The fact that 57 percent of the population of a European country famed for its unique model of direct democracy voted for a discriminatory law is quite telling. Europe is shifting its axis away from the most basic values that make it what it is.Why?
Why did the Swiss people decide to put this shameful black mark on their history of democracy?
The minaret ban says nothing about minarets. All it demonstrates is the mentality of the Swiss people in particular and, in projection, Europe in general. I shall dwell on three points: (1) that European Orientalism is still alive; (2) that Europe is still largely ignorant about Islam; and (3) that the basic drive that decides the moves of Europe is no longer reason but fear -- in this case, schizophrenic.
The Egerkinger committee that organized the initiative alleged in their leaflets and meetings that “the construction of a minaret has no religious meaning. Neither in the Quran, nor in any other holy scripture of Islam is the minaret expressly mentioned at any rate. The minaret is far more a symbol of religious-political power claim.” Ulrich Schluer, a prominent exponent of the committee claimed that “a minaret has nothing to do with religion: It just symbolizes a place where Islamic law is established.” This is sheer Orientalism. Shall we learn our religion from the Egerkinger committee? Who is Ulrich Schluer to load new meanings to Islamic symbolism? Turkey is unquestionably the country with the largest number of minarets in the world and hosts the tallest and most elegant ones. Does Schluer mean that Islamic law is established in Turkey? Or does he mean that the Swiss people are dull enough to be cheated with this deliberate Orientalist fabrication? You chose the answer…
Europe is still ignorant about Islam, and familiarity with Muslims does not necessarily mean familiarity with Islam. The guilt of this ignorance lies both at the court of the non-Muslim Europeans and their Muslim neighbors. Out of the 10 cantons with populations that are more than 5 percent Muslim, only the citizens of Basel-Stadt voted against the initiative. In all the German-speaking cantons other than Basel, the initiative received more than 65 percent support. The German-speaking cantons are supposed to be the most familiar with Muslim people and institutions, but this didn’t help them empathize with Muslims. Geneva, on the other hand, gave the lowest level of support for the initiative. Geneva is one of the four Swiss cities with a minaret, and if it was the “threatening” existence of a minaret that drove voters to support the initiative, Geneva should have supported it also. But Geneva is also the city where Muslims have established interfaith dialogue with the non-Muslim locals. The city of Zurich also opposed the initiative. It is the second center of dialogue with the Muslim community in Switzerland. Statistics show that Muslim Europeans have a duty to speak out in the name of their religion, represent their religion in public platforms and engage in interfaith dialogue activities so as not to fall into a situation where they have to cope with more anti-democratic initiatives.
Man is the enemy of what he does not know. Objects of ignorance are also objects of hatred. Europe is afraid. It is afraid of Turkey’s membership in the European Union. It is afraid of the higher birth rates of European Muslims. It is afraid of the surging numbers of conversions to Islam in Europe. Just as there are ultra-nationalist and extreme right wing parties in Turkey that usurp the fears of the people, there are European parties that terrorize the public with fabricated stories and then channel that fear to ballot boxes.
Ergenekon is everywhere…
What is the solution?
We need more outspoken Muslim experts who do not leave ground for European Orientalist Christian and even atheist “commentators” to represent Islam. Most of the minarets -- in fact the mosques, too -- in Europe are ugly structures. They fit neither the centuries-old local architectural fabric of their host countries, nor the established Muslim architectural traditions. We need to build beautiful, attractive, elegant mosques, and if necessary minarets, in Europe and invite Europeans to visit and learn more about Islam in these centers of learning.
Muslims need neither mosques nor minarets in order to perform their daily prayers. The earth is a mosque and the sky is its majestic dome. It is Europe that needs mosques as gathering places of Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
