Swiss Politician Bans Minarets then Converts to Islam

Swiss Politician Bans Minarets then Converts to Islam
Swiss Politician Daniel Streich, Who Led Anti-Islamic Campaign, Calling for Banning of Mosque Minarets, Embraces Islam
Feb 2, 2010 Faisal Hanif
Al-Jazeerah: Cross-Cultural Understanding

Opinion Editorials, February 8, 2010


The Swiss politician Daniel Streich, who rose to fame as a result of his opposition to mosques in his homeland, has now embraced the faith he reviled.

Daniel Streich was a member of then Swiss People's Party (SVP) in Switzerland. A well-known politician, Streich led the calls for a ban on minarets across Switzerland. He was active in building anti-Muslim sentiments throughout Switzerland. This sustained campaign led to him being given a high ranking position in the Swiss Army.

SVP Witch Hunt

Streich left the SVP in November 2009 calling his party's campaign against Islam as a 'witch hunt.' The date coincided with the second anniversary of Streich's conversion which he had kept secret from the party.

With the party's campaign to ban minarets leading to a referendum, Streich said the situation had become unbearable for him.

Switzerland Minaret Ban and Daniel Streich

In the lead up to the ban Streich said "If the initiative passes, it will be an absolute deep blow for me. I would have to ask myself, why I applied myself professionally and politically for over 30 years for this political system. It is not worthy of Switzerland to force Muslims to practice their faith in back alleys."

Streich is a military instructor in the Swiss army and was said to be a committed Christian reading the Bible and attending Church regularly.

He was also committed to his party (SVP) and stood as a local politician in the commune of Bulle.

Daniel Streich Conversion to Islam

Streich attempted to understand the Qur'an and Islamic teachings in order to argue against Muslims on tenets of their faith. In the course of his efforts the ex-Christian began to agree with and acknowledge the proclamations of the Qur'an.

"Islam offers me logical answers to important life questions, which, in the end, I never found in Christianity," says Streich. He is now a committed Muslim, who attends the mosque, recites the Qur'an and prays five times a day.

Post-Conversion Life for Daniel Streich

Streich has now focused his intentions on participating in the building of the new Conservative Democratic Party in the canton of Freiburg. Freich's new movement is in contrast to his previous one and he aims to promote religious tolerance and peaceful cooperative living, in spite of the fact that ban on mosques minarets has gained a legal status.

He is vehemently opposed to the Minaret ban and is hoping to establish Switzerland’s fifth mosque and the most beautiful in Europe.

Meanwhile the SUV have raised concerns over Streich's position as Military Commander in the Army in the aftermath of his conversion citing him as a security risk. SVP-National Council member Alfred Heer cited the Fort Hood shooting spree as an example.

Read more at Suite101: Daniel Streich Embraces Islam: Swiss Politician Bans Minarets then Converts to Islam

http://islam.suite101.com/article.cfm/daniel-streich-embraces-islam#ixzz0exIuNrqn

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Daniel Streich Embraces Islam



Swiss antagonist of minarets embraces Islam
Published: January 30, 2010 The Nation Daily, Pakistan

RENOWNED Swiss politician Daniel Streich, who rose to fame for his campaign against minarets of mosques, has embraced Islam.

A member of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and a well-known politician, Daniel Streich was the first man who had launched a drive for imposition of ban on mosques minarets, and to lock the mosques in Switzerland. The proclamation of Streich’s conversion to Islam has created furore in Swiss politics, besides causing a tremor for those who supported ban on construction of mosques minarets.

Streich propagated his anti-Islamic movement far and wide in the country, sowed seeds of indignation and scorn for Islam among the people, and paved way for public opinion against pulpits and minarets of mosques.
But now Streich has become a soldier of Islam. His anti-Islam thoughts finally brought him so close to this religion that he embraced Islam. He is ashamed of his doings now and desires to construct the most beautiful mosque of Europe in Switzerland.

