As Winds readers almost certainly know, the Swiss voted in a referendum to ban the construction of new minarets in Switzerland. At present, only 4 of Switzerland's 150 mosques have minarets, and none are used for the call to prayer because of strict noise-pollution rules. Those minarets would be allowed to stay.
Rise of the Fjordmen? A little, yeah. The Minarets aren't required parts of a mosque, are seen as big "eff you!" raised finger of Islamic supremacism, and people reasonably don't want even the potential of some idiot yelling a public call to prayer of any sort at whatever hour of morning or day. Local noise regulations can be repealed, after all, by a local majority vote. Referenda cannot. Auto-dialers and opt-in cell phones, please!
Imam Hargey of Oxford has some sensible suggestions...
"Switzerland's referendum vote to ban minarets is needlessly xenophobic but it does not infringe the religious liberty of Swiss Muslims. Minarets remain emblematic of mosques in the Muslim heartlands but there is no theological reason why houses of worship in the West have to incorporate such towers.... European mosques should stop mindlessly mimicking Eastern design and create prayer halls that blend into the landscape.
Muslims who have settled in Switzerland (and elsewhere in Europe) should not confuse culture with creed.... They should practice a Swiss Islam that is rooted in the society in which they live.... When European Muslims unthinkingly endorse this warped [Wahabbi] theology by desiring medieval Sharia, defending honour killings, stoning to death, forced marriages, Muslim exceptionalism and a separatist society, they only invoke fear and exacerbate anti-Muslim sentiment. When Europe's Muslims extol such un-Koranic doctrines as the niqab (face veil), they exclude themselves from the mainstream.
Only when Muslim immigrants and converts in Europe reject the twisted ideology of a fundamentalist male clergy will the chief causes of anti-Muslim prejudice in Europe recede."
The Swiss Muslim community, whose reaction has been measured and restrained, would do well to take his advice, because this vote is not the end.
The minaret vote was about 57-58% for, and the organizations behind the referendum campaign are targeting burqas and forced marriages next. Which will resonate widely, and is good political tactics by the the Swiss People's Party.
The latter initiative may also upset any Jewish Hassidic communities in Switzerland, but really, after reading some of the stories within the Jewish community about that, I have zero sympathy. Cardinal principle: people must not be disposable as property, under any framework - it will always be abused. Tough new laws around forced marriages are a nearly surefire winner in Switzerland, and even attempting to oppose that proposal will raise a lot of eyebrows and concern levels.
Incidentally, a referendum to ban Swiss arms exports, held at the same time, went down in flames, with 68% against.