Skip to main content

Swiss Catholic Church Opposes Proposed Burqa Ban

Switzerland Catholic Church and other religious groups have announced their opposition to a proposed ban on burqas or niqab, saying it violates religious rights.

“Covering the body due to religious conviction … constitutes an external symbol of worshipping God,” the bishops’ conference said in a joint statement with the Swiss Council of Religions.

The bishops stressed that freedom “to choose and shape ways of life, lifestyles and orientations” was a core value of Switzerland’s liberal democracy, adding that they would reject “all ideologically and socio-politically motivated attempts” to interfere with constitutionally protected religious expressions,” Catholic Philly reported.

📚 Read Also: Muslim Activist Promises to Pay Fines for Swiss Niqabi Women

Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish leaders also signed the statement.

The Swiss will vote on whether they want to ban full facial coverings in public on March 7, when they will also vote on a range of other issues as part of the country’s direct democratic system.

The text of the proposed ban does not mention Muslim veils explicitly, stating only that “no one shall cover their face in public, nor in areas accessible to the public or in areas where services are ordinarily accessible to all”.

But the proposal, which has been opposed by the Swiss government, is widely seen as targeting niqabs, burqas and other face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women.

Minority Women

The church and religious leaders said that the burqa was worn by very few Muslim women in Switzerland, who would face “two conflicting forms of pressure: the religious requirement to cover the face and compulsion exerted by the state to refrain.”

“The concealment of female identity in the public sphere is frequently viewed as expressing gender inequality. This perception is not, however, shared by all women concerned,” the statement said.

“This initiative claims to have public security as a goal. In reality, it is directed toward an exceedingly small minority of the population and does not resolve any problems.”

The Swiss  government also urged people earlier this month to reject the proposal, saying the move would hurt tourism.

In 2009 Swiss voters backed a proposal to ban the construction of new minarets.

Two-thirds of Switzerland’s 8.5 million residents identify as Christians. But its Muslim population has risen to 5%, largely because of Balkans Muslim immigrants.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not just a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

As for the face veil, the majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is free to cover or show her face or hands.

Scholars, however, believe that it is up to women to decide whether to cover their faces.

The post Swiss Catholic Church Opposes Proposed Burqa Ban appeared first on About Islam.



source https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/swiss-catholic-church-opposes-proposed-burqa-ban/
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List of Times and Places Where Dua is Accepted

A short reminder regarding the recommended times of dua . And I think what you need to know here is that the recommended times of dua or recommended things that can cause your dua to be accepted, can be divided into two sort of large groups: Am I Good Enough to Make Dua for Myself? Situations where your dua is accepted. Times where your dua is accepted So I’m going to very briefly mention them one after the other as much as possible. As for situations where your dua has been accepted: – The person who has been wronged or oppressed . – A person who finds themselves in severe difficulty after a calamity has struck. – The person who is traveling. – Someone who is fasting. – The one who is reciting the Quran or has just recited the Quran – Someone who is performing Hajj or Umrah or jihad. – The one who is making dua for someone in their absence . Because we know that when you make dua for someone in his absence an angel says: “ Ameen and to you”. – A person...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Derechos de Las Mujeres en Islam

Durante el Tiempo del Profeta (la paz sea con él) Veamos cómo fueron tratadas las mujeres de todo el mundo durante la época del Profeta (la paz sea con él). En la Europa del siglo VIII, la religión principal era el catolicismo y durante este tiempo debatían si las mujeres tenían alma. Dijeron que las mujeres eran impuras y que no tenían derecho a la herencia. A las mujeres tampoco se les permitía tocar la Biblia. No era como ahora en el Islam, donde ellas no pueden tocar el Corán durante la menstruación, pero a las mujeres en la Europa del siglo VIII nunca se les permitió tocar la Biblia. En China e India, fueron quemadas vivas cuando murieron sus maridos. En Arabia Saudita practicaron infanticidio femenino en el que, si nacía una niña, la enterrarían viva. Si el marido de una mujer muere, un miembro de su familia se unirá a ella para demostrar que ahora es de su propiedad. Mujeres en el Islam Con el Islam llegó una nueva era para las mujeres. En el Islam, las mujeres tienen la...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Ghuraba (The Strangers): Nasheed with English Subtitles

Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings the strangers. (Sahih Muslim 145) This famous nasheed has many versions; this one is from Muhammad al-Salman and has the subtitles in English embedded. [We are] strangers and we do not bow the foreheads to anyone besides Allah  […] Transliteration to help in the pronounciation:  Ghurabaa’ wa li ghairillaahi laa nahnil jibaa Aisha Stacey  wrote in an article for Aboutislam.net : “I think that many of you would agree that being Muslim in the 21st century makes you well acquainted with being strange. It might even be a metaphor for random, as in you have been randomly selected. […] many converts to Islam will tell you about feeling as if they were strangers, before finding Islam. They will speak of feeling that they belonged somewhere else that their lives were just slightly off center. They often speak about a vague sense of knowing they were not like everyone else...
Post a Comment
Read More »