Andreas Tunger-Zanetti1
Introduction
“Swiss feel threatened by Islam” was the headline of the Sunday tabloid newspaper
Sonntags-Blick on 27 August 2017.2 The claim was supported by a survey and can be seen as expressing in a nutshell a widespread perception in Switzerland. A much more nuanced picture was shown a few days earlier by the Religionsmonitor, a much more comprehensive survey by the German Bertelsmann Foundation, aptly condensed into the title “Integrated, but not accepted?”3 While the article under the first headline explicitly makes reference to unacceptable speeches in some mosques and to the radicalisation of young Muslims, the second expresses a broader range of issues. For Muslims and Islam in Switzerland, the year 2017 was marked by a constant oscillation between these two poles of a gloomy picture prevalent in media reporting, on the one hand, and an inconspicuous normality, on the other.
The debate on “radicalisation”, supposed hate speech and Islamist activities, was stoked by a few new cases, such as that of a Libyan imam in Biel-Bienne.
Regularly, proposals in the political debate asking, for example, for a stricter control of imams and the financing of mosques, are quick to follow, and with this the “burqa ban initiative” was successfully launched. The combination of a representative
1 Andreas Tunger-Zanetti is the coordinator of the Centre for Research on Religion at the University of Lucerne. 2 Faki, Sermîn, and Florian Blumer, “Schweizer fühlen sich vom Islam bedroht”, Sonntagsblick, 27 August 2017, pp. 2-3. 3 Halm, Dirk, and Martina Sauer, Muslime in Europa: integriert, aber nicht akzeptiert? (Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2017), https://www.bertelsmann- stiftung.de/de/publikationen/publikation/did/muslime-in-europa/, accessed 22 April 2018. democracy alongside the high participation of citizens through direct-democratic processes in Switzerland, offers citizens the chance to overturn government policy and parliamentary decisions, or to pressurise it towards a desired course indirectly by initiating a referendum. At the same time, in the absence of a constitutional court, there is no judicial institution in the country with the competence to cancel articles of law which are contrary to European and international human rights conventions.
At the same time, the political system offers local testing grounds for policy, that is attentively watched by the larger confederation. For example, the small canton of Glarus in 2017 refused to introduce a “burqa ban” on its territory, after the canton of Ticino had opted for a ban in 2013. Public authorities and judicial courts continue to pursue policies less unsettled than public opinion as, for example, in the case of the controversial question of how to treat groups of young men distributing copies of the
Qur’an for free in the street.
Public Debates
Extremism, real or supposed, has been the major topic of political and media debates in Switzerland in 2017. Voices in the debate rarely distinguish between criminal or other illegal action, and opinions or behaviour that may seem unacceptable but are still within the law.
As in previous years the an-Nur mosque in the outskirts of the industrial city of Winterthur (canton of Zurich) continued to produce newspaper headlines as a hotspot of jihadi sympathisers, with at least seven young people having left to join armed groups, mainly in Syria and Iraq. The young imam, an asylum seeker of
Ethiopian nationality, had been arrested with others on 2 November 2016 and stood trial on 23 November 2017. He was found guilty of incitement to use violence against
Muslims who do not pray in the mosque community.4 He was sentenced conditionally to 18 months in prison, but put in custody for deportation since the authorities had rejected his request for asylum. The police raid on the mosque on 2 November 2016 was followed by a second raid on 21 February 2017, when the police arrested nine adults and one minor. They are charged of having assaulted, injured, bullied and threatened two mosque-attendees whom they suspected of having provided a journalist with recordings of the imam’s hate speech.5 By August 2017, all of them were released and awaiting trial. The mosque itself was shut down by the an-Nur association itself, which had been unable to find a new premises after the owner of the prayer hall had terminated the rental contract.6
A new case of an imam delivering a possibly radical speech was published in
August by Kurt Pelda, the investigative journalist who had set in motion the
Winterthur case, jointly with Swiss TV. The reports dealt with Abu Ramadan, a
Libyan who came to Switzerland in 1998 and occasionally officiates in the ar-
Rahman mosque in Biel-Bienne. He is quoted by the media as asking God in a prayer to “destroy the enemies of our religion, the Jews, the Christians and the Hindus and the Russians and the Shia”.7 A dispute arose about the appropriate translation and interpretation of his speech, given in Arabic.8 That Abu Ramadan had lived
4 Baumgartner, Fabian, “120 Sekunden Hass”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 November 2017, p. 17. 5 A detailed reconstruction of the events is offered by Knellwolf, Thomas, “Todesangst in der Moschee”, Tages-Anzeiger, 19 August 2017, p. 35. 6 Müller, André, and Florian Schoop, “Anklage gegen neun Mitglieder der ehemaligen An-Nur- Moschee”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2 February 2018, p. 18. 7 Pelda, Kurt, “Hassprediger hetzt gegen Christen und Juden”, Tages-Anzeiger, 23 August 2017, p. 5; “Sozialhilfe für Hassprediger: Radikaler Imam lebt vom Staat”, SRF, “Rundschau”, 23 August 2017; https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/rundschau/video/sozialhilfe-fuer-hassprediger-radikaler-imam-lebt-vom- staat?id=315c1839-494f-40c7-a429-f359bdc5c8d9, accessed 22 April 2018. 8 Baumann, Michael, and Philipp Gut, “In den Mund gelegt”, Die Weltwoche, 7 September 2017, p. 22- 23; Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz, “Ausführliche Stellungnahme zur Polemik gegen Shaykh Abu Ramadan”, n.d.; http://www.izrs.ch/ausfuehrliche-stellungnahme-zur-polemik-gegen-shaykh-abu- ramadan.html, accessed 22 April 2018. completely on social security benefits for 13 years and had received nearly 600,000
Swiss Francs, created a much more significant public stir. Subsequently, more instigative speeches of Abu Ramadan came to light.9 The prosecutor is examining the case.
