00:00Welcome to the Central Media Office of Hizb al-Tahrir's English Podcast.
00:04O Muslims, closing prayer rooms is an attack on Islam and must be confronted with strong
00:08collective political resistance. After a negative political focus on prayer rooms,
00:13the administration of the University of Copenhagen decided at the end of November
00:17to close the so-called choir rooms, which Muslims had used for more than 20 years
00:23without any problems by students and staff to perform the daily prayers.
00:27This decision once again sparked a debate about these rooms and about whether there should be
00:33space for Muslims to perform their prayers in educational institutions.
00:37Earlier this year, the University of Southern Denmark in Odense closed its contemplation room
00:43following a controversy over the fact that the room was used primarily by Muslims and was no longer
00:49considered neutral. These decisions issued by university administrations are without any doubt
00:55the result of anti-Islamic political pressure that has intensified in recent years specifically
01:01regarding prayer rooms. This pressure has been exerted by prominent political actors,
01:06including the Prime Minister, through false claims alleging that these rooms have been exploited to
01:11practice oppression against Muslim girls and what is referred to as social control. The Prime Minister,
01:18Met Fredrickson, exploited Constitution Day in the summer to exercise a form of value-based authoritarianism
01:26and coercive surveillance against Muslims. She stated to the Ritzau News Agency on June 5th that the
01:35existence of prayer rooms in a number of educational institutions is, quote, highly problematic,
01:41arguing that students must be, quote, free from religious pressure. She added, quote,
01:46this cannot be achieved if, for example, there is a prayer room for Muslims from which social control
01:51and repression emanate within educational institutions, end quote. At the same time,
01:57she announced that the ministers of schools and education must clarify through dialogue with
02:02universities that prayer rooms should not exist in educational institutions. In addition to this,
02:08the Prime Minister sought to expand the face-veil ban issued in 2018 to also include educational
02:15institutions. If there remained any doubt about what the political attack on prayer rooms is targeting,
02:20the former Minister for Integration, Kjer Debvedbeck, clarified it in his statement to the Danish
02:28Broadcast Corporation, DR, in the wake of the closure of the room at the University of Southern Denmark,
02:35when he said that prayer rooms, quote, create a space for an old-fashioned culture that has nothing to do
02:41with how Danish society functions today. In the shadow of such demonizing statements issued from
02:47the highest political levels in the country and the subsequent, quote, dialogue with state institutions,
02:52the university administrations in Odense and Copenhagen found themselves compelled to trample on
02:58their own dignity as well as on the values of inclusivity in diversity they claim to uphold,
03:05transforming into extended executive arms of the government in its political crusade
03:10against Islamic identity and values. O Muslims, the closure of prayer rooms in universities is
03:16neither incidental nor a purely administrative matter. Rather, it is part of a political trajectory
03:22based on the systemic restriction of Muslim rights and constitutes an attack on Islam in the public
03:28sphere. For years, our Islamic values and practices have been questioned, portrayed as a problem,
03:34and made targets of discriminatory laws and hate speech. Today, the turn has come for prayer,
03:41one of the pillars of Islam which admits no compromise.
03:45It is necessary to emphasize here that this issue does not concern Muslim students alone,
03:51nor does it represent a struggle that they are expected to face on their own.
03:55The closure of prayer rooms follows the same political logic that stands behind the imam law,
04:00the face veil ban, proposals to ban the hijab in primary schools, and other discriminatory measures
04:06directed against Muslims in Denmark. It is a fully exposed strategy. Our limits are tested,
04:13our pulse is measured, and trial balloons are launched. If these measures are not met with a
04:19clear and firm response, they become permanent and politicians move forward toward the next ban or
04:25coercive step. We are facing a gradual and increasingly explicit constriction of Muslims'
04:31ability to live according to their values. At the same time, a troubling culture of negativities
04:36forming in society toward Muslims. Practice of their rituals, foremost among them, prayer,
04:41a reality that has already become tangible, for example, in the labor market.
04:47O Muslims, how should our response be to systemic attempts to suffocate our Islamic identity?
04:52As Muslims, we have red lines that must be protected and must not be violated. Prayer is one of these
04:58red lines. And when it is violated, this requires a clear collective and public response based on
05:04condemnation, confrontation, and protest. The mosque of the Muslims, their organizations,
05:09and their public voices must realize that they bear a special responsibility to express a strong and
05:15clear position when the fundamental rules and values of Islamic life are attacked. If we do not move
05:21as a collective, when even prayer becomes subject to questioning and criminalization, then when?
05:28It is also important to remind that these values and rulings of Islam cannot and must not be defended
05:33by relying on false secular ideals such as, quote, freedom of religion or so-called liberal values,
05:39which are fundamentally incompatible with Islam. We must also keep in mind that the hypocritical
05:45attempts by politicians and other power holders to restrict our commitment to Islam are nothing but
05:51an expression of moral bankruptcy and a deep intolerance toward Islam and Muslims. Therefore,
05:57we must proceed exclusively from Islam as the foundation of our identity and likewise as the
06:03basis for our political action and engagement with society. And to the young generation of Muslims in
06:08particular, we address a clear message. Hold fast to your pure Islam and never feel that you must apologize
06:15for any part of it. Do not compromise your identity no matter the challenges you face. Protect your
06:21values and your commitment to Islam by strengthening your connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through
06:26unity and cohesion and by resisting every attempt to strip you of your deen. Place Islam above everything
06:32and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will grant you success and triumph in this world and in the hereafter.
06:37He has named you Muslims before and in this so that the messenger may be a witness over you and you may be
07:04witnesses over the people. So establish prayer and give zakah and hold fast to Allah. He is your protector
07:10and excellent is the protector and excellent is the helper. Al-Hajj 78, Hizb al-Tahrir, Denmark.
Comments