Tensions on the rise: rarely is there a church without a bell tower in Switzerland. Now other religious communities are demanding the same privilege: Muslims are fighting for the right to build minarets on top of mosques. This has been the cause of a heated debate, due to peak on November 29 when Swiss voters will decide how far freedom of religion should go.
| Auteur | Gallinelli, Sven |
| Fonction | POLITICS |
National headlines were guaranteed: In mid-September, the Islamic Community of Lucerne went public with a demand that has added a new chapter to an already emotional debate. The Community stated it would like to be officially recognised as one of the national churches in Canton Lucerne. By doing so, the Community would gain the right to collect church taxes.
"That way, we would be able to get financial resources for social projects, for example in the area of integration," said Petrit Alimi, Community vice president, in the Neue Luzerner Zeitung.
The Lucerne-based Muslims are the first in Switzerland to go to such an extent to achieve public recognition. It is not, however, the first attempt by Muslims to proclaim their rightful place within Swiss society. Based on the last census, 4.3 per cent of Swiss inhabitants (or about 510,800 people) belong to an Islamic community, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Compared to Catholics (41.8 per cent) and Protestants (35.5 per cent), Islamic people are still a minority here. But they are also the third-biggest religious community in this country--a community that is lively and wants to express its presence by more than just gathering in the approximately 160 mosques across the country.
As no Swiss church would be complete without its bell tower, the final touch of any mosque is the minaret. It's a simple thing that many encyclopaedias, such as the Bertelsmann Universal Lexicon, describe as a "tower for the Muezzin of the mosque". Other sources, for example Wikipedia, call the minaret a "distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques".
Just a feature? Not here. There is an intense debate going on in Switzerland about whether the erection of minarets should still be allowed or not. In fact, the debate has gone so far that the Swiss have to decide in a national referendum if minarets should be forbidden by the constitution.
Politics of religion
The minaret-ban initiative has its roots in the conservative circles of the country. It was mainly members from the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) who raised 114,900 signatures to get the topic put on the ballot. (100,000 signatures gathered in 18 months are required to force a referendum.)
Ulrich Schluer, a member of the Swiss National Council (House of Representatives) from Zurich, set up the committee that is leading the fight against minarets. "A minaret has a political and not a religious dimension," says Schluer. "It is a...
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