On 22 February 2017, police in the canton of Ticino arrested a 32-year old
Turkish and Swiss citizen on suspicion of recruiting fighters for Jabhat al-Nusra. The accused agreed to an abridged legal procedure, admitting guilt for receiving a reduced sentence.10 On 7 November 2017 Swiss police in the Romandy, and French police, arrested ten members of a suspected terror group. One of them, a 27-year old Swiss convert of Croatian origin, is thought to be the head of the group, which formulated several terror plots for an attack in Switzerland.11
The dilemma of a liberal society with Islamist activists in it has been most tangible in the debate about the “Lies!” campaign (“Read!”, referring to Qur’an 96:1).
Typically small groups of young bearded men would set up a stand on a street in a
Swiss or other European city and offer a free copy of a German or French translation of the Qur’an to passers-by. Their Salafi sympathies are obvious. A number of Swiss jihadis had contact with the “Lies!” campaign before their departure for the Middle
East.12 Some voices in the Swiss debate called for a ban on the campaign. The most prominent voice among them has been Mario Fehr, a socialist member of the
Government of the Canton of Zurich, and head of its Security Department. On 5 May
2017, Fehr, referring to commissioned legal advice by Markus Rüssli,13
9 Pelda, Kurt, “Uralte antisemitische Klischees”, Tages-Anzeiger, 6 October 2017, p. 5. 10 “Radikaler Islamist bald wieder frei”, Berner Zeitung, 19 August 2017, p. 11. 11 Botti, Dominique, “Verhafteter Westschweizer soll Kopf einer Terrorzelle sein”, Sonntags-Zeitung, 12 November 2017, p. 9. 12 Pelda, Kurt, and Thomas Knellwolf, “Koranverteiler im Radikalisierungslabor”, Tages-Anzeiger, 5 May 2017, p. 19. 13 Rüssli, Markus, Rechtsgutachten zur Verteilung des Korans auf öffentlichem Grund im Rahmen der Aktion «Lies!», erstattet zuhanden der Sicherheitsdirektion des Kantons Zürich, Zürich, 26 April 2017, recommended to the local authorities not to approve requests for setting up stands of the “Lies!” campaign.14 In October the Police Department of the canton of Berne issued a similar recommendation. In the Federal Parliament, MP Walter Wobmann demanded an outright ban of the “Lies!” campaign “and similar organisations”.15
However, the Federal Government rejected the demand on the grounds that there is no sufficient legal basis for this. Moreover, the Federal Intelligence Service stated only in May 2017 that “there is no substantiated evidence that the street campaigns observed in this country promote violent extremist or terrorist activities and thereby threaten internal security. A ban on activities is out of the question, as there is no established structure present in Switzerland and the target of such a ban would be unclear”.16 While the political and legal debates have not yet ended, the street activists have begun to change method: instead of setting up stands they now walk around in teams of two, for which no permission is required, distributing German and
French copies of a biography on the Prophet Muhammad instead of the Qur’an.17
From 2016 to 2017 the number of individuals leaving Switzerland to join armed groups in Syria or Iraq rose from 81 to 93, of which 24 are unconfirmed cases.
The figure includes all cases since 2001.18 The authorities have registered no departures since 2016. At the same time they estimate around a hundred individuals
https://ds.zh.ch/dam/sicherheitsdirektion/direktion/veroeffentlichungen_gs/Rechtsgutachten_%C2%A BLies!%C2%BB.pdf, accessed 22 April 2018. 14 Pelda, Kurt, “Koranverteiler unerwünscht”, Tages-Anzeiger, 6 May 2017, p. 23. 15 Motion 17.3583, brought to the Federal Parliament on 16 June 2017. 16 Federal Intelligence Service, Switzerland’s Security. Situation Report 2017, Berne, 2 May 2017, p. 42, www.newsd.admin.ch/newsd/message/attachments/48136.pdf, accessed 22 April 2018. 17 Bamarni, Jotiar, Muhammad: die faszinierende Lebensgeschichte des letzten Propheten (Mannheim: We Love Muhammad, 2nd edn. 2017). 18 For the most recent figures and earlier communiques, see Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport DDPS (Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport VBS), www.vbs.admin.ch/de/themen/nachrichtenbeschaffung/dschihadreisende.html, accessed 22 April 2018. in Switzerland are radicalised, and have been in contact with so-called Islamic State.19
Also, on 4 December 2017, the Security Network Switzerland (Sicherheitsverbund
Schweiz / Réseau national de sécurité) published a “National Action Plan to Prevent and Counter Radicalisation and Violent Extremism”. The document does not propose a major strategic shift, rather it systematises and argues for the coordination of existing measures and projects.20
At the end of August 2017 households in some communes in the cantons of
St. Gallen, Schwyz, and Zurich, saw a flyer in their private letter boxes. It showed a view of the respective commune with a minaret added. The text, signed by a fictitious
“Islamic Central Council” of the respective commune, announced “that we will soon be the majority”, and asked women to wear the head scarf.21 The flyer had not been sent by the Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz (Islamic Central Council Switzerland).
