Islam in Switzerland
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Islam in Switzerland has mostly arrived via immigration since the late 20th century. Numbering below 1% of total population in 1980, the fraction of Muslims in the population of permanent residents in Switzerland has quintupled in thirty years, estimated at just above 5% as of 2013.[2] A majority is from
The vast majority of Muslims in Switzerland adhere to the
Demographics
The largest concentration of Muslim population is in the
- 8.17% Basel-Stadt
- 7.72% Glarus
- 7.63% Solothurn
- 7.54% St. Gallen
- 7.14% Aargau
- 7.02% Schaffhausen
- 6.51% Thurgau
- 6.49% Zürich
- 6.24% Geneva
- 5.61% Basel-Landschaft
- 5.22% Vaud
Geneva is the only non-German-speaking canton where the Muslim population (6.24%) is slightly above the average (5.40%).[7] Another remarkable demographic feature in comparison to other European countries is the relatively equal distribution throughout the country[8] (compare Islam in the United Kingdom). No administrative unit has more than 8.55%[9] of Muslim population, and no town or village more than 16.8%.[10] The lowest percentage of Muslims in a canton is 1.82%[11] (the Italian-speaking Ticino).
88.3% of Muslims in Switzerland are of immigrant background (56.4% from
History
In the 10th century, Arabic-speaking Muslims from their Mediterranean
Islam was virtually absent from Switzerland until the 20th century. It appeared with the beginning of significant immigration to Europe, after World War II. A first mosque was built in Zürich in 1963 by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Muslim presence during the 1950s and 1960s was mostly due to the presence of international diplomats and rich Saudi tourists in Geneva.[citation needed]
Substantial Muslim immigration began in the 1970s, and accelerated dramatically over the 1980s to 1990s. In 1980, there were 56,600 Muslims in Switzerland (0.9% of total population). This ratio quintupled over the following thirty years, notably due to the immigration from
The burka was outlawed in the canton of Ticino after a citizen initiative to hold a referendum. With 65% in favour of a ban and it was ruled that the ban was constitutional, the ban took effect in July 2016. Those who violate the law face a fine of up to CHF 10,000.[16] One of the primary figures behind this burka ban is now attempting to ban Muslims from praying in public.[17]
In September 2018, a ban on face-covering veils was approved with a 67% vote in favour in the canton of St Gallen. The Islamic Central Council, which falsely claims to be the largest Islamic community organisation in Switzerland (whose members make up less than 1% of the estimated 400,000 Muslims in Switzerland)[18] recommended that Muslim women continue to cover their faces.[19]
Islamophobic incidents
Below is a list of incidents in Switzerland that could be considered Islamophobic:
Date | Type | Dead | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrator |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 December 2016 | Shooting | 1 (+1) | 3 | Zürich | Zürich Islamic center shooting: A man yelled "Raus aus unserem Land [Get out of our country]"[20] before opening fire on people at an Islamic center in Central Zürich.[21][22] The motive is still being investigated but the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland issued a statement suggesting it should serve as an "alarm" regarding the threat posed by increasing Islamophobia in Swiss society.[23] | Unnamed man |
Organizations
Swiss Muslim organizations begin to form in the 1980s. An umbrella organization (GIOS, Gemeinschaft islamischer Organisationen der Schweiz) was formed in Zürich in 1989. Numerous organizations were formed during the 1990s to 2000s, including
- 1994 Organisation Muslime und Musliminnen der Schweiz
- 1995 Vereinigung Islamischer Organisationen Zürich (VIOZ), Zurich
- 1997 Basler Muslim Kommission, Basle
- 2000 Koordination Islamischer Organisationen Schweiz (KIOS), Berne
- 2002 Vereinigung islamischer Organisationen des Kantons Luzern (VIOKL), Lucerne
- 2003 Dachverband islamischer Gemeinden der Ostschweiz und des Fürstentums Liechtenstein
- 2006 Föderation Islamischer Dachorganisationen in der Schweiz (FIDS)
- 2009 Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS; German Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz IZRS), Berne. IZRS is a comparatively minor organisation (with an estimated 960 members in 2010) but has a disproportionate media presence because of its radical Salafist orientation and because a disproportionate number of its members (an estimated 10%) are native Swiss converts.[24]
Mosques
It is estimated that there are 260 mosques and prayer rooms with connected services in Switzerland.[3] In comparison to the European average, Switzerland has the second lowest number of mosques per Muslim inhabitant, with about one mosque to every 4000 Muslims in Switzerland.[4]
