Denmark is heading to open a sensitive file for the third time, with a new government examining the possibility of banning the call to prayer across the country, amid a controversy in which the right to worship overlaps with the use of public space and the population’s right to quiet, and in the wake of a strict immigration policy that Copenhagen has been pursuing for years.
According to a report by journalist Amit Avitan on the Israeli Walla website, Danish Immigration Minister Morten Bedskov announced that the government will open a new examination into the issue of banning the call of the muezzin in the country, considering that this call “has no place in Denmark,” adding that some areas in the country look “like a suburb of Islamabad.”
This move is the third attempt initiated by a minister from the Social Democratic Party to advance a move of this kind, after similar attempts in 2020 and 2025.
According to the proposed proposal, the government will discuss the balance between the constitutional protection of freedom of worship on the one hand, and the residents’ right to calm and use the public space on the other hand. The Danish Constitution provides exceptions to freedom of religion, including prohibiting anti-democratic incitement and prohibiting receiving funding from banned groups.
The report indicated that similar restrictions also exist in Germany and Britain, where broadcasting the call to prayer from mosques is subject to controls related to broadcast hours and sound level, with the aim of reducing inconvenience to non-Muslim residents.
The call to prayer, which is heard five times a day, is already subject to restrictions in some Danish cities, including Copenhagen, through noise regulations. However, according to reports, local authorities in Denmark have registered very few complaints about this issue, although the government is continuing to study the possibility of imposing a broader ban.
This step comes in the context of the tough immigration policy adopted by Mette Frederiksen’s government, which recently entered its third term. The measures taken over the past years included what are known as “ghetto” laws, which allow forcible transfer of migrants, in addition to confiscating valuable belongings from asylum seekers, and depriving asylum seekers whose applications were rejected of support.
The report pointed out that, over the years, Denmark has received a smaller number of asylum seekers than neighboring countries, even during the refugee crisis in 2015.
Between freedom of worship and the limits of public space, the issue of the call to prayer in Denmark appears to be a new title for a broader battle over immigration, identity, and the form of society that Copenhagen wants to consolidate in the next stage.
