SWISS MINARET BAN WILL ONLY EMBOLDEN THE INTOLERANT REGIMES

Differences don’t mean we can’t be respectful human beings. The Holy Prophet of Islam ordered his followers to protect, repair and respect the religious buildings of other faiths.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | Comments
JewishJournal.com | The God Blog
Taken from comments By J. Khan posted at
Putting the Swiss ban on minarets in context

Switzerland should have taken the lead in showing intolerant countries of the world how they should be behaving. Instead, we get this ban, which will only harden already intolerant regimes further vis-a-vis minorities.

Minarets in Western Europe are almost never used for the call to prayer. The call is usually made from inside the mosque, and without loudspeakers out of respect for the neighbours.

The very fact that a referendum was needed for such a trivial matter just shows the xenophobia of some of the Swiss people. What will be next? A ban on domes? Then a ban on mosques per se? We can be sure that after Muslims, they will be going after Jews and all non-Christian people.

Why do people never learn from the mistakes of History? Recently Shimon Peres was invited to the Ahmadiyya mosque of Haifa. It’s on YouTube for all to see: a genuine attempt by both sides to bridge gaps despite perceived differences.

Differences don’t mean we can’t be respectful human beings. The Holy Prophet of Islam ordered his followers to protect, repair and respect the religious buildings of other faiths. It’s such a shame that few Muslim countries of today honor the Prophet’s teachings.

Switzerland has certainly gone several steps backwards on the scale of civilization. And that’s a loss for the whole world.

[Someone wrote,] “There is a Muslim religious law that states that a mosque must be the tallest building in its vicinity”. I have certainly never heard of such a law. The mosque of the Prophet himself was a humble building, as are many mosques around the world today.

The height of religious buildings has rarely to do with territoriality. The height of churches has to do with how much the person(s) financing its construction - historically, in Europe, Christian monarchs or nobles - want(s) to please the Creator. The higher the spire, the greater the show of devotion to God. To even think that Muslims wish to include tall minarets just to stake a claim on Swiss soil is laughable!

One need not find an example “nine hundred years ago”, although many examples there are of Muslims helping others build or repair their religious edifices. I myself remember that in Mauritius, where my father was born, in the 1960’s the Ahmadiyya Muslim community made a substantial donation towards a Tamil temple being built only a few hundred meters away from their own mosque. This gesture was greatly appreciated by the Tamils, who reciprocated by offering beautiful carpets for the mosque. Every year when the Tamils’ Cavadee procession passes in front of the mosque, the Ahmadi Muslims offer them refreshments and allow them to use their water facilities. Isn’t that how tolerance and love are supposed to be in practice?

That was what Ahmadi Muslims have learnt from Muhammad (peace be upon him), and that is what they intend to continue teaching to their future generations. Those who remain blind to the goodness preached and practiced by others are among the true losers in this world. Goodness should be encouraged and celebrated. Pessimism based on ignorance adds nothing to the peace and happiness of people on earth.

Read here: Putting the Swiss ban on minarets in context