There are two Swiss mosques which predate 1980 and the rapid increase of immigration of Muslims from the Balkans and Turkey over the following decades. Today, there are numerous mosques and prayer rooms across the country, predominantly in the urban parts of the
In 2007 the Bern city council rejected plans to build one of the largest Islamic cultural centers in Europe.[26]
Four Swiss mosques have
Attitudes
In a 2018 survey conducted by Switzerland's Federal Statistics Office, 29% of Swiss respondents said they mistrusted Islam and 11% said they mistrusted Islamic followers.[29] Comparatively, in 2016, 14% of Swiss respondents said that they mistrusted Islamic followers.[29]
See also
References
- ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ The Federal Statistical Office reported the religious demographics as of 2013 as follows (based on the resident population older than 15 years): total population of Muslims aged 15 or older: 341,572 (confidence interval ±1.8%, i.e. ±6150, based on a total (100%) of 6,744,794 registered resident population above 15 years). This corresponds to 5.1%±0.1% of total (adult) population. "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Kanton und Religions- und Konfessionszugehörigkeit 2013" (XLS). bfs.admin.ch (Statistics) (in German). Neuchâtel: Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780815654308.
- ^ S2CID 144170410.
- S2CID 144696568.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b Statistik, Bundesamt für (2019-01-29). "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religionszugehörigkeit und Kanton - 2017 | Tabelle". Bundesamt für Statistik (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ^ Islam in Switzerland
- ^ Statistik, Bundesamt für (2019-01-29). "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religionszugehörigkeit und Kanton - 2017 | Tabelle". Bundesamt für Statistik (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- ^ Statistik, Bundesamt für (2019-01-29). "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religionszugehörigkeit und Kanton - 2017 | Tabelle". Bundesamt für Statistik (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- ^ Statistik, Bundesamt für (2019-01-29). "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religionszugehörigkeit und Kanton - 2017 | Tabelle". Bundesamt für Statistik (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- ISBN 3-303-16074-0, retrieved 21 August 2010
- ^ Marbach, Patrick (21 June 2010). "Les Suisses se tournent vers l'islam par amour". 20 minutes (in French). 20 minutes Romandie SA. p. 6.
- ^ Wenner, M. (1980). "The Arab/Muslim Presence in Medieval Central Europe." International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.12 No.(1), 59-79. doi:10.1017/S0020743800027136
- ^ Wohnbevölkerung nach Religion (bfs.admin.ch)
- ^ "Muslims face fines up to £8,000 for wearing burkas in Switzerland". The Independent. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "Swiss burqa ban campaigner calls for ban on Muslim prayers in public". www.thelocal.ch. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
- ^ Keystone-SDA/sb. "Islamic Council leaders sentenced for jihadist propaganda". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ Reuters Editorial. "Swiss canton becomes second to ban burqas in public". U.S. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
{{cite news}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - ^ "Moschee-Schütze hat auch Ex-Kollegen getötet". 20 Minuten. 20 December 2016.
- ^ "Swiss shooting: Three wounded near Zurich Islamic centre". BBC. 19 December 2016.
- ^ "Three injured in gun attack on Zurich mosque". The Guardian. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
- ^ Islamische Zentralrat Schweiz (20 December 2016). "Offene Fragen nach Anschlag auf Zürcher Moschee".
- ^ Katia Murmann, [1]Schweiz am Sonntag, 17 April 2010.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Switzerland
- ^ Bern city says no to Islamic cultural centre Archived 2021-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, Swissinfo, June 1, 2007
- ^ Rightwingers want nationwide vote on minarets Archived 2021-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, Swissinfo, May 3, 2007
- ^ Swiss Referendum Stirs a Debate About Islam. Wall Street Journal Europe, 06 November 2009
- ^ a b "Mistrust of Islam nearly three times higher than negative views of muslims". Le News. 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
Further reading
- Marcel Stüssi MODELS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Switzerland, the United States, and Syria by Analytical, Methodological, and Eclectic Representation, 375 ff. (Lit 2012)., by Marcel Stüssi, research fellow at the University of Lucerne.