Tariq Ramadan was born in Geneva, Switzerland on August 26, 1962.

He has written more than 20 books exploring the difficult issues of reinterpretation and reform within Islam itself and between the Islamic world and its neighbors around the globe. His books include Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Islam, the West, and the Challenges of Modernity, To Be a European Muslim, and Jihad, Violence, War and Peace in Islam. He has also published a total of 700 contributions or articles in collective books, academic reviews, and magazines.

Ramadan held the post of Professor of Islamic Studies in the Classic Department and Luce Professor of Religion Conflict and Peacebuilding at Kroc Institute at University of Notre Dame. In 2004, he was forced to resign that post after his visa was revoked. In January 2005, PEN joined the ACLU in filing suit challenging the Patriot Act provision that the government has used to bar prominent writers and scholars who are critical of U.S. policies from visiting the United States.

Ramadan is now a visiting fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford University, and senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation, in London.