Switzerland bans minarets

Voters in Switzerland have approved a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques, official results posted by the Swiss news agency ATS have shown.

Over 57 per cent of those who cast votes in Sunday's poll approved the ban while only four cantons out of 26 rejected the proposals, paving the way for a constitutional amendment to be made.

Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Bern, the Swiss capital, said: "There is concern in Switzerland undoubtedly about what is being seen as the spread of radical Islam, but the Muslim community here has always been regarded as fairly moderate.

rest on : http://english.aljazeera.net/new ... 12915164769444.html

I think its sad that people try to make religious symbols political and create hate between citizens. and by the way, where is the freedom of religion they always talked about in the West?

True Jim, but its still their country and their rules, and as muslims we are required to respect people and their countries, as long as we continue to practice our religion, thats all that counts.

True Jim, but its still their country and their rules, and as muslims we are required to respect people and their countries, as long as we continue to practice our religion, thats all that counts.
Noora Post at 30-11-2009 20:08

But sister, the Muslims are citizens in Switzerland so its also their country and must have equal rights. while Christians are allowed to build churches with towers Muslims arent allowed to have minrates and i believe this is the beginning next they may ban the Masjids, that is pure religious discrimination and a slap in the face of their preaching about tolerance and democracy.

Its not an islamic country Jim, and muslims should feel privledged that there are mosques, they havent banned that . Im not saying its right, but if thats what the public have voted, we have to respect that. Remember the prophet(PBUH) advised us to respect the laws of the countries we live in.  Respecting doesnt mean we have to stop practising our religion, and if worse comes to worse, we can always choose to live in an Islamic country.

Switzerland's supposedly democratic, which implies, Muslims have just as much rights as Christians. But apparently, the Christians, which translates to the majority, feel threatened by Islamic symbols, and hence by majority vote they suppressed the minority voice. But shouldn't the minority be entitled to special rights? Like in India?

Anyway, what's done is done. Muslims should now understand that raising minarets is not an integral part of Islam; it can be done without. The 400,000 Muslims should worship in mosques sans minarets. Soon, the Muslim population is bound to grow, according to pundits of demographics. Then maybe, the law will be rescinded.

Anyway, the minaret hardly matters, so Muslims should avoid making a fuss over it, and seek Allah's protection from further anti-Islamic laws. At least this will manifest the peaceful nature of Islam.

5# Maimoona

Maimoona that is well said, although i am sure its  not only limited to Minarets as i read yesterday that the Far Right Party is now preparing to collect new signatures to ban more from the Muslim community including stopping children from going to prayer at school, and stop Muslim girls from abstaining from swimming classes and other issues. So its an attack on the minority Muslim community that will continue.

Sister Noora, i disagree the notion that its their country and we must bow down to everything they do, I think the global Muslim community must put pressure on Swiss to reverse this decision...or it could be too late until you will see Muslims living in hide in Europe.

Jimcale, I wish we could pressure the Swiss to rescind their decision, but the truth is, very few Muslim countries allow liberties to non-Muslim faiths, which is actually wrong.  That's why we must respect the Swiss decision and pressure the Muslim nations to arrange for asylum. Our Prophet PBUH migrated when practising Islam became tedious in Makkah. That should be the general trend. But very few Muslim countries allow migration of foreigners.

The issue Jim is that when the West changes their laws we must respect it, even if we dont agree with it. Now i have issues with Islamic countries who arent really practising shariah laws here, they pretend to be, but in reality, they arent.  if muslims really want to make changes, how about starting here in our own backyards.

"Our Prophet PBUH migrated when practising Islam became tedious in Makkah. That should be the general trend. But very few Muslim countries allow migration of foreigners".

The above qoute really says it all, and how many muslim countries allow for migration of foreginers who happen to be muslims?  At least the West allows for this. Here in Qatar i find it highly amusing that a friend of mine cannot bring his parents who are Palestinian for a holiday, but non muslims enjoy living and visiting Qatar. How islamic is that?
I dont like the descision the Swiss have made but seriously we should really clean up our own backyards and change the way we muslims treat each other, before we worry or get upset at how non muslims are treating muslims.

The issue Jim is that when the West changes their laws we must respect it, even if we dont agree with it. Now i have issues with Islamic countries who arent really practising shariah laws here, they p ...
Noora Post at 1-12-2009 18:22

Sisters i completely agree with you on the issue of lack of equal religious rights and lack of generosity in the Muslim countries. they anyway never claim to be Islamic or democratic so i am not surprised with them . but what shocked me about the Swiss vote was the double standard that was applied. and i really cant accept that notion that Muslims should go back to their countries if they dont like the new rules while so many of those Muslims are actually Swiss citizens. so its complete double standard.

but again. i will say yes Muslim countries need to improve their image, Apply sharia as its supposed to be and stop dictatorship and self interest.

No Jim, GCC countries do claim to be an Islamic country when iit suits them, and then behave as they like on other issues.  As a muslim, i feel i have more rights in the west, than i do in any middle eastern countries. Now again, im not saying the descision is right but like it or not, we have to respect the rules of any country and adhere to it and ask Allah (swt) to make it easier on us to practice Islam wherever we are. If we focuse on how to behave as the prophet(PBUH) taught us, your damn right, our image wouldnt be like it is now. To me ranting and raving about a minaret isnt important as how i treat other regardless of whether they are muslim or not. Again i say, we have our priorites all wrong.