A prominent European Muslim scholar has been prevented from taking up a post at Notre Dame University in Indiana after U.S. authorities revoked his visa, the university said on Tuesday.
The renowned Catholic university said in a statement it was "deeply disappointed and concerned" about the treatment of Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss citizen who lives in Geneva and who the school had appointed a tenured professor of religion.
"Professor Ramadan is a distinguished scholar and a voice for moderation in the Muslim world. We know of no reason why his entry should be prevented. Neither the university nor professor Ramadan has been informed of any reason for this action by the U.S. government," it said.
Ramadan, 41, obtained a U.S. visa in February but it was revoked by the State Department late last month after the Department of Homeland Security changed its position.
"He's sitting in Switzerland in a house without furniture" with his wife and four children, school spokesman Matthew Storin said. The family had planned to move to the South Bend, Indiana, school.
Another professor filled in for Ramadan on Tuesday on the first day of his scheduled class on Islamic ethics.
Neither the State Department nor the Department of Homeland Security would discuss Ramadan's case in detail, other than to say he could reapply for a visa.
"Generally speaking, criteria for revocation include public safety risk, or national security threat," DHS spokesman Dean Boyd said.
Ramadan has advised the European Commission on religious issues and addressed conferences sponsored by the State Department.
But he is no stranger to controversy. Described by the online magazine Slate as "the Muslim Martin Luther," Ramadan has become the voice of many disaffected Muslim youths in France. Critics in the French media have portrayed him as a fundamentalist preaching a moderate Islam in French but a radical Islam in Arabic.
He is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian founder of the first modern Islamic radical group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
In an interview earlier this year with Reuters, Ramadan said he admired his grandfather but has no ties to the Brotherhood or any terrorist groups. He denied tailoring his message to his audience, either in France or abroad.
"I take blows from both sides," he said. "That's how to establish links with all sides, which is what interests me."
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said keeping Ramadan out of the United States was a mistake.
"The best way to improve deteriorating relations with the Muslim world is by listening to mainstream Islamic political and religious voices, not by censoring respected scholars whose views are apparently feared by those who seek a monopoly on intellectual debate."