Muslim Ad Portas!: On Swiss Minarets

The Swiss have voted against building minarets in Switzerland and this has rightly brought an outcry condemning the bigotry and barely veiled racism of these people. Regardless, I will neither condemn nor commend the Swiss for their decision. You see minarets do not just spring up after a mild rain shower, nor do they serve as beacons attracting even more Muslims to come to Europe. Minarets are architectural features of Islamic mosques which were developed much later than when Islam began to spread. They are called manara in Arabic, and it means a place to see, be illuminated from, a tower. It is where the Muezzin, from the word Adhan, meaning to alert or announce, would climb up to call the faithful to prayer from all around. This functional aspect of minarets has long ago ceased to be important and today they are mostly there for aesthetic purposes.

But that is not my point. Neither Swiss bigotry, nor the religious or architectural significance of minarets are what is important about this story. What is important is that for the first time in 400 years, at least since the Ottomans besieged Vienna, Muslims are having a real impact on what is happening in Europe. The Spaniards have a saying, the Muslims occupied Spain for 800 years - and they're still here. In France, the government now has to step in to make a law banning the headscarf from being worn. In Denmark, we know what has happened. But all these events in different European countries are rooted in a deep seated alarm, perhaps with roots in historical fact, that the barbarians are at the gate. In this case the barbarians are not only at the gate, they are now in fact involved with every aspect of European society.

I remember earlier generations of Arab Muslims who came to Europe or America and easily assimilated themselves into society. They began to drink, had girlfriends and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere to personal freedoms on offer here. However each successive wave of immigrants has been stronger in their adherence to Islam. Today there are Muslims who live in a way that we do not even see in Arab countries. European legislation bans polygamy? That's ok because all that's needed for an Islamic marriage is a Sheikh and two witnesses. There are plenty of men I've met who are married to another woman Islamically in Europe, have children with her, and also have their main wife. Whether you like it or hate it, it exists here regardless of legislation. In fact in some Muslim countries such things are no longer possible. In Tunisia there are areas where police would pull the headscarf off of a woman's head. Yet far from being a religion that is commonly portrayed as oppressive of women, I find remarkably hard religious opinion arising more often from women than men. Women have taken on the role of protecting their husbands from straying, of keeping their children in the faith in a land where temptations are more readily available, and of strengthening bonds with other Muslims. Similar to the way the Qubaisia movements in Syria have served as a backbone for increased religiosity, so too are similar informal gatherings of women at each others houses serving a similar purpose. That and the ease of travel today means that links with the 'old' country are now stronger and where these things were localised phenomena, today they are becoming transnational.

To sum it up, I am not worried about the bigots. Minarets and sharia can be banned, headscarves can be torn off, and all the cartoons in the world will not stop the fact that Islam is now in Europe, and it is in America, and it is spreading throughout the world. At the end of the last century the big word had been globalisation, and that this somehow equated to the spread of Western values at the expense of local customs and traditions. This, in the shadow of the now lost "War on Terror", is now shown to be a fallacy. Far from seeing a 'McWorld' being created, we are seeing that Western cultural values and big business have been subverted and transformed by, rather than overwhelming Islamic countries. Technology has been "Islamised", science in all its amazing advances is a proof, rather than denial, of the "true" faith. Without even realising it, Europe is now, as it was 1000 years ago, being shaped by Islamic peoples. In all their moderation, fanaticism, vibrancy, benefit-scrounging, hypocritical or saintly glory different people who are Muslim are applying and living by it in their own way in a post-modern world. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Islam has reinvented itself for every time and every generation.