Denmark plans to ban the call to prayer because ‘parts of the country are becoming Islamabad’

The country’s Immigration Minister Morten Bodskov has announced plans to ban the call to prayer in Denmark. He claims that parts of Denmark now feel like ‘a suburb of Islamabad (Pakistan)’ to him.

Bodskov, a member of the center-left Social Democrats, said the new government is looking into whether it is possible to create a legal framework to ban the call to prayer. “There is no place for the call to prayer in Denmark. When walking down the streets of Denmark, no one should feel like they are in a suburb of Islamabad,” the minister told the media outlet Ritzau.

Of course, the call to prayer through loudspeakers has already been banned in some areas, including the Danish capital Copenhagen, due to strict noise pollution restrictions. The Social Democrats had previously tried to implement this plan in 2020 and 2025.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's government, which took office for a third term earlier this month, is pursuing one of Europe's strictest immigration policies. Under the country's so-called "ghetto law," authorities can force immigrants living in an area to move to another location if the number of foreign residents exceeds the number of people living there.

In addition, in some cases, asylum seekers are required to deposit their jewelry and other valuables to help cover housing costs. And if someone's asylum application is rejected, they receive no financial support.

During the 2015 refugee crisis, more than a million people from the Middle East sought asylum in Europe. At the time, Denmark took in far fewer asylum seekers than neighboring countries.

Any move to ban the call to prayer could face legal challenges, according to the British Daily Telegraph. Because in this case, the government would have to take into account religious freedom on the one hand, and the rights of residents living near mosques cannot be ignored. The Danish constitution, however, guarantees the right to worship in public.