Under the treaty of Westphalia in 1648 Switzerland was recognized as an independent state by other European countries and have upheld their famous neutrality since then. Yet Switzerland may have a holy war on their hands.

Yes, the long-neutral country faced a declaration of jihad (holy war) made by Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya on the 26th of February. In a rather..unprecedented situation, Switzerland finds itself in a very strange and at the same time a little-humorous political situation. Very recently, the people of Switzerland voted (with a 55.75% favor) to ban the construction of minarets which provoked many reactions of shock and bitterness by countries in both Europe and the Middle East.

Pakistan’s Kurshid Ahmad commented on the ban as a “reflection of extreme Islamicphobia among the people in the West”.

German Parliament member Wolfgang Bosbach, similarly said that the Swiss ban was a growing fear of Islamization and should not be lightly taken.

Minarets are towers on the top of mosques, the houses of worship for Moslems. The ban was passed due to the ‘controversy of minarets’, regardless if the ban was right or wrong, Colonel al-Qaddafi nevertheless declared jihad on Switzerland and called for support against Switzerland and the boycott of its goods due to the ban on the construction of minarets.

An example of a minaret.

Moslem leaders kind of scoffed at Colonel Qaddafi’s declaration of jihad as the leader of Libya has no religious right nor power to declare a jihad. Yet to make sure he had a few radicals on his side, Colonel Qaddafi made this declaration on the day of Prophet Mohammed’s birthday which should get a few extremists to stop buying Swatches. This struggle is hardly religious at all and doesn’t really involve Islam and its followers, but rather this confrontation between al-Gaddafi and the government of Switzerland is purely political and partly because of a grudge supposedly held by the Libyan leader since 2008.

Pathetically, al-Qaddafi’s son was charged with beating his two servants to a pulp and his family was detained leading to his grudge which prompted him to take revenge by withdrawing funds (billions of dollars) from Swiss banks, stalling the transportation of oil to Switzerland for a time, and most controversially withholding two Swiss businessmen from leaving the country of Libya.

The Swiss ban on Moslem minarets seems to have provided Colonel al-Qaddafi with gunpowder to ignite with his fire of grudges. The government of Switzerland pretty seems to have brushed this off after considering the situation. No security measures were taken after the declaration of holy war but diplomacy at this point is just scuffling and fighting between the two governments. This situation seems totally unrelated to the Swiss ban on minarets but looks to be more strongly related to the Libyan leader’s family’s “humiliation” in Switzerland.

An example of al-Qaddafi's showing off and dissaproval of how women are treated in the Islamic world. His 40-some female bodyguards are said to have sworn allegiance to him and sweared virginity forever.

Although he has been “bashed” by other countries and organizations such as the European Union, Colonel al-Qaddafi is considered to be one of the more moderate, leaders of the Moslem world as in the year of 2009, June he had personally visited Italy in peacock fashion to conduct a government affair and openly criticized the Moslem world’s abuse of women’s rights. He had also hosted in the peace conference between the Sudan government and the Darfur rebels.

Colonel al-Qaddafi hosting the peace conference between the Sudan government and the rebels of Darfur. It had little effect on the situation.

On the other hand, he is considered to be a huge hypocrite on certain topics such as democracy and is known to be ambitious as he aspires to be one of the more influential leaders in the Islamic world. Overall he is a semi-respectable leader and may lose what remains of his respect after this ordeal.

- Gordon Aldridge