Fumosas torres

Suiza vota para prohibir los minaretes en las mezquitas y me viene a la mente el decreto nº 25 del Concilio de Vienne (1311-1312), del que ofrezco su traducción al inglés, que circula por Internet (el original en latín puede consultarse, p. ej., aquí):

It is an insult to the holy name and a disgrace to the christian faith that in certain parts of the world subject to christian princes where Saracens live, sometimes apart, sometimes intermingled with Christians, the Saracen priests commonly called Zabazala [صاحب الصلاة], in their temples or mosques, in which the Saracens meet to adore the infidel Mahomet, loudly invoke and extol his name each day at certain hours from a high place, in the hearing of both Christians and Saracens and there make public declarations in his honour. There is a place, moreover, where once was buried a certain Saracen whom other Saracens venerate as a saint. A great number of Saracens flock there quite openly from far and near. This brings disrepute on our faith and gives great scandal to the faithful. These practices cannot be tolerated any further without displeasing the divine majesty. We therefore, with the sacred council's approval, strictly forbid such practices henceforth in christian lands. We enjoin on catholic princes, one and all, who hold sovereignty over the said Saracens and in whose territory these practices occur, and we lay on them a pressing obligation under the divine judgment that, as true Catholics and zealous for the christian faith, they give consideration to the disgrace heaped on both them and other Christians. They are to remove this offence altogether from their territories and take care that their subjects remove it, so that they may thereby attain the reward of eternal happiness. They are to forbid expressly the public invocation of the sacrilegious name of Mahomet. They shall also forbid anyone in their dominions to attempt in future the said pilgrimage or in any way give countenance to it. Those who presume to act otherwise are to be so chastised by the princes for their irreverence, that others may be deterred from such boldness.

---Norman P. Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Londres-Washington, 1990.

Esta repulsa a los alminares y a la llamada a la oración viene de antiguo: en su Indiculus Luminosus, Paulus Alvarus Cordubensis (†861) dice de los musulmanes (la traducción es mía) que:

Desde sus alminares, diariamente, con un berrido enorme y monstruoso y rictus de fieras, los labios desatados y las fauces abiertas de par en par, vociferan como si les doliera el estómago, y vociferando como furiosos pregonan "para fortalecer a Maozim con un dios ajeno que ha conocido" [Daniel, 11-39], es decir, a Maozim, al que ellos denominan Cobar [أكبر], o sea, más grande; "con un dios ajeno", es decir, aquel demonio que se le apareció en forma de Gabriel.

Y en el mismo sentido dice Eulogius en su Liber apologeticus martyrum (trad. de F. González Muñoz):

A manera de asnos, con desencajada mandíbula y abiertas sus bocas impuras, emiten su horrible proclama, pero no sin antes tapar sus orejas con ambas manos.

Cada vez estoy más convencido de que, de todas las épocas pasadas, la que más se parece a la nuestra es la de los siglos XIII y XIV, aunque cosas como el proyecto del gobierno egipcio para unificar en 2010 la llamada a la oración (الأذان) no habrían sucedido entonces. La Hartley Film Foundation, por cierto, se ha propuesto documentar y rendir tributo a esta tradición antes de que desaparezca, con un documental titulado Voices and Faces of the Adhan: Cairo.

[Actualización del 01.12.2009:] La prohibición se aprueba por un 57,5% de votos a favor y en 22 de los 26 cantones suizos.

Of 150 mosques or prayer rooms in Switzerland, only 4 have minarets, and only 2 more minarets are planned. None conduct the call to prayer. There are about 400,000 Muslims in a population of some 7.5 million people. Close to 90 percent of Muslims in Switzerland are from Kosovo and Turkey, and most do not adhere to the codes of dress and conduct associated with conservative Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, said Manon Schick, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International in Switzerland.

---Nick Cumming-Bruce y Steven Erlanger, "Swiss Ban Building of Minarets on Mosques ", The New York Times, 29.11.2009.