What is the true understanding of an Ummah?
In response, Professor Ramadan warned against romanticizing the concept of an Ummah. The term “Ummah” he explained, is not a physical community; “Ummah” is a spiritual concept of a community based on a principle. What binds Muslims together is Allah. The commitment to the Ummah which all Muslims should have must be based on the Prophet’s advice, to aid your Muslim brother when he is the oppressor by preventing him. Ramadan added that the concept of Ummah is now being used as a way to be “united against”. He added that in reality, the concept of Ummah should not unite Muslims against, but rather “for” – it should unite Muslims “for” the principles on which the Ummah is based on. Another question asked was by a young woman: How can Muslim youth break free from tribal traditional thinking and move to scientific logical thinking? Tariq Ramadan replied that the division of knowledge into logical and traditional is something the Islamic reformist movement has had to deal with. He stated that
