- Islamic Issues
- December 2, 2009
- 3 minutes read
Qaradawi: Today banning of Minarets and tomorrow banning of Mosques.
Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, expressed his regret and chagrin with the results of the referendum on the banning of minarets in Switzerland. He warned of the negative impact of the initiative to ban the minarets on Switzerland’s Muslims asserting that “The Muslims in Switzerland can pray in a mosque without a minaret but if he feels that he is forced to do this, because of a law banning it for him, and that this was done in hostility to him, then he will feel he is a strange element in this country and rejected by its people. This will definitely affect his loyalty to the homeland.” he stressed that “it is not in the interest of any society for some of its citizens to feel that they are undesired. It is better for us to support everything that calls for the culture of love and not hatred, dialogue and not clash, acquaintance and not disregard”. Qaradawi added that the results of this referendum shows disregard to decades of talk on peace and tolerance.
Addressing a message to the Muslim minority in Switzerland, Al-Qaradawi called on them “to cooperate with society on the basis that they are an inseparable part of it, give their sincere loyalty to the homeland in which they live, and act proficiently and honestly for its prestige”.
As to the Muslims in the Muslim and Arab world Qaradawi called on them to demonstrate their distaste on this prejudice survey. He encouraged them to rally in front of all Swiss Embassy’s where he claimed that “if we bow to the banning of Minarets which is a symbol of Islam in itself then we are giving the green light to encourage the banning of the mosques hereafter”.
The government and parliament opposed the initiative as a violation of the Swiss constitution, freedom of religions, and the tolerance to which the country adheres. The UN Human Rights Council also expressed its concern about the initiative.
“Indeed, a ban on minarets amounts to an undue restriction of the freedom to manifest one’s religion and constitutes a clear discrimination against members of the Muslim community in Switzerland,” one human rights activist said.
The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Switzerland has ratified along with 164 other countries, obliges governments to protect and respect freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Freedom of worship is one of the cornerstones of Switzerland’s founding constitution