Denmark has renewed plans of a nationwide ban on ‘azaan’, or the Islamic call to prayer, with Morten Bodskov, the country’s immigration minister, claiming that parts of the country feel like “a suburb of Islamabad”.
Bodskov claimed that a creeping “Islamisation” was taking up public space in Denmark. He said that the call to prayer should not be heard over Danish rooftops and that it should not seem that one has ended up in Islamabad while walking through the country.
“The call to prayer should not be heard over Danish rooftops,” he told the news outlet Ritzau. “It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn’t be in any doubt whether you’ve ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark.”
Meanwhile, in some parts of the country, such as Denmark, the bylaws forbid the call to prayer being broadcast from loudspeakers because of noise limits. In fact, even the Grand Mosque of Copenhagen refrains from broadcasting the outdoor call to prayer.
This is not the first time Denmark has passed laws banning Islamic traditions. Earlier in the year, the full-face veil, or niqab, was banned in public spaces. A mandate to remove designated prayer rooms from educational institutions was also part of the legislation.
“God Has To Step Aside”
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen defended the legislation last year by saying that “democracy takes precedence” over religious expression in public.
“God has to step aside”, Frederiksen said.
Frederiksen alleged that prayer rooms at universities could be used for “social control and oppression”.
“It’s not a discussion about whether we want them or not,” Frederiksen said.
“We are actively taking a position that we don’t want them because they are used as a mechanism of oppression against girls and potentially boys as well.”
Denmark is reviewing whether a nationwide ban on the public, loudspeaker-amplified Islamic call to prayer can be enacted. Bodskov stated the government is investigating how to implement the restriction while navigating the country’s constitutional safeguards for religious freedom.
In 2023, far-right groups in Denmark burnt copies of the Quran outside the embassies of Muslim-majority nations, which triggered intense global backlash.
