{"id":62,"date":"2008-10-17T09:01:52","date_gmt":"2008-10-17T09:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/european-mosques-and-freedom-o.html"},"modified":"2008-10-17T09:01:52","modified_gmt":"2008-10-17T09:01:52","slug":"european-mosques-and-freedom-o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2008\/10\/european-mosques-and-freedom-o.html","title":{"rendered":"European mosques and freedom of religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The muslim world, especially the Middle East, is rightly chided for its lack of religious tolerance. One excellent barometer of tolerance is whether minority religions are permitted to construct houses of worship. While some countries in the ME like Jordan are relatively liberal in this regard, others are severely intolerant of competing faiths. A good example is in Saudi Arabia, where churches remain outlawed<\/a>, despite recent outreach from the Vatican<\/a> and evidence of churches in antiquity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, the muslim world is still third world in many respects, on the lagging end of the global wave of liberalization and human rights. You would expect that the more enlightened (and Enlightened) West to score better on these basic issues of religious freedom. Unfortunately, looking at Europe (the cradle of Western civilization) as a case study, we find that religious tolerance (as defined above) hardly fares any better than the Middle East, with success stories as well as outright failures. Consider three continental case studies – Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. <\/p>\n

In Italy<\/b>, the far-right Northern League party (allied with PM Berlusconi) has proposed legislation to severely curtail the construction of new mosques<\/a>. The author of the legislation, Andrea Gibelli, defends the need for the restrictions as follows:<\/p>\n

Gibelli’s bottom line was that building mosques in Italy at the current
\nrate of expansion was a form of cultural colonisation. He said mosques
\n“are often places of cultural indoctrination, sometimes linked to
\ninternational terrorism.” They get in the way of Muslims integrating
\ninto Italy’s Catholic culture, he said. Anyway, he finally said,
\nMuslims don’t really need them as the Koran states that they can “pray anywhere.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, such laws actually do more harm to “cultural integration”, by clearly telling immigrants that they are Others<\/a> regardless of their loyalty to the state or how much they have contributed to their society by virtue of their labor:<\/p>\n

\n

The Northern League has “made life difficult for the Islamic
\ncomponent (of immigrants in Italy) in every sense and especially with
\nregards to places of worship”, the president of the Islamic Cultural
\nIstitute of Milan, Abdel Hamid Sha’ari, told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Not just recent or illegal immigrants feel unwelcome, but also
\nestablished Muslim residents like Jihad Amro, who said: “I have paid
\ntaxes for 17 years but I still don’t feel at home.”<\/p>\n

“There are still situations where I feel uncomfortable or strange
\nbecause they (Italians) don’t see me as someone who is integrated,”
\nAmro, a Palestinian, told Reuters TV in Rome.<\/p>\n

The League’s anti-Muslim protests have often made headlines, such
\nas when Roberto Calderoli, now a cabinet minister, walked his pet pig
\non a proposed mosque site to defile the soil or wore a T-shirt of the
\nProphet Mohammad, triggering riots in Libya.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Even a planned “Islamic center” in the Tuscan region, which will be funded entirely from the local muslim population, is meeting resistance, despite support from the local authorties<\/a>, suggesting that antipathy to muslims is deeply engrained. <\/p>\n

In Switzerland<\/b>, the controversy centers on minarets<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

A group of right-wing Swiss politicians has launched a campaign to ban the construction of minarets, claiming they are a symbol of power
\nand threaten law and order.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The attempt to launch a national referendum on minarets has triggered widespread criticism but also attracted some support.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The anti-minaret movement is more prevalent in smaller Swiss towns where the local muslim communities want to build new mosques. In the big cities (Zurich, Geneva) there are large mosques with minarets that would not be affected by the proposed law, which would actually be a constitutional amendment. The complete text of the amendment? Six words: “The construction of minarets is forbidden.”<\/p>\n

However, the Swiss government has not seen fit to let the anti-minaret proponents go unchallenged. The federal government issued a 49-page report outlining in exacting legal terms<\/a> why such a ban would violate the existing Swiss constitution (which is why it is proposed as an amendment rather than a law, note), as well as international human rights standards. The summary of the report is here<\/a> and in many ways is a blueprint for those who defend religious freedom against right-wing extremist intolerance.<\/p>\n

