Double standard

Published on Thursday 10 December 2009 20:53

Alan Hinnrichs (Letters, 10 December) mentions that "Saudi Arabia permits the construction of no religious building apart from mosques".

Under the Pact of Omar, "people of the book", ie, Jews and Christians, are not permitted to build new places of worship. Even the ringing of church bells is forbidden to avoid causing offence to Islam. Failure to abide by such regulations terminates the dhimma, their right to live in an Islamic state.

That this is not generally enforced nowadays in most predominantly Muslim countries, unlike Saudi Arabia, is a reflection of their deviation in practice from sharia regulations.

A minaret is not an essential part of a mosque but only a platform for calling the faithful to prayer, which can be disturbing to others if amplified to a high volume in the early hours of the morning. In many ways it is the Muslim equivalent of a church steeple or bell tower.

It seems to me that what the Swiss are now doing is only applying sharia principles in reverse. Muslims have no right to complain, after all, they are still allowed to build as many mosques as they wish in Switzerland.

MARTIN D STERN

Hanover Gardens

Salford