The authorities soon identified the author of the flyer. He may have to face punishment for race discrimination, violating the freedom of worship, and other charges.22
19 Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport DDPS (Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport VBS), “Entwicklung bei der Anzahl Risikopersonen und den im Dschihad-Monitoring des NDB verzeichneten Fälle”, 30 November 2017, www.vbs.admin.ch/content/vbs-internet/de/ueber-das-vbs/organisation-des-vbs/die- verwaltungseinheiten-des-vbs/-der-nachrichtendienst-des-bundes.detail.nsb.html/69026.html, accessed 22 April 2018. A remarkable MA thesis has analysed the individual motivations of Swiss jihadi fighters: Bielmann, Florent, Combattants terroristes étrangers. Analyse des motivations individuelles des djihadistes de Suisse, (Geneva: Université de Genève, 2017), www.unige.ch/gsi/files/4214/9682/0523/Memoire_Master_F_BIELMANN.pdf, accessed 22 April 2018. 20 www.newsd.admin.ch/newsd/message/attachments/50703.pdf, accessed 22 April 2018. An academic article comments on what initiatives of a similar nature Muslim organisations in Switzerland have created themselves: Merz, Fabien, and Darius Farman, “Das Engagement Muslimischer Organisationen in der Schweiz gegen gewaltbereiten Extremismus”, Bulletin 2017 zur schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik, 2017, pp.33-57; www.css.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/cis/center- for-securities-studies/pdfs/Bulletin_2017_04_FM.pdf, accessed 22 April 2018. 21 Tjon-A-Meeuw, Olivia, “Fragwürdige Postkarte verkündet Islamisierung”, St.Galler Tagblatt, 30 August 2017, p. 33. 22 Schibschid, Christine, “Islam-Flyer: Ermittler haben Verdächtigen im Visier”, Südostschweiz, 18 October 2017, www.suedostschweiz.ch/ereignisse/2017-10-18/islam-flyer-ermittler-haben- verdaechtigen-im-visier, accessed 22 April 2018. In mid-October 2017, 15 of the 22 graves in the Muslim section of Bois-de-
Vaux cemetery in Lausanne were vandalised, with flowers pulled out and anti-
Muslim slogans sprayed on them.23 The section had been opened in 2016 after long debates. The tombs of people with Arabic names in the same cemetery had already been vandalised before in 2015. Hostilities against Muslims of less drastic and more common types, were the topic of a conference organised on 11 September 2017 at the
University of Fribourg by the National Commission against Racism.24
On 28 September 2017 Saïda Keller-Messahli published her book Switzerland as an Islamist Hub.25 The subtitle promises “a glimpse behind the scenes of the mosques”. However, on 150 pages it essentially offers a mixture of speculations, based on media reports and internet sources, designed to support her hypothesis that half of the mosques in Switzerland follow an Islamist tendency, and should be closed.
Keller-Messahli is a 60-year old Tunisian-born freelance author who has spent most of her life in Switzerland. She is the founder and president of the Forum für einen fortschrittlichen Islam (Forum for Progressive Islam), and probably the single most cited voice in the press in relation to Islam.26 She is increasingly criticised and is accused of not substantiating her claims.27
A less confrontational stance is taken by Kerem Adıgüzel. On 22 October
2017, Adıgüzel, a 30-year old IT engineer,28 together with other like-minded people,
23 “Le carré musulman de Lausanne a été vandalisé”, Le Temps, 14 October 2017, www.letemps.ch/suisse/carre-musulman-lausanne-vandalise, accessed 22 April 2018. 24 The conference and the state of the debate in Switzerland are documented in the Commission’s Review: National Commission against Racism, “Muslimfeindlichkeit: Gesellschaft, Medien und Politik. Tagungsbericht der EKR”, Tangram, vol. 40, December 2017. www.ekr.admin.ch/pdf/Tangram_40_Web.pdf, accessed 22 April 2017. 25 Keller-Messahli, Saïda, Islamistische Drehscheibe Schweiz: ein Blick hinter die Kulissen der Moscheen (Zurich: NZZ libro, 2017). 26 For a portrait see Schoop, Florian, “Die Getriebene”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1 September 2017, p. 15. 27 Eberhard, Fabian, “Islam-Kritikerin von Hassprediger angezeigt”, Blick, 1 October 2017, p. 8. 28 Vögeli, Dorothee, “Mit dem Koran gegen religiösen Fanatismus”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 10 August 2017, p. 20. founded the association Al-Rahman – mit Vernunft und Hingabe (Al-Rahman – With
Reason and Devotion).29 Its main goal is to promote a modern reading of the Qur’an that is compatible with liberal democracy.