In Germany<\/b>, there is no legal attempt at outlawing mosques or minarets, and in fact the muslim community is poised to embark on an ambitious round of projects, ranging from a mega-mosque in Cologne<\/a> to smaller, but utterly breathtaking<\/a>, projects. The opposition in Germany seems to be driven more by competing religious authorties rather than right-wing political groups (which do exist but are smaller and less powerful, given Germany’s greater political complexity and diversity). Consider the reaction to the Cologne project:<\/p>\n

\n

The plan calls for a mosque with prayer space for 2,000, a high
\nglass and concrete dome and two tall minarets in the Ottoman Turkish
\nstyle. It would be flanked by DITIB offices.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“It would not be the biggest mosque in Germany, but it would be the
\nbiggest Muslim centre,” Alboga, DITIB’s official for inter-religious
\ndialogue, said. “There are 120,000 Muslims in Cologne, the largest
\nnumber in any German city.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The complex got approval from City Hall but met with growing
\ncriticism from Christian leaders and a small far-right group, which
\nrallied about 150 people to protest against it last month.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Cardinal Meisner said the mosque would change the skyline of
\nCologne, a city crowned by its massive Gothic cathedral, even though
\nthe minarets would stand far away in a leafy suburb.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Mainz Cardinal Karl Lehmann, head of the German Bishops Conference,
\nupset Muslims by saying Germany should not show “uncritical tolerance”
\nand treat Islam like other religions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As the article notes, Islam in Germany is “here to stay” and there are over 200 mosque projects being pursued. Some of these are unbelievably outstanding in terms of beauty and architectural design, for example this “broken eggshell” design intended for a Cologne suburb:<\/p>\n

\"0,1020,1321079,00\"<\/a><\/p>\n

or this imposing, minaret-less design for a project in Berlin:<\/p>\n

\"Mosque<\/a><\/p>\n

These bold designs are a deliberate expression of identity for German muslims, asserting their presence with “confrontational architecture<\/a>“:<\/p>\n

The real issue of debate, however, will be the fact that, stone by
\nstone and minaret by minaret, Muslims in Germany want to become more
\nvisible — they are no longer content to have their places of worship
\nlargely hidden from public view. In architectural terms, they want to
\nbe part of the cityscape in a way they have never been before.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These exmaples demonstrate a great deal of diversity in terms of tolerance level across Europe, with some countries more backwards than others. However, Der Spiegel does note that the underlying tensions are universal, a conflict between the native European culture and the post-colonial immigrant populations<\/a> who are expected to “assimilate” but who also remain second-class citizens:<\/p>\n

The numerous attempts to block construction illustrate how a smoldering
\nconflict that otherwise remains hidden from view is being openly waged
\nin the field of architecture. Wherever you go, the pattern is almost
\nidentical: First there are complaints about encroachments on the urban
\nenvironment and haggling over possible locations and the height of
\ndomes and minarets — whether they can be 15, 20 or 55 meters. Or, as
\nis the case in Munich, it might just be about aesthetic competition
\nwith a nearby church. And, then, the debate moves to the underlying
\nissue: the locals’ fear of preachers of hate, terrorist attacks, jihad
\nand the accusation that, with every minaret it builds, Europe is prostrating itself further to the power of Mecca<\/a>.
…
You can’t first accuse Muslims of barricading themselves in back rooms and of
\nrefusing to integrate themselves into society<\/a>
\nand then criticize them — in areas where they’re been living for two
\nor three generations — for wanting to build proper houses of worship.
\nThe fact of the matter is that they are putting themselves out in the
\npublic realm. Moreover, having an “invisible” minority culture that the
\nmajority considers practically inscrutable has the much more dangerous
\npotential of causing problems than does having a minority culture whose
\nvisibility actually lends it a rather ordinary, everyday feel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s precisely that ordinary, everyday Islam that these mosque projects will promote, and will serve the self-interest of both muslims and non-muslims alike. The backlash is less a failure of religious tolerance and more a manifestation of simple fear and anti-immigrant prejudice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}