Political Attacks on the Islamic Prayer and Closure of University Prayer Rooms in Denmark Are a Blatant Attack on Islam

News:

The University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark have shut down "quiet rooms," primarily used by Muslim students for prayer, following political pressure from the Danish government. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has falsely claimed that prayer rooms in educational institutions lead to “negative social control," “religious pressure,” and “oppression.” The former Minister for Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek called prayer rooms “a space for an old-fashioned culture, which has very little to do with the way Denmark functions today.”

Comment:

The decision by university managements to close prayer rooms is not a neutral administrative matter but a direct result of an anti-Islamic political campaign. By targeting the very spaces used for Salah (prayer)—a fundamental pillar of Islam—the Danish government is escalating its systemic effort to restrict Muslims' rights and push Islamic practice out of the public sphere, while turning universities into an arena for policies of forceful assimilation.

It is not the physical rooms in university campuses, but rather the fact that Muslims students have—for years and without cause for issues—been using these rooms for Salah that has now caused both government and opposition to launch political campaigns against the act of prayer itself, with terms such as “oppression,” “negative social control,” and “old-fashioned” being flung left, right, and center.

This attack follows the same logic as the Niqab Ban and other discriminatory measures. It is a clear test of boundaries: if Muslims fail to offer strong, collective opposition, these infringements will become permanent, paving the way for further prohibitions.

Muslims must recognize this as a shared issue, not just one for students. Our response must be unified, public, and based solely on the values of Islam, rejecting hypocritical appeals to secular "religious freedom" which are fundamentally incompatible with our Islam, and which did not prevent current or previous discriminatory measures against Muslims.

The prayer is a red line; when it is touched, we must stand firm.

Once again, a Western government makes clear its enmity towards Islam and Muslims and highlights its own ideological weakness and the fragility of its supposed “freedoms,” when the prayer of Muslim students is considered a social threat to be combatted with discriminatory measures on a purely anti-Islamic basis. Meanwhile, the universities in question have chosen to bow to political pressure and become instruments of discrimination and assimilation while claiming to champion “free thought.”

To the Muslim youth everywhere: Islam is under attack. Do not compromise your pure Islamic identity. Place your trust in Allah (swt) and guard your values and Islamic practices through unity and resistance against every attempt to wrestle them from you.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Elias Lamrabet