The poor Muslims of Switzerland. They have had to spend 2004 fighting stereotypes. And — would you believe it? — the dhimmis have actually had the temerity to criticize Hani Ramadan, Tariq’s brother, for defending the stoning punishment for adultery!
Of course, the way things are going, Hani has nothing to worry about (and adulterers do): such “anti-Muslim” speech will not be allowed in Europe for much longer. From IslamOnline, with thanks to Kemaste:
GENEVA, January 2 (IslamOnline.net) — No sooner had Swiss Muslims launched campaigns to clear stereotypes and enter into dialogues to reach out to the non-Muslim citizens during 2004 than right-wing media and newspapers threw a spanner in the earnest works.
Swiss Muslims, however, remained determined to ride out the storm and demonstrate to the public that they were an integral part of society.
The right-wing, in a nutshell, failed to break their staunch stamina.
Day in and day out, headlines like “The Islamic Terror is Coming, “Country Vs. Radicalism”, “Islamists Living With Us,” “Hijab in Parliament” and “Swiss Funds for Islamic Terror” were splashed by newspapers….
The media offensive was not confined to tarnishing the image of the Muslim community in general, but was further selective in blemishing the reputation of some leading figures.
Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies in the University of Fribourg, took the brunt of such campaigns.
“Should We Really Burn Out Tariq Ramadan?” Was one of the headlines splashed by L”Hebdo newspaper on October 28.
Other newspapers called the prominent Muslim intellectual “the prince of dualism,” and “the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
The ferocious verbal attacks did not even spare Tariq’s brother Hani, who is the head of the Geneva Islamic Center.
The rightists unleashed a diatribe against the elder brother following his Le Monde’s article in which he defended the adultery punishment enshrined in Shari`ah.
The link is in the original IslamOnline piece. But the fatwa to which it leads is disingenuous about the punishment for adultery, and says nothing about stoning. However, Hani Ramadan himself was less coy. He said that Allah mandated stoning for adultery because of “His love of mankind, because AIDS came out of nothing but from promiscuousness.”
IslamOnline continues:
The State Council decided on February 5, 2003 to sack Hani as a teacher of French language.
The Geneva Administrative Court, however, reinstated him in his job in April, deeming the decision as null and void and giving him 5,000 Swiss Francs in compensation.
The right-wing government defied the court’s verdict in an unprecedented move, saying it was ready to take the consequences.