In the field of academic studies related to Islam, the University of Fribourg welcomed 34-year old Amir Dziri as the new Professor of Islamic Studies in
September 2017. Tunisian-born Dziri has spent most of his life in Germany. His main research interests are hermeneutics, epistemology and political philosophy. In the same month, Jordanian-born Rana Alsoufi, a specialist in the history of Islamic law, began work on a part-time basis at the University of Lucerne as the first Assistant
Professor of Islamic Theology. The visiting professorship at the University of Zurich for the autumn semester of 2017 was held by Armina Omerika, a specialist in the history of ideas. Since 2017, the University of Geneva offers a training course for imams and Islamic religious teachers in French and socio-cultural comprehension.30
On 4 November 2017, the Tribune de Genève added a Swiss dimension to the accusations directed against the Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan by women in
France. Ramadan, a Swiss national born in Geneva in 1962, and grandson of Hasan al-Banna, is said to have abused his position as a teacher of French and philosophy in two grammar schools in Geneva in the 1980s and 1990s. According to five women, then aged between 14 and 18, their teacher had unduly approached them, forcing three of them to have sexual intercourse with him repeatedly.31 While cases from later
29 See the statutes online: www.alrahman.de/statuten-al-rahman-mit-vernunft-und-hingabe/, accessed 22 April 2018. 30 www.unige.ch/formcont/cas-langue-decodage, accessed 22 April 2018. 31 Roselli, Sophie, “A Genève, le professeur Tariq Ramadan séduisait ses élèves mineures”, Tribune de Genève, 4 November 2017, p. 4; Roselli, Sophie, “Un nouveau cas d’abus au Collège dénoncé”, Tribune de Genève, 9 December 2017, p. 2. dates in France motivated the women in Geneva to speak to the newspaper anonymously, none of them reported the incidents to the police.32
Throughout 2017, the largest mosque in Geneva, a Saudi-run foundation, was a topic in the media. The departure of two youths among the mosque-attendees to
Syria, the employment of controversial imams and persons suspected by French authorities to represent security risks, as well as financial non-transparency, were the main points of criticism, to which the mosque’s general director Ahmed Beyari initially answered in a newspaper interview in January.33 The cantonal state authority in charge of supervising the foundation, discovered a large number of financial irregularities, and commissioned a detailed audit of the accounting.34 In November
2017, two imams and two other employees of the mosque were dismissed, which
Mohammed bin Abdulkarim al-Issa, Secretary General of the Islamic World League, announced a few days earlier in a newspaper interview.35
Transnational Links
The Turkish community in Switzerland has repeatedly been a subject in the media in
2017. One aspect was the climate of intimidation against opponents of President
Erdoğan, nurtured by agencies related to the Turkish state. These activities have led to dwindling demand for schools related to the Gülen movement; the institution in
Basel closed in summer 2017. In April the police of the canton of Basel-Stadt
32 Another case, dating from 2008, led another woman to report to the police, that was reported by the Tribune de Genève on 14 April 2018. 33 Roselli, Sophie, “Les maux de la mosquée”, Tribune de Genève, 31 January 2017, p. 18. Online version with helpful links: www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/mosquee-face- critiques/story/21523115, accessed 22 April 2018. 34 Sophie Roselli, “Grosse pagaille dénoncée dans la gestion de la plus grande mosquée de Suisse”, Tribune de Genève, 15 August 2017, p. 13. 35 Sophie Roselli, “ʻJe vais remettre de l’ordre à la mosquée’”, Tribune de Genève, 17 November 2017, p. 4; “Quatre employés fichés S [rated “security risk” by French intelligence] sont renvoyés de la mosque”, Tribune de Genève, 24 November 2017, p. 13. suspended a Turkish citizen from office who was employed in tasks unrelated to security. He was suspected of having spied on Turks in Basel. He received a minor sentence for abuse of office for various unauthorised requests in the police’s database, but charges of espionage were not substantiated.36 The constitutional referendum in
Turkey on 16 April 2017 brought 53% of Turks living in Switzerland to the polling stations; 62% of them voted against the proposed Bill providing the President with more executive power.37
Law and Domestic Politics
The most widely noted political developments in 2017 were related to the issue of face covering. On 7 May 2017, the Landsgemeinde of the small canton of Glarus, the annual open-air gathering of the electorates, had to vote on a citizen’s request to introduce a ban on disguising one’s face in public, irrespective of the motives and the details of the attire. After public discussion, a majority of two to one rejected the request.38 The content of the request in Glarus was nearly identical to the ban accepted by the electorate of the canton of Ticino in 2013, brought into effect in
2016, as well as the national initiative launched by the Egerkingen committee, named after the village in which the initiators of the minaret ban had first assembled in 2006.
On 15 September 2017, the committee delivered 105,553 valid signatures of Swiss
36 Albrecht, Serkan, “Strafbefehl gegen Türkei-Spitzel”, Basler Zeitung, 19 July 2017, p. 15. See also the critical analysis of the media reporting on this case: Bangerter, Annika, and Christian Mensch, “Spion oder nicht? Wie sich Basel einen Spion schuf”, Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, 29 September 2017,www.bzbasel.ch/basel/basel-stadt/spion-oder-nicht-wie-sich-basel-einen-spitzel-schuf- 131737871, accessed 22 April 2018. 37 Chassot, Sylviane, and Simon Gemperli, “Schweizer Türken sagen Nein”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 19 April 2017, p. 13. 38 Canton of Glarus (Kanton Glarus), Protokoll der Landsgemeinde vom 7. Mai 2017, pp. 3-7. http://www.gl.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d14/d15/f1630.cfm?dokguid=cd9f1cbd648947d18cbda fb486640379, accessed 22 April 2018; Krummenacher, Jörg, “Glarus will kein Verhüllungsverbot”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 8 May 2017, p. 9. citizens entitled to vote, asking for a nationwide ban of the full face veil. On 20
December, the Federal Government dismissed the initiative, arguing that each canton should remain free to act; as a symbolic concession it announced minor legal adjustments.39 In any case, both chambers of Parliament will also pronounce their opinion on the subject, before a national referendum, not before 2019, that will decide on the matter.
As in the run-up to the minaret referendum held in 2009, promotors of the ban tried to lay the groundwork for success by keeping the topic on the national agenda.
