Danish Immigration Minister: The call to prayer is not widespread in Denmark, yet we are considering banning it in public places.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Integration (Ministry of Migration): In November, the Minister sent a letter to municipalities requesting that they inform the Ministry of any specific instances of the call to prayer being broadcast. He expressed satisfaction that the municipalities were aware of only a few such instances. Read more after the announcement.
On November 10, Minister for Immigration and Integration Rasmus Stocklund sent a letter to all municipalities requesting that they inform the ministry if they were aware of specific incidents related to the call to prayer or requests for permission from municipalities to call to prayer.
78 out of 98 municipalities responded to the ministry's inquiry, representing a response rate of approximately 80%.
Three municipalities reported receiving complaints about the call to prayer or prayer being recited loudly. These same three municipalities also reported receiving requests for permits to recite the call to prayer. These municipalities are: Copenhagen Municipality, Odense Municipality, and Brøndby Municipality.
The other 75 municipalities provided information that was outside the scope of the question, or stated that they were unaware of complaints about the call to prayer in public places or requests for permission to call to prayer.
In parallel with the letter addressed to the municipalities, the ministry responded to the Immigration and Integration Committee of the Danish Parliament regarding the number of public calls to prayer for Islam known to the police in Denmark.
Minister for Immigration and Integration Rasmus Stocklund says:
“I am pleased that the feedback from the municipalities and the police indicates that the call to prayer is not widespread in the country. However, I would also like to emphasize clearly that I believe that raising the call to prayer publicly, even once, is excessive, because the call to prayer has no place in Denmark. Therefore, it is still appropriate to examine the possibility of legally banning the call to prayer in public places.”
facts
In 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Integration launched a study on the possibility of banning the call to prayer in public places based on a specific case, but the study was not completed, and the ministry resumed work on it in October 2025.
The statement has ended.
