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The Organisation of Prayer Rooms in Educational Institutions in Denmark : Moderate Secularism Between Perception and Practice

Bobrowicz, Ryszard LU orcid and Saggau, Emil Bjørn Hilton LU (2022) In Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 35(2). p.96-110
Abstract
In 2017, the Danish parliament discussed prayer rooms at educational institutions in a broadly publicised controversy. The debate followed a series of issues arising from such institutions’ changing demography, resulting in increased Muslim presence. Beneath the public and parliamentary debate in 2017, civil servants in ministries and educational institutions became highly engaged in negotiating what a prayer room is, on what legal grounds it could be established, and how local institutions should deal with it. Based on the data collected by the ministries, this paper provides an overview of the prayer rooms at educational institutions in Denmark and civil servants’ approaches to these rooms. It points out that prayer rooms in Denmark are... (More)
In 2017, the Danish parliament discussed prayer rooms at educational institutions in a broadly publicised controversy. The debate followed a series of issues arising from such institutions’ changing demography, resulting in increased Muslim presence. Beneath the public and parliamentary debate in 2017, civil servants in ministries and educational institutions became highly engaged in negotiating what a prayer room is, on what legal grounds it could be established, and how local institutions should deal with it. Based on the data collected by the ministries, this paper provides an overview of the prayer rooms at educational institutions in Denmark and civil servants’ approaches to these rooms. It points out that prayer rooms in Denmark are mainly established and used by Christian youth organisations and not Muslims, in contrast to the general opinion. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Prayer Rooms, Denmark, Civil Servants, Higher Education, Islam
in
Nordic Journal of Religion and Society
volume
35
issue
2
pages
15 pages
publisher
Akademika forlag
ISSN
0809-7291
DOI
10.18261/njrs.35.2.3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c22df3fe-8aa3-4313-8d00-c8756ba32c9f
date added to LUP
2022-10-11 13:10:59
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:45:12
@article{c22df3fe-8aa3-4313-8d00-c8756ba32c9f,
  abstract     = {{In 2017, the Danish parliament discussed prayer rooms at educational institutions in a broadly publicised controversy. The debate followed a series of issues arising from such institutions’ changing demography, resulting in increased Muslim presence. Beneath the public and parliamentary debate in 2017, civil servants in ministries and educational institutions became highly engaged in negotiating what a prayer room is, on what legal grounds it could be established, and how local institutions should deal with it. Based on the data collected by the ministries, this paper provides an overview of the prayer rooms at educational institutions in Denmark and civil servants’ approaches to these rooms. It points out that prayer rooms in Denmark are mainly established and used by Christian youth organisations and not Muslims, in contrast to the general opinion.}},
  author       = {{Bobrowicz, Ryszard and Saggau, Emil Bjørn Hilton}},
  issn         = {{0809-7291}},
  keywords     = {{Prayer Rooms; Denmark; Civil Servants; Higher Education; Islam}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{96--110}},
  publisher    = {{Akademika forlag}},
  series       = {{Nordic Journal of Religion and Society}},
  title        = {{The Organisation of Prayer Rooms in Educational Institutions in Denmark : Moderate Secularism Between Perception and Practice}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.18261/njrs.35.2.3}},
  doi          = {{10.18261/njrs.35.2.3}},
  volume       = {{35}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}