The most interesting thing in this regard is that at present there are four mosques in Switzerland and Streich wants to lay the foundation for the fifth one. He wishes to seek absolution of his sin of proliferating venom against Islam. He is thinking of a movement contrary to his previous one to promote religious tolerance and peaceful cooperative living, in spite of the fact that ban on mosques minarets has gained a legal status.

This is the greatest quality of Islam that it comes up with even greater vigour, when it is faced with confrontation.
Abdul Majeed Aldai, the president of OPI, an NGO, working for the welfare of Muslims, says that Europeans have a great desire to know about Islam. Some of them want to know about the relationship between Islam and terrorism; same was the case with Streich.

During his confrontation, Streich studied the Holy Quran and started understanding Islam.
He wished to be hard to Islam, but the outcome was otherwise. Aldai further says.
Recently the question of ban on minarets was put to voting in Switzerland, wherein the Swiss nationals gave the issue a legal status.

Muslim Student Association

Organization dispels Muslim misconceptions
By Adam Troxtell


| Published: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Updated: Thursday, January 28, 2010


Courtesy Muslim Student Association

The Muslim Student Association was created in 2007 to serve Muslim students at the university.
There are nine religiously affiliated student groups at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Seven of them fit the usual religious group associated with Texas: Christianity. One of them, Catholicism, is seen throughout Latin America, just to the south. The other represents a religion not usually associated with the southern United States.

The Muslim Student Association was first registered as a student organization in July of 2007. According to the organization’s profile page on the university website, it serves to “show our school, peers, and community that Muslim students are just like other regular students that attend this University.”

Monsuru Gaji, who came to A&M-Commerce in the fall of 2008, has recently been named the newest president of MSA. He said the organization serves not only to bring Muslim students together but also to give students the opportunity to learn about Islam.

“I want to get the student body involved, because there is a lot that people don’t know about the Muslim Student Association,” he said. “We’re just like everybody else. We’re going through the same classes, going through the same situations.”

Gaji’s parents are from Nigeria, and he was born in Houston. He then moved to Richardson, where he found a Muslim community.

“When I moved to Richardson, I would go to the mosque and it was really diverse,” he said. “There’s actually a white culture within Richardson that are Muslim. It’s one of those types of things you really can’t tell. Anybody can be one.”

When he came to A&M-Commerce, Gaji met MSA co-founder, and president at the time, Rhema Al-Hayek. Her younger sister, Donia Al-Hayek, also goes to the university, and is a part of the MSA.

“We have papers we give people, and people ask us questions about [Islam],” Donia Al-Hayek said. “I think it’s helpful for everybody. Even if they already know about the religion, they may have myths that you have to clear up for them.”

Donia Al-Hayek, an accounting major, also came to A&M-Commerce in fall of 2008, having grown up in Emory. While her father was born and raised as a Muslim in Jordan, her mother is American and has a Christian background.

“Muslims and Christians are a lot alike,” Donia Al-Hayek said. “There are just small differences, really. My mom went to both [churches], and so did my dad.”

She said the MSA is beneficial to anyone, as it can be an educational tool. Donia Al-Hayek wants to see the organization do more to tell people about the religion and eliminating the stereotypes some students may have.

“I think we could do better about telling people about Islam,” she said. “Muslims are everywhere in every country, so you have a diverse group. I think people are scared to ask questions. When you give them knowledge, like offer it to them, then people seem more open. I think we can do better at putting it out there.”

Gaji also would like the MSA to do more to teach students about Islam.

“I guess I don’t fit what a typical Muslim would look like, and since I’m black I just blend in with everybody else,” he said. “I haven’t faced any persecution, but since people don’t know they will say certain things around me and I will be like ‘Hey, hold on.’ I think there are a lot of misconceptions because of the media. We’re Americans first, Muslims second.”

Aside from featuring MSA at Mane Event and International Student Day, Gaji said he hopes to do more events like the Arabian Night at the Club put on last semester.

“This semester what we’re going to focus less on is the religion but more on the culture and have people see and appreciate something they may have not seen before,” he said.