Rashid al-Ghannushi Quotes

I dream of a free, democratic, peaceful Tunisia, a country that can protect its developing identity.

We in Tunisia have no problem with respecting other peoples religion, and we have a long tradition of that.

What Tunisia urgently needs, is freedom and the building of a real democracy.

I believe that women should have equal rights to education, to work and to civic and political engagement.

French laicite is probably aggressive and antagonistic to the religion, but there are other models of secularism in the world where there could be reconciliation between religion and secularism.

Just like in medicine, when the normal medicine no longer works, one resorts to surgery. And the revolutions is like the surgery: Its painful, and its the last resort for nations.

I believe democracy will succeed in Tunisia, but I also believe that it will succeed in the other Arab Spring countries.

The dictatorship needs to be entirely dismantled. All the rest of the old guard must go.

There is no one in al-Nahda that is violence is a means of change or to keep power. Everyone in al-Nahda believes that democracy is the only way to reach power and to stay in power.

I hope that with the success of the transition to democracy in Tunisia that we will export to Egypt a working democratic model.

Al-Nahda is a movement; it is not just a small party.

There are common denominators that unite all members of al-Nahda: There is no one in al-Nahda who doubts about Islam There is no one in al-Nahda that believes in extremist views of Islam.

No one in al-Nahda believes that jihad is a way to impose Islam on the world. But we believe that jihad is self-control, is social and political struggle, and even military jihad is only a way to defend oneself in the case of aggression.

I will not be standing for office. I'm nearing 70; there are younger people within our movement. I just wish to contribute intellectually to the historic process of taking Tunisia from the era of repression to one of democracy.

Under Tunisian law, a woman can divorce her husband. Total equality.