGNATED TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION, AND SERVES AS
THE PALESTINIAN WING OF THE
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.
THE POSITION IS
LEGITIMATE RESISTANCE ON
OCCUPATION.
Reporter: SO THE
VIOLENCE IS LEGITIMATE,
THOUGH, WHEN HAMAS DOES FIRE
ROCKETS?
NO, NO, NO.
WHAT I'M SAYING IS WHAT THEY
ARE SAYING.
THEY ARE SAYING THAT TO
RESIST THE VIOLENCE OF THE
ISRAELI ARMY IS LEGITIMATE.
Reporter: OVER THE
YEARS, AT LEAST EIGHT
COUNTRIES, INCLUDING EGYPT
AND SAUDI ARABIA, HAVE
BARRED RAMADAN FROM
ENTERING.
FRANCE BANNED IN FOR SIX
MONTHS IN THE 1990s FOR
ALLEGED LINKS TO TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION.
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
LIFTED THE AMERICAN BAN ON
RAMADAN ON 2010.
HE NOW TRAVELS FREELY INSIDE
THE UNITED STATES, GIVING
LECTURES AND ATTENDING
CONFERENCES.
I'M A EUROPEAN BY
CULTURE.
AND THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT
I'M NOT GOING TO RESPECT THE
PRINCIPLES OF MY RELIGION.
Reporter: IT IS
BALANCING THOSE ISLAMIC
PRINCIPLES WITH THOSE OF THE
WEST THAT HAS PROVEN A MORE
COMPLICATED MATTER.
ERIC STACKELBACH, CBN NEWS,
REPORTING FROM OXFORD,
UNIVERSITY.
