Swiss Muslims claim burka is NOT required under Islamic law as they WELCOME proposed ban
PROMINENT Muslims in Switzerland have welcomed a proposed burka ban in the country and said the full-faced veil is NOT required under Islamic law.
The Swiss parliament recently voted to ban the burka
The Swiss parliament recently voted to ban the burka, passing the legislation by a minuscule majority of 88 to 87.
But a leading religious leader, Imam Mustafa Memeti, from the country’s capital, Bern, claimed that the full body covering was not demanded under Islamic law.
He said that the religious garment cannot be theologically justified, from any perspective.
And he claimed his viewpoint was one true Muslims would welcome.
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The Conservative Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which proposed the ban, has annoyed moderate Muslims in the past, according to the Imam, but the current proposal was "no signal against Muslims, and if anything it was only a move against the ultraconservatives.”
Defending his position the cleric, who is the Imam of the Muslim Association of Bern and as President of the Albanian Islamic Association, said his belief was the burka had no basis in religion.
He said that the religious garment cannot be theologically justified
As a result, he said it should not be one of the Islamic observations.
He added: "In an open society, a woman should show her face and thus show her identity."
And fellow religious leader, Saida Keller-Messahli, the President of the Forum for a Progressive Islam, welcomed the ban.
She said: "If Parliament approves the burka ban, it sets a clear sign against the obscenity of political Islam.
The Conservative Swiss People’s Party (SVP) proposed the ban
A woman should show her face and thus show her identity
"It is more than a mere piece of cloth, it is about the misogyny of Salafists."
The Tunisian national, who later moved to Switzerland, has been vocal in her criticism of the burka and the burkini in the past.
Saida Keller-Messahli labelled the burka and burkini a “combat suit of Islam
She labelled both a “combat suit of Islam” and a weapon of “psychological terror”, which was used by radical Muslims to impose their own rules on a liberal society.
Ms Keller-Messahli added: "In an underhanded way, they want to impose Sharia (Islamic law) upon a democratic society.
“A big part in this is the total concealment and segregation of women."