Zurich, Geneva, Bern, Basel, Thun and Lucerne already have special sections in cemeteries set aside for Muslim burials, but requests for such accommodation have been rejected in smaller communes around the country. They say they have too few Muslim residents to justify allocating the extra space. Now the country’s leading Muslim organization is preparing legal action to demand that such sections be made mandatory in every canton. They say it falls under their constitutional right to freedom of religion as Islamic law says Muslims cannot be buried with individuals of other faiths. But some fear legal action is not a very constructive approach, and that it will only fan the flames of growing Islamophobia.
worldradio