In Switzerland, the rapid growth of the Muslim population began in the 1970s at the expense of Muslims from Turkey, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, Muslims make up about 6%. The Swiss concern over the sharp increase in the share of Muslims and the change in the cultural landscape has led to the fact that in some regions (cantons) countries banned burqa (nikaba, burki). However, the largest event related to the fight against Islamic culture occurred in 2009, when it was forbidden to build minarets to mosques throughout the country. Why did this happen?
Swiss People's Party Visual Campaign Against Minarets
There are currently only four mosques with minarets in Switzerland. They were built before the adoption of the law on the prohibition of minarets. In 2009, most Swiss, contrary to the position of the government and some political parties, decided in a referendum that there should no longer be minarets in their country. The people made an unpopular decision in power, which surprised many. Why?
Four minarets of Switzerland
Firstly, it showed the inconsistency of the interests of the state and the people. Secondly, Switzerland has traditionally been perceived as an open to cultural dialogue and a tolerant country. But concern over the growing influence of political Islam and religious rules in Europe has defeated the principles of tolerance of the Swiss. Many see a threat in political Islam, which intends to change the status of women and socio-cultural relations.
Swiss fears have arisen not from scratch. Prior to the ban on the imam of the Geneva mosque, Hani Ramadan, the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization (prohibited in Russia), claimed that women were allowed to stone for adultery.
Hani Ramadan
There was also news that Muslim parents forbade daughters to attend swimming, gymnastics and summer camps so that they would not intersect with the boys. In addition, the media reported forced marriages, honor killings and crippling operations. Some Islamic thinkers called for the introduction of Sharia into the Swiss legal system. This and other resonant news created the ground for hostility to Muslim culture in Swiss society.
The Swiss People's Party, adhering to the right ideological positions, took advantage of anti-Islamic sentiment and announced that the government could not protect the values of the Swiss from radical Islam, and chose minarets as a "means of Muslim propaganda" as a convenient goal. The party demanded to ban the construction of new minarets, collected a sufficient number of voters' signatures and held a referendum, during which 57.5% of citizens voted for the ban.
Referendum result caused widespread criticism both inside and outside the country. Opinions were voiced that Muslims in Switzerland are integrated into culture and rarely visit mosques, so it makes no sense to introduce any prohibitions. The decision was also convicted of violating the freedom of religion of Muslims. In response, the right-wing deputy from the people's party, Ulrich Schluer, argued that the symbol of the crucifixion was banned in Italian schools.
The court, in turn, did not accept the arguments about the unconstitutionality of the ban on minarets, stating that minarets are primarily political structures, not religious ones. Feminists joined the condemnation of the minarets, seeing in them a symbol of male power.
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