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| Europe |
| Spanish Moslems Promise to Police Their Own |
| 2004-05-25 |
| .... Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso ... recently proposed the enforced registration of all Muslim clergy and mosques in Spain, and the monitoring of sermons to prevent militants from preaching violence to the country’s estimated 500,000 Muslims. But his proposal was greeted with a chorus of criticism -- from the political opposition and civil rights groups as well as Spain’s Union of Islamic Communities. All said it was unconstitutional and violated the civil and religious rights of Muslims. .... The Union of Islamic Communities rejected Alonso’s proposal and said Spain’s mosques are no more than places of "prayer and peace." But not all Muslims agree. Mustafa el-Merabet, the president of Spain’s Association of Moroccan Immigrant Workers, says, "The fact that a place is holy does not mean that it is impermeable to the introduction of elements, messages or people that can try to work against it and use this holy place to spread certain values that are just not compatible with democratic values." He says that while his group does not agree with everything in Alonso’s proposal, it welcomes the debate that it has spawned. El-Merabat says his organization, which is secular, is following up the interior minister’s ideas with a counterproposal of its own. Under that plan, Spain’s Muslim communities would take a pledge to reject all violence in mosques and places of worship and agree to a system of self-control led by local and national councils made up of Muslim leaders. .... El-Merabet points out that Spain already keeps a voluntary registry of places of worship, including more than 200 mosques. But he says that the government needs help keeping track of hundreds of other makeshift places of worship, where authorities believe Islamic militants may be inciting followers to violence. .... Spanish investigators say the alleged ringleader of the Madrid bombings, a Tunisian, led prayers in one of these makeshift religious sites. .... Meanwhile, the official voice of Spain’s Muslim community -- the Islamic Commission of Spain -- says it will be meeting monthly with officials to find a way to balance safety concerns with religious freedom. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #2 This has always worked out so well wherever it's been tried. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-05-25 4:47:47 PM |
| #1 Why, the solution is simple: Muslim leaders in Spain can simply issue a fatwa declaring that worship can only take place in a registered mosque. Voila! Problem solved. ;) |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-05-25 10:33:16 AM |