Stop European Extremism!
Lyla Hamdan04/03/2026
In a recent decision, Switzerland has banned the niqab nationwide, imposing fines ranging from 100 to 1,000 Swiss francs for any violation of the ban.
The initiative to ban the niqab in Switzerland had previously been introduced by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and was approved in a referendum by 51.2% of the Swiss population in the spring of 1442 AH (March 2021).
Similarly, in 1430 AH (2009), the Swiss People’s Party launched a campaign against minarets, successfully leading to their prohibition in Switzerland.
The poster chosen to promote this initiative shocked Switzerland.
It depicted a woman wearing a niqab with a threatening gaze, alongside seven minarets piercing through the Swiss flag.
Several cities, cantons, and media outlets decided to ban the display of this poster.
According to the Swiss government, only 20 to 30 women in Switzerland wear the niqab, out of a Muslim population of 400,000.
While half of the Swiss population is not opposed to face coverings and does not object to them, the Swiss government continues to push its policies toward extremism and the persecution of veiled Muslim women to appease the other half, which is incited and rallied by the far-right party to support their oppression and suppression.
Ironically, Switzerland, which hosts nudist events and embraces public nudity in cities like Geneva, Zurich, and others as a form of personal freedom, has failed to tolerate the choice of 20 to 30 women who prefer modesty and covering!
How can an entire nation stoop so low, turning its slogans of freedom into policies of oppression and persecution against minorities? Meanwhile, they loudly express their supposed fear and concern for minorities in Muslim countries—minorities that, in reality, enjoy more than their fair share of rights!
They boycott nations, sanction governments, and impose sieges on entire populations, even launching threats and wars under the pretext of defending minorities. Yet within their own borders, a Muslim minority cannot even allow its women the freedom to dress modestly!
Where, then, are the women’s rights they constantly preach about? Or are these so-called rights only valid when they oppose human nature, destroy modesty, and undermine virtue? Is freedom only freedom when it promotes immorality, depravity, and vice?
They impose nudity on women and forbid modesty under the guise of freedom, all while practicing the ugliest forms of extremism and oppression against women who choose modesty and decency. They show no respect for the cultures and religions of others, leaving Muslim minorities under constant threat in these countries.
The reality is that Western policies toward Muslims are extreme and hostile. Their so-called values, which they claim to uphold, must be exposed, revealing their hypocrisy and tyranny. This must be done with steadfast faith, unyielding and resilient. Western women’s so-called freedoms are nothing more than enslavement to their femininity and the vile exploitation of their bodies as cheap commodities.
This is precisely why Muslim women reject, denounce, and disassociate themselves from it, seeking refuge in Allah from such falsehoods. It is a voice that Western institutions and governments do not want to hear because it disrupts their agendas of exploiting women under the pretext of women’s liberation.
We will not accept, as Muslim women, the West imposing its hypocritical values that undermine and oppose our own values upon us. This is a message that their governments and human rights organizations must fully comprehend. It is also a cause that every free and dignified Muslim woman must defend.
Switzerland is not the only European country to adopt such measures; similar actions have been taken in France, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, and Bulgaria. Other countries have implemented partial bans, such as in schools or hospitals, as seen in the Netherlands and Germany.
France was the first European country to ban the niqab in public spaces, enacting a law to this effect in 1431 AH (2010 CE).
Let every free Muslim woman disassociate herself from the deceptive calls for freedom promoted by the disbelieving West!
Let her address the West with the firmness and rejection it deserves, while proudly upholding natural disposition, religion, and identity.
The era of deceiving Muslim women and bargaining over their dignity, honor, and true value must come to an end!
Westerners and European politicians must understand that Muslim women will not accept European extremism!
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Original article in Arabic:
Translated by: