(Swiss Info) Claims that international Islamist movements exert significant influence over mosques and Muslim communities in Switzerland are exaggerated, a study has found.
While international networks and money from places like Saudi Arabia or Qatar help in the setting up of structures in Switzerland, such influence tends to fade as the structures become more established, according to the University of Fribourg.
The study looked at the influence of groups and movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, Wahhabism, Tablighi Jamaat, and Lebanon-based Al-Ahbash on seven Muslim communities in Lausanne, Zurich, Basel, Bern and Delémont.
While the authors found that all the Swiss communities which they researched had some kind of a link to transnational groups, the extent was varied, and foreign influence in general has declined over the past years.
