4 of 10 Danish Muslims want Quran-based laws

In a  a poll conducted by Wilke for Jyllands-Posten, 11.3 percent of Danish Muslims said that the Quran should serve as the sole basis for Denmark’s laws, while an additional 26.5 percent said that the nation’s laws should be built upon a mