An emotional debate over the role of Islam in Switzerland is heating up as a referendum approaches that would ban the construction of minarets on mosques.
On Nov. 29, the Swiss will vote on a referendum to ban the construction of minarets, an initiative promoted by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, who argue that a minaret is a symbol of Islamic intolerance. Minarets are tower-like structures capped with crowns; while the structure has no special religious significance, it is often used for the call to prayer for Muslims.
The debate comes in a country that has prided itself on integrating its large immigrant population and that largely avoided the clashes over the rights of Muslim minorities seen elsewhere in Europe. Business and political interests are especially worried about a possible backlash from the Muslim world.
I expect a minaret is as essential to Islam as a steeple is to Christianity. Perhaps it helps to find what you are looking for.
The article says that Swiss laws on sound pollution already ban the loudspeakers which blare the athaan and even the Friday sermons at painful volume all over cities in Muslim-majority countries. As long as the loudspeakers are banned, the minarets themselves should be okay.
And of course there’s the psychological use of minarets. In Egypt, churches are allowed to have towers with crosses high in the air, and they’re even allowed to ring bells for services. However, there’s always a mosque not far away with a minaret just a little taller than the top of the cross at the church.