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

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.