The minaret of Europe By Sorowar Hossain , Singapore A silent revolution took place in the world while Muslims were celebrating Eid festival. Most of the global citizens of our planet may not be aware of this critical turning point of current world affair. The repercussion of this defining moment is immense and far-fetched. Swiss ban on minarets by applying the tool of democracy has sent a strong and irreparable wrong signal to 1.57 billion people of Muslim faith. Isn't an irony that Swiss core values become jeopardized due to the erection of 4-6 meter concrete bar? This is the first time since 1893, when a strong discriminatory initiative has been constitutionalized aiming to single out a specific community in Switzerland. The preachers of secularism, rationalism and freedom of expression become tight-lipped when Islam or Muslim is attacked irrationally in the land of Enlightenment. Sometimes, few faint voices are heard in order to protect the business interest in the Muslim world. Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, a professor of Islamic Studies in Oxford and Erasmus University, has nicely depicted the current islamophobic phenomenon in Europe in an article in the Guardian: The minarets are but a pretext – the UDC (far-right ppolitical party) wanted first to launch a campaign against the traditional Islamic methods of slaughtering animals but were afraid of testing the sensitivity of Swiss Jews, and instead turned their sights on the minaret as a suitable symbol… Every European country has its specific symbols or topics through which European Muslims are targeted. In France it is the headscarf or burka; in Germany, mosques; in Britain, violence; cartoons in Denmark; homosexuality in the Netherlands – and so on. It is importtant to look beyond these symbols and understand what is really happening in Europe in general and in Switzerland in particular: while European countries and citizens are going through a real and deep identity crisis, the new visibility of Muslims is problematic – and it is scary. You can verify his observation yourself by just reading the mostly recommended comments in Have your say on BBC website. There are only four minarets all over Switzerland. These minarets have not built for prayer call, just erected as a symbol of Islamic architecture. In the pretext of protecting Swiss heritage and culture, mosques were vandalized during ban campaign. Streets were littered with pro-ban posters, showing a black female figure in a Muslim veil and black minarets all over Swiss map piercing like missiles. All these anti-Muslim hysterias are not related to minarets. This proves the blatant show of prejudice and intolerance in the proudly claimed ˜tolerant society. There was hardly any protest against this hate-mongering campaign from the so-called conscience segment of the society. People's reactions all over Europe revealed after this ban are so frightening, reminding the era of Nazism. Europe feels very proud to claim that they are the torch-bearer of tolerance, equality and acceptance regardless of race, creed or religion. If the so called educated, enlightened, well to do (compared to developing countries) folks in Europe show this kind of bigotry and act in this manner (rampaging the place of worship, vandalizing the graveyard) one may wonder what they would really do if they were in the same condition as people of Afghanistan. It is so pathetic that many Europeans are dragging this issue towards Saudi Arabia and ˜rationally arguing that Saudi Arabia doesn't allow churches, so Swiss are right to ban minarets or mosques. This is where secular democratic nations should be taking their moral cues from? Many of us unaware the fact that churches including steeples can be built in most Muslim countries. Is there any mosque in the Vatican- the headquarter of Christian faith? Why is Muslim or Islam a big issue in Europe? The European society is failing. The fast declining birth rate is worrying European thinkers. Anti-social phenomenon such as gay movement, cohabitation without marriage and other moral decadences are contributing to the acceleration of this dwindling population. Even in overtly religious American society, marriage couples become minority (here). This scenario is more terrifying in Europe (here). On the other hand, the whole continent is graying. The over-65 population is expected to rise from 15.4% of the EU population in 1995 to 22.4% by 2025. According to a BBC article, with fewer, younger workers to pay the health and pension bills of an elderly population, states face an unprecedented fiscal burden. The dependency ratio of those aged 65 and over to those of working age looks set to double from one-to-four to one-to-two in 2050. Europe's ageing workforce (here). To keep moving the wheel of European economy, intellectuals are urging for more immigrants to supplement the declining population. Muslim countries, in general, are poor and have higher population growth rate. As a result, Muslims are migrating in the West for better future. Historically, after the fall of Muslim era, most of the Muslim lands were colonized by European countries. Muslim issue was largely unheard until the middle of 20th century. While leaving occupied countries, they made friendship treaty. One of the major aims of this treaty is to protect those people who helped them (occupiers). For this reason, we can see majority of the immigrants in UK from Indian subcontinent, Algerians in France and so on. In an environment of extremely low birth rates in most of Europe, Muslim population continues to grow. This scenario has fueled concerns in the European society and general perception is that the region will eventually have a Muslim majority. Concerns about the rapid growth of Muslims are based on popular perceptions, not statistical evidence. Because many European countries do not ask a person's religion on official forms or in censuses, it has been difficult to obtain accurate estimates of the number or childbearing rates of Muslims. You may watch an interesting video, even though data in the video might be inaccurate or can be questioned. Muslim demographics are changing in the West and how Islam is taking firm root. This video clip aimed to represent the Muslim or Islam as a threat to the Western society. Changing Muslim demographics (7 min) Here is the BBC's response of this video (5 min) Muslim population in Europe (Wiki) The EU's baby blues (BBC Article) Based on these videos and resourceful articles, you might reach to a conclusion. For European, it is hard to digest but the reality is that Islamization of Europe is the natural consequence of secularism/materialism/atheism. There is no way to stop this development. Arrogance, fear-mongering and hatred won’t be effective to hinder this inevitable outcome. Social integration of immigrants pointing to Muslim is a major political issue in EU. Muslims are always labeled as intolerant since they can’t adopt the core European values, such as homosexuality and belief in evolution theory. Recent polls find that Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance of homosexuality. It would be ignorant to think that immigrants are the burden of the society; rather they are contributing to the country. Therefore, both parties are mutually benefited. When a nation is on the verge of identity crisis, they start showing over concerns regarding values and heritage. Accepting the diversity would be the catalyst of better civilization. Banning the Islamic symbols such as minaret or hijab will not stop the spreading of Islam in Europe; rather all these racist attitudes would facilitate its propagation. Islam will prevail peacefully in Europe in due time without the use of any violence or extremism. Majority of the Muslim and most non-Muslim in the West are not aware about the beauty of Islam (See video: understanding of Islam in Europe). Light eliminates darkness; same is true for Islam, which would illuminate every conscience people on earth. Sorowar Hossain Singapore E Mail : sorowar2002@yahoo.com http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=295758 |
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