A file photo of Swiss Muslims in a Geneva mosque

By Tamer Abul Einein, IOL Correspondent

GENEVA, October 19 (IslamOnline.net) – The Swiss government has placed visa restrictions on imams coming to the country during the holy month of Ramadan except for Al-Azhar missions.

Under the new regulations, sheikhs and imams would not be granted residency or work permits unless they are citizens from the European Union countries pursuant to an agreement the Swiss government and the 25-nation bloc.

The agreement was quickly put into effect. A request from the Geneva Islamic Center to allow a Turkish imam into the country during Ramadan to preach to the community and lead them in Tarawih prayers was rebuffed by authorities here.

The reason: The imam would have been on an official mission, which requires a work permit.

Divergent Views

The Muslim community here has split down the middle on the new Swiss move.

Some Muslims, on the one hand, see it as a curb on Muslim rituals in the central European country and an obstacle to social integration.

“We can’t mark Ramadan without imams from Arab and Islamic countries, thanks to their thorough knowledge, which appeals to broad section of the community,” Hassan Al-Arabi, chairman of the Islamic Organizations in Chiasso, told IslamOnline.net.

Other Muslims could find a justification for the constraints, heaping the blame on some non-native imams who preach violence and downgrade women’s role in society.

The cited a sermon delivered by one of those imams, who urged his audience to divorce their Christian and Jewish wives.

Booming Ramadan

Away from both camps, Muslim activists here are working at full swing to cater for their community in Ramadan.

Daily Iftar banquets are held to the youths and asylum seekers and the poor to make them feel like home.

TV ads and programs are also on air for a better understanding of Islam and educate Muslims about their duties during the month.

Another remarkable achievement is the publishing of an Islamic calendar in some Swiss newspapers all over the month.

In Zurich, home of the largest Muslim community in the country, Muslims made a new headway during the holy month.

Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim, director of the Islamic Center in Zurich said the center has reached an agreement with the Zurich city council, allowing Muslims to perform the Tarawih prayers in a 600-person hall.

He added the Friday prayers could also be held in the hall after Ramadan.

In Basil, Nabil Arab, the official in charge of the King Faisal Waqf, said the charity has drawn up a 30-day program to raise the awareness of Muslims despite a shortage in imams.

Islam is the second religion in Switzerland after Christianity.

The country is home to 350,000 Muslims representing a sizable 4.5 percent of the country’s some eight million people, in addition to more than 10,000 illegal Muslim immigrants.

Turks represent 43 percent of the Muslim community in Switzerland, followed by the Balkan people with 36 percent.