The Nigerian Imam Muhammad Ashafa who, together with Christian Pastor James Wuye, is running an inter-religious Mediation Centre in Nigeria, interpreted the Swiss vote in favour of a ban on minarets as a sign of fear of 'the other'.

Imam Muhammad Ashafa in the House of Religions in Berne

'Fear of the foreigner and of all that is foreign can mainly be traced back to a fear of loosing ones own identity', said Ashafa in front of some 80 interested listeners who had come to a panel discussion at the House of Religions in Berne on 28 January. Its hosts had organised the event jointly with CAUX-Initiatives of Change. Ashafa stated that this fear could only be overcome through a real confrontation with oneself and with 'the other'. 'People who have a strong identity of their own have no need to fear foreign things and foreigners.' He went on to state that this fear was not only prevalent in Switzerland but all over the world. 'Through globalization, what is foreign has come closer and the fear has become more real and tangible'.

He described how shocked he had been when he heard the result of the vote. 'Switzerland is a model. It has found a way to have different minorities living together peacefully. Switzerland must try and continue to do justice to this role of a model nation.'

In the 1990s Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye had fought each other as leaders of opposing religious militias. In a long process they then reconciled and now lead an inter-religious Mediation Center in Kaduna/Northern Nigeria. Its services are requested in that region as well as in other countries such as Kenya, Sudan and Iraq. The two were recently awarded the prize for conflict prevention by the Jacques Chirac Foundation in Paris. Their story is documented in the film The Imam and the Pastor which has also received several awards.

'Well, now we will work at this even harder!'

Gerda Hauck, the President of the Association of the House of Religions in Berne, expressed an optimistic vision. 'I am convinced that the obtaining of equal rights for Muslims living in Switzerland is only a question of time. This ban on the building of minarets could, in fact, bring a fresh breeze into the sails of those organizations that have been engaged in furthering dialogue and understanding'. Nina Frei from the Association 'WissensWert Religionen' (Knowledge about Religions) shared Hauck’s hopes: 'After the vote I said to myself: "Well, now we will work at this even harder". We will indeed have to work all the more to create opportunities for dialogue and to answer the fears.'

Editor Markus Dütschler of the Bernese daily Der Bund noted that analysis of the vote had shown that it had not mainly been directed against the Muslims living in Switzerland, but that it had actually been a vote against a perceived worldwide Muslim bid for power. He stated that, therefore, it was up to the Muslims living here to ask themselves why this was the case and what had gone wrong.

A Muslim participant from the public partially agreed when he said: 'We Muslims have done too little. We must learn to read the atmosphere in the population around us and learn how to react to it. We have to play our part if we want minorities to be recognized'.

Links:

• Article in 'Der Bund'
• Interview with Imam Ashafa on the Bernese radio station 'Radio RABE'
• Interview with Imam Ashafa and report about the event on African Mirror TV
• Further information about the film The Imam and the Pastor
• Further information about the vote on minarets
• Website of the House of Religions in Berne