Swiss Islamic Central Council (CCIS)
Other names: Islamischer Zentralrat Schweiz (IZRS) / مجلس الشورى الإسلامي بسويسرا
Type: Civil society organisation
Country: Switzerland
Organisation Ideology: Salafism
Founded: October 2009
Online Resources
Official website: CCIS
47K followers
17.2K subscribers
None
2.9K followers
Overview
The Swiss Islamic Central Council was founded in 2009 with the purpose to gather support against the Swiss minaret referendum, which was accepted by 57.5% of Swiss voters. The controversial referendum was aimed at banning the building of minarets in the country - and was opposed by most politicians, Christian leaders and Islamic organisations at the time. The centre’s ideology, however, morphed into a Salafist one, and the organisation now has around 3,500 (1% of Swiss Muslims) members according to the latest information available. According to the organisation’s website, it aims to actively promote Islamic educational projects in Switzerland, breaking down prejudices against Islam among the population, and constituting an Islamic self-image based on the Quran, the authentic tradition of the prophet (Sunna) and main classical Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh). Although the theological orientation of the organisation is Sunni-Islamic, Shiites are allowed to join the organisation as long as they believe in theological coexistence.
Since its establishment, the CCIS has been through many controversies due to what was described by the media and public opinion as extremist religious views. The centre believes that men and women should not shake hands. This statement was issued by Qassim Illi, the CCIS’s spokesman when asked about the organisation’s view of what was called the “handshake affair” in 2016, when two students refused to shake hands with a school teacher.
The CCIS has also triggered controversy by inviting hate preachers to its events. Pierre Vogel, a German radical Salafi preacher, known as Abu Hamza, was invited in 2010 to speak at a conference organised by the CCIS in Berne. In 2013, the organisation invited Dr Mohamed Salah, a famous Egyptian preacher and the head of the Islamic Centre in Victoria in Texas. Salah is accused of stating in a Salafi TV channel called Huda TV that the punishment of those leaving Islam is execution.
Ties to Extremism
In 2015, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland opened criminal proceedings against Naim Cherni, the general secretary of CCIS. Cherni was accused of engaging in Jihadist propaganda for a terrorist group in Syria. According to the investigation, Cherni made two videos that included an interview with a senior member of Jaysh Al Fath (Army of Conquest) - a violent extremist group in Syria with ties to Al-Qaeda linked groups operating in Syria at the time. The videos were then published on YouTube and other social media platforms by the CCIS. In 2016, the Federal Attorney General extended the investigation into Qassim Illi and Nicolas Blancho (Abu Ammar) - the president of the organisation. However, in 2018, both were acquitted while Cherni was given a suspended prison sentence of 20 months for illicit propaganda for Al Qaeda and related organisations.
In 2016, the CCIS was again linked to terrorism activities and extremism. Naif Al Mutairi, a radical preacher based in Kuwait and president of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Bern, was added to the terrorist list of the U.S. Treasury Department due to his financial support to the Al Nusra Front in Syria - an Al Qaeda offshoot. Al Mutairi’s organisation is housed at the headquarters of the Swiss Central Islamic Council. Furthemore, the secretary of the entity was Nicolas Blancho - also known as Abu Ammar, the president of CCIS. Blancho, when asked by the French speaking Swiss journal Le Temps on his ties with Al Mutairi’s organisation rejected the American decision and added that he knows personally many individuals included in the terrorism list and he knows that they are not terrorists. Blancho’s name was also linked to several suspected individuals accused of financing terrorism. The newspaper Le Temps, in an investigation on Blancho, said that he is close to Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Al Thani, the president of Qatar Charity and suspected by the U.S. of financing Al Qaeda in early 2000.