They did so in the canton of St. Gallen, where on 28 November 2017 a small majority of the Parliament opted for a ban. Yet soon after, the youth wings of most of the political parties opposed it, and decided to collect the necessary 4,000 signatures to bring about a cantonal referendum on the Law no 22.17.02, in order to prevent the ban’s implementation.
The Federal Parliament has been the arena of numerous debates related to
Islam. For example, a majority of 94 to 89 MPs wanted the Federal Government to propose a Law regulating mosques. According to Law no 16.3330, mosques should not be allowed to accept funds from abroad, they should be obliged to give full account of their finances and how they are used, and imams must preach in the local language. The Council of States, the Senate, has yet to announce an opinion on the matter. In a separate move, MP Walter Wobman, a member of the Swiss People’s
Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei / Union Démocratique du Centre - SVP/UDC) and the driving force behind the bans on minarets and face covering, went one step further
39 Federal Council (Bundesrat), “Kein Verhüllungsverbot in der Verfassung, aber gesetzliche Regeln”, Communiqué, 20 December 2017, www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen/bundesrat.msg-id-69303.html, accessed 22 April 2018. by asking the Federal Government to constantly observe all mosques in the country
(motion 17.3681, pending).
Returning to regional politics, the Parliament of the canton of Valais on 15
December 2017, declared unconstitutional, and therefore invalid, a legal proposal by the Swiss People’s Party to ban head scarves from public schools. The initiative of the Swiss People’s Party had been backed by the signatures of 4,329 citizens entitled to vote.40
In the canton of Vaud, the Swiss People’s Party tried to launch an initiative
“against religious fundamentalism”. The party wanted the cantonal constitution to specify as inadmissible any religiously motivated claims concerning topics such as religious instruction, the wearing of head scarves, or halal meals in public schools.
However, it failed to collect more than 3,000 of the 12,000 signatures necessary to enforce a referendum.41
Matters concerning the public position of religious communities are slowly moving against what the Swiss People’s Party would prefer, especially in the French- speaking part of Switzerland (Romandy).42 In Geneva, as in Neuchâtel—the two cantons with a strict separation between religious communities and the State—legal proposals to allow a minimal type of partnership between the two are under discussion, but have been sent back for revision. In the canton of Vaud, the umbrella organisation Union Vaudoise des Associations Musulmanes (Vaudois Union of
Muslim Associations - UVAM) has been attentively following recognition requests
40 Carrupt, Romain, “Les Valaisans ne voteront pas sur le voile à l’école”, 24 heures, 16 December 2017, p. 7. 41 “L’UDC a prêché dans le désert avec son initiative religieuse”, 24 heures, 10 May 2017, p. 17. 42 Schneuwly Purdie, Mallory, and Andreas Tunger-Zanetti, “Switzerland”, in Oliver Scharbrodt, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibašić, Jørgen S. Nielsen, and Egdūnas Račius (eds.), Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, vol. 8 (Leiden: Brill, 2016), pp. 660-670. by three small Christian denominations, but is itself still at the stage of intensive internal debate on the matter.43
In the judicial arena, on 23 May 2017 a district court in the canton of Valais found Jean-Luc Addor, national MP of the Swiss People’s Party since November
2015, guilty of race discrimination, committed in a tweet in 2014.44
On 21 September 2017, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland brought charges of spreading terrorist propaganda against three board members of the
Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz (Islamic Central Councils Switzerland). The object of dispute is a 38-minute video interview, led in 2015 by one of the three, along with
Abdallah al-Muhaysini, a leading al-Qaida member in Syria. The video interview is seen as uncritical, and hence suspected of promoting terrorism.45 The case is scheduled to be heard in 2018.
On 10 January 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the
Swiss courts had been right to refuse exemption from swimming lessons in a public school on religious grounds.46
Activities and Initiatives of Main Muslim Organisations
Largely unnoticed by the public, during the summer 2017 the Vaudois Union of
Muslim Associations applied for the status of a “body of public interest”, a minor
43 Collet, Cécile, “Les musulmans réunis pour leurs assises ont questionné l’ʻislam vaudois”, 24 heures, 8 May 2017, p. 17. See also https://www.uvam.ch/uvam/reconnaissance/, accessed 22 April 2018. 44 Commenting on the killing of an ethnic Albanian by another in a mosque in St. Gallen in 2014, Addor had tweeted “On en redemande!” (More of this!); “SVP-Nationalrat Addor verurteilt”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 18 August 2017, p. 14. 45 Office of the Attorney General, “Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has filed an indictment against three committee members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS)”, www.bundesanwaltschaft.ch/mpc/en/home/medien/archiv-medienmitteilungen/news-seite.msg-id- 68176.html, accessed 22 April 2018; Pelda, Kurt, and Thomas Knellwolf, “IZRS-Spitze muss vor Gericht”, Tages-Anzeiger, 22 September 2017, p. 6. 46 European Court of Human Rights, Information Note 203, January 2017, pp. 19-21, https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/CLIN_2017_01_203_ENG.pdf, accessed 22 April 2018. form of legal recognition in the canton of Vaud. It is the first time in Switzerland that a Sunni umbrella organisation has applied for this status.47 The request, communicated by the association’s president Pascal Gemperli,48 triggered a lengthy process of comprehensive screening, and an adjustment of the member associations to the standards of the canton.
On 20 March 2017, the two Albanian Islamic national umbrella organisations signed a charter49 confirming their commitment to democracy and the rule of Swiss law, their will to promote integration, and to cooperate with each other. This last point is noteworthy since the Union der albanischen Imame in der Schweiz (Union of
Albanian Imams in Switzerland) and the Albanisch Islamischer Verband Schweiz
(Albanian Islamic Association Switzerland) have never cooperated before. It was
Naim Malaj, the previous Ambassador of Kosovo to Switzerland, who had brought about the charter which was signed in the House of Religions in Berne.50
The month of May saw three Albanian mosques inaugurated: a purpose-built one in Wil (canton of St. Gallen),51 and two others in converted buildings in
Gebenstorf (canton of Aargau) and Plan-les-Ouates (canton of Geneva). On 10
December 2017, an important assembly took place in the new Albanian mosque in
Wil; dozens of imams and other representatives of Albanian congregations gathered
47 Two Alevi associations obtained a similar status in the canton of Basel-Stadt in 2012. So far, no Muslim association has applied for the more comprehensive status of a body governed under public law, which is the status of the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in most cantons. Contrary to its minor status, a “body of public interest” entails the right to levy a Church tax from its members. 48 “L'invité de la redaction – Pascal Gemperli”, RTS, 14 July 2017, https://www.rts.ch/play/radio/linvite-de-la-redaction/audio/linvite-de-la-redaction-pascal-gemperli- president-de-lunion-vaudoise-des-associations- musulmanes?id=8760215&station=a9e7621504c6959e35c3ecbe7f6bed0446cdf8da, accessed 12 May 2018. 49 For the German text, see http://www.uais.ch/2017/03/21/die-charta/, accessed 22 April 2018. 50 “Führer der albanisch-isalmischen Gemeinde unterzeichnen Sekularismus-Deklaration [sic] mit dem Schweizer Staat”, albinfo, 19 March 2017, www.albinfo.ch/de/fuehrer-der-albanisch-islamischen- gemeinde-unterzeichnen-sekularismus-deklaration-mit-dem-schweizer-staat/, accessed 22 April 2018. 51 See the website of the mosque: http://moschee-wil.ch, accessed 22 April 2018. to transform the Union of Albanian Imams, founded in 2012, into the Bashkësive
Islame Shqiptare në Zvicër (Umbrella Organisation of Albanian Islamic Communities in Switzerland). The body represents more than 40 Islamic congregations of Albanian origin across Switzerland.52
Biel-Bienne was the birthplace of another charter. The industrial city situated on the border of the French and the German-speaking parts of the canton of Berne, has some 55,000 inhabitants, 10% of whom are Muslims. Mohamed Hamdaoui, local deputy of the Socialist Party to the cantonal parliament, together with the associationTasamouh (Tolerance), launched the idea of a charter of self-commitment to Muslim citizens’ rights and obligations.53 The charter, which is of a purely symbolical nature, is meant to serve as a separation line against radical ideas of any origin.
On 12 November 2017 in Geneva, the Muslim youth groups of the French- speaking part of Switzerland held their second assembly. As in the previous year, it offered a broad variety of workshops and presentations. In Geneva, the Fondation
DIAC (De l’individuel au collectif) founded in 2016, launched activities in the fields of integration (work, leisure time) and the fight against discrimination. It is run by
Muslim youths, but is aiming at disadvantaged young people of any background.54
The Muslim youth organisation of Fribourg, FRislam, also explored new avenues by
52 “Gründungsversammlung des Dachverbandes der Albanisch-Islamischen Gemeinschaften in der Schweiz, Wahl der Führungsorgane”, www.uais.ch/2017/12/13/grundungsversammlung-des- dachverbandes-der-albanisch-islamischen-gemeinschaften-in-der-schweiz-wahl-der-fuhrungsorgane/, accessed 22 April 2018. Homepage of the new organisation: https://daigs.ch. 53 Enssle, Doreen, “Une ‘Landsgemeinde’ musulmane à Bienne”, Le Temps, 23 November 2017, www.letemps.ch/suisse/une-landsgemeinde-musulmane-bienne, accessed 22 April 2018; “Schweizer Muslime verabschieden eine Charta gegen Extremismus an der ‘Landsgemeinde’”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/aktuelle-themen/schweizer-muslime-verabschieden-charta-an- landsgemeinde-ld.1332545, accessed 22 April 2018. 54 Homepage: http://diac-reseau.ch, accessed 22 April 2018. giving its third public iftar event a humorous approach, something that was widely appreciated.55
Muslim Population: History and Demographics
The first traces of a Muslim population in Switzerland date back to the tenth century when the Saracens crossed the Alps. They were Arabs, but their exact origin remains a mystery. Scattered chronicles and sparse archaeological evidence show that they were present in some valleys of today’s canton of Valais, as well as in some places in the Grisons. Their presence lasted a few decades involving “only irregular troops – mercenaries, pirates, adventurers”.56
In contemporary Switzerland, the Muslim presence is dated to the second half of the 20th century. Since the 1960s, people with a Muslim background have migrated to Switzerland for three main reasons:
1. Economic immigration: since 1960, Switzerland has recruited Turkish and
Balkan (farm and factory) workers to respond to the demands of its
growing economy. They were essentially male workers, migrating without
their wives and families. In those early years, they mostly lived in
Switzerland as temporary residents.
2. Familial reunification: since the 1970s, Switzerland changed its regulations
concerning migration and authorised family reunion. This modified the
composition of the Muslim population in terms of age and gender.
55 “Humorvolles Fastenbrechen in Freiburg zieht 900 Leute an”, www.kath.ch/newsd/humorvolles- fastenbrechen-in-freiburg-zieht-900-leute-an/, accessed 22 April 2018. 56 Versteegh, Kees, “The Arab presence in France and Switzerland in the 10th century”, Arabica, vol. 37, no. 3 (1990), pp. 359-388 (360-361). 3. Humanitarian and political immigration: from 1960 onwards, asylum
seekers from various countries (North Africa, the Middle East, Central
Asia, the horn of Africa) have migrated to Switzerland.
Since 2010, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) modified its method of analysing the
Swiss population. It now conducts a yearly survey of a sample of 200,000
respondents. In January 2017, the FOS published its latest results based on the
pooling of five consecutive years (2010-15). Thus, the following results are based on
a sample of 1 million respondents. Some of the data presented in this paper was taken
from the 2014 annual survey, whereas other data has been drawn from the 2010-15
pooling. Potential respondents must be permanent residents, above 15 years of age
and living in private households. As such, it excludes asylum seekers, refugees,
diplomats, and a considerable number of expatriate workers, as well as prison inmates
and people living in social and medical institutions. Based on this, the Muslim
population in Switzerland can be presented as follows:57
Muslim Population Approx. 500,000 (5.5% of the total
population, including those under the age
of 15 and Alevis); the official number,
limited to persons 15 years and older, is
362,973 as of 2016 (191,576 men,
171,398 women).
Ethnic/National Backgrounds 35.4% of Muslims over 15 in
57 The data and percentages presented in this appendix were collected by the Federal Office of Statistics between 2010 and 2017. This is the most recent data describing the Swiss population at present. Switzerland are Swiss citizens (including
a few thousand converts); Alevis are
estimated to number between 30,000 to
50,000.
Largest ethnic / national groups (as a
percentage of overall Muslim
population):
Balkans: 38%
Turkish (Alevis included): 12%
North African: 4%
Middle Eastern: 4%
EU member states: 4%
Sub-Saharan African: 2%
Central Asian: 1%
East Asian: 1%.
Inner-Islamic Groups Muslims in Switzerland are mostly
Sunni. Since this data is not collected, we
can only estimate as follows: 80% are
Sunni, 7% Shi’is and up to 11% Alevis.
The residual percentage includes
minority community members, such as
the Ahmadiyya movement and Sufi
orders.
Geographical Spread The Muslim population is present in every region of Switzerland:
- German speaking region: 77%
- French speaking region: 21%
- Italian speaking region: 2%.
Number of Mosques Switzerland has some 260 mosques and
prayer halls. Four of them have a
minaret.58 Recently built mosques show
modest features of Islamic architecture,
e. g. the Albanian mosque completed in
December 2016 in Netstal (canton of
Glarus) or the one in Wil (canton of St.
Gallen), inaugurated in May 2017.
Construction of further mosques is under
way in Grenchen (canton of Solothurn),
and Frauenfeld (canton of Thurgau).
Muslim Burial Sites Geneva (opened in 1978)
Basel (2000)
Bern (2000)
Lugano (2002)
Olten (2003)
Zurich (2004)
58 On 29 November 2009, Swiss citizens in a national referendum decided to prohibit the construction of minarets in Switzerland. The existing mosques with minarets are in Zurich (inaugurated in 1963, run by the Ahmadiyya movement), and Geneva (1978, financed by Saudi Arabia). Those with a more symbolic shape are in Winterthur (2005, run by Muslims of Albanian background) and Wangen (2009, run by Muslims of Turkish background). Sissach (2006)
Liestal (2008)
Birsfelden (2008)
Pratteln (2008)
Bottmingen (2008)
Münchenstein (2008)
Allschwil (2008)
Oberwil (2008)
Luzern (2008)
Thun (2009)
La Chaux-de-Fonds (2011)
Le Locle (2011)
Neuchâtel (2011)
Biel (2011)
Köniz (2012)
Winterthur (2012)
St. Gallen (2013)
Lausanne (2016).
“Chaplaincy” in State Institutions Traditionally, state institutions only
hosted Christian chaplains. Nonetheless,
the pluralisation of religion in the
country has meant the implementation of
local Muslim chaplaincy initiatives, in
prison as well as in hospitals. The Muslim Emergency Chaplaincy
(Muslimische Notfallseelsorge) in the
Zurich canton is being transformed into a
broader institution in cooperation with
the Swiss Centre on Islam and Society of
the University in Fribourg, and with
support of the cantonal government. The
University of Berne offers a Certificate
of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Religious
Care in Migration Contexts
(www.religiouscare.unibe.ch).
Halal Products Halal slaughter without prior stunning is
not permitted in Switzerland. The
quantity of imported halal meat is limited
to 350 tonnes of beef and 175 tonnes of
mutton per year.59 Some butchers sell
meat as halal which has been slaughtered
by a Muslim after the animal was
stunned. Halal food is usually not
available in public institutions.
Dress Code Switzerland has no legal restrictions on
dress except for the canton of Ticino,
59 Federal Council (Bundesrat), Decree on the Importation of Agricultural Products, 916.01, 26 October 2011, www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20110403/index.html, accessed 22 April 2018. where the wearing of the niqab has been
banned since 2016. Private enterprises
are free to enact dress codes for their
employees, and very few allow the head
scarf. In 1996 the strictly laicist canton of
Geneva prohibited a woman teacher from
wearing the head scarf at school, a
decision backed by all courts up to the
European Courts of Human Rights. The
huge majority of Muslim women in
Switzerland do not cover their hair.
Those wearing a head scarf face
difficulties in finding employment and
accommodation. Resident women
wearing a niqab are no more than a
handful.
