Press Release
Proposal to Ban Prayer Rooms Once Again Exposes the Lie of Freedom and Inclusivity

Apparently, there are no limits to how far Danish politicians will go in their persecution of Muslims who wish to practice their values and identity.

Several parties in the Danish Parliament believe that a legal ban on prayer rooms in public institutions should be introduced. This includes the ruling party Venstre, as well as the Danish People's Party (DF) and the Denmark Democrats, while the Social Democrats merely suggest that the proposal should be “further refined.”

These parties have made it clear that such a ban would specifically target Muslims. The Minister for Immigration and Integration, Kaare Dybvad Bek, stated about the prayer rooms that “they create space for an outdated culture that has little to do with the way Denmark functions today or the life that young people—also those with minority backgrounds—live.” (Ritzau)

However, the Minister for Integration has not abandoned this old colonial master mentality, which fuels a callous persecution of people based on their beliefs—something that has been customary in Europe for centuries and which successive Danish governments clearly enjoy reverting to.

The pretexts for banning prayer rooms are so unserious that they hardly deserve a response. The declared purpose is discrimination against Muslims for the sake of discrimination itself—simply because one dislikes their culture.

The argument that prayer rooms should be banned because students "might feel pressured” to pray is absurd, as this logic would require banning everything that someone, in theory, could feel pressured into. Furthermore, it is based on an undocumented claim of “social control.” The reality shows the exact opposite: Muslim students are so strong-willed and dedicated to prayer that they continue to pray in institutions that have, in practice, already banned it. They do so despite pressure and coercion—not because of it.

At the same time, educational institutions promote parties filled with alcohol and other excesses, where students have openly spoken about consuming alcohol due to peer pressure. This only makes the argument about pressure or “social control” even more ridiculous. Instead of banning the opportunity to connect with one's Creator and cultivate true spiritual values, it is alcohol and vulgar party culture that should be prohibited.

In practice, there is already a de facto ban on prayer in several educational institutions in Denmark, despite this contradicting the supposed principle of religious freedom. High schools with a significant number of Muslim students have banned prayer, and several universities with many Muslim students have also excluded prayer rooms.

It is the ultimate failure of democracy and secularism—both of which were supposed to guarantee inclusivity, tolerance, and diversity—that something as private as prayer and Muslim students’ need to engage in this beautiful form of worship cannot be accommodated.

However, Muslims will absolutely not stop praying at their educational institutions due to the tyranny of thought imposed by Christiansborg. It is simply impossible to enforce secularization onto Muslims’ mindset and behavior through bans.

Changing people’s values requires persuasive arguments—and the more draconian bans politicians introduce, the more they themselves provide arguments for the fundamental inadequacy and contradictions of liberalism.

Hizb ut Tahrir / Denmark strongly condemns the totalitarian prohibition policies of the parliamentary parties. At the same time, we urge all Muslims to stand proudly by their Islamic values and never compromise on prayer, which is one of Islam’s immutable pillars.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Denmark