Places of Islamic Learning and Education Islamic education for children in
Switzerland is taught in Qur’an classes
organised by mosque associations or, less
frequently, on an entirely private basis.
Islamic education in public schools is
found in very few municipalities (Kriens
and Ebikon, canton of Lucerne, since
2003, Kreuzlingen, canton of Thurgau, since 2010, see www.viuk.ch). Alevi
classes in public schools exist in Basel.
People seeking more religious
knowledge of a Sunni tradition may
attend courses given by Mag. Amir
Zaidan from Vienna. Recently he has
changed from local courses to a webinar
system (www.islam-wissen.com/).
The Swiss Centre on Islam and Society
(CSIS), founded in 2015, offers courses
aiming at self-reflective Muslim learning
and dialogue, for Muslims and non-
Muslims alike. In 2015, the University of
Zurich established a visiting
professorship for Islamic Theology and
Education, which in 2017 was held by
Armina Omerika.60
Muslim Media and Publications Among the regularly updated Muslim
websites with extensive textual content
are:
– Föderation islamischer
Dachorganisationen der Schweiz
/ Fédération des organisations
60 http://www.aoi.uzh.ch/de/islamwissenschaft/personen/gastprofessur.html, accessed 22 April 2018. islamiques de Suisse
(www.fids.ch)
– Vereinigung der Islamischen
Organisationen in Zürich
(www.vioz.ch)
– l’Union vaudoise des associations
musulmanes (www.uvam.ch)
– Diyanet (www.diyanet.ch) with
its Swiss edition of Post gazetesi
(http://www.postgazetesi.ch)
– Schweizerische Islamische
Glaubensgemeindschaft
(www.sig-net.ch)
– Centre Islamique de Genève
(www.cige.org/cige).
– Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz
(IZRS, www.izrs.ch).
Main Muslim Organisations
Federation of Islamic Organisations of Switzerland (Föderation islamischer
Dachorganisationen der Schweiz - FIDS / Fédération des organisations
islamiques de Suisse - FOIS, Bahnstrasse 80, 8105 Regensdorf, www.fids.ch).
Headed by Montassar BenMrad, it brings together 14 cantonal or ethnic organisations, which makes it by far the most representative Muslim umbrella
organisation.
Islamic Central Council Switzerland (Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz - IZRS /
Conseil central islamique Suisse - CCIS, Postfach 695, 3000 Bern 9,
www.izrs.ch). The IZRS is headed by converts Nicolas Blancho (president)
and Abdel Aziz Qassim Illi (spokesperson). It has between 3,000 and 4,000
individual members, and has Salafi tendencies.
Turkish Islamic Foundation of Switzerland (Türkisch Islamische Stiftung /
İsviçre Türk Diyanet Vakfı - İTDV, Schwamendingenstrasse 102, 8050
Zürich, www.diyanet.ch). Since its foundation in 1987, it is the official
agency of the Turkish Republic for religious affairs in Switzerland, assisting
some 40 local mosque associations all over the country. The İTDV became a
member of the FIDS in 2017.
Swiss Islamic Community (Schweizerische Islamische Gemeinschaft / İsviçre
İslam Toplumu - SIG, Bahnstrasse 80, 8105 Regensdorf, www.sig-net.ch).
Founded in 1999, it represents 18 local mosques of the Millî Görüş movement
in Switzerland, and one in the Principality of Liechtenstein. The SIG is a
member of the FIDS.
Albanian Islamic Association Switzerland (Albanisch Islamischer Verband
Schweiz - AIVS, Widistrasse 15, 4528 Zuchwil). Founded in 2005, it is
headed by, and centred around, the widely-known imam Mustafa Memeti in
Bern. The AIVS brings together some 20-30 mosque associations from all the
linguistic regions of Switzerland.
Umbrella Organisation of Albanian Islamic Communities in Switzerland
(Bashkësive Islame Shqiptare në Zvicër / Dachverband der albanisch- islamischen Gemeinschaften in der Schweiz, Rautistrasse 58, 8048 Zürich,
www.daigs.ch). Founded in 2017 as a successor to the Union of Albanian
Imams in Switzerland (Unioni imamëve shqiptarë në Zvicër, www.uais.ch),
the new organisation aims at bringing together most Albanian-speaking
communities. With Islamic teaching being the main field of activity of the
new union, imams are still as predominant as they were in the precursory
body.
Union of Islamic Organisations in Zurich (Vereinigung der islamischen
Organisationen in Zürich - VIOZ, Badenerstrasse 808, 8048 Zürich,
www.vioz.ch). Founded in 1995, it represents some 35 associations running
over 40 mosques throughout the canton. It is the most active among the
cantonal umbrella organisations.
Federation of Alevi Congregations in Switzerland (Föderation der
Alevitischen Gemeinden in der Schweiz - FAGS / İsviçre Alevi Birlikerli
Federasyonu - İABF, Grabenstrasse 1, 8952 Schlieren, www.iabf.ch). The
Federation was founded in 1998, and represents 13 Alevi associations in the
German and French-speaking parts of the country.
Forum for Progressive Islam (Forum für einen fortschrittlichen Islam - FFI /
Forum pour un Islam progressiste - FIP, Postfach 191, 4005 Basel,
www.forum-islam.ch). The organisation is not a congregation of practising
Muslims. Its president since its foundation in 2004, Saïda Keller-Messahli,
frequently expresses in the media fundamental opposition to mainstream
Islam as practised in traditional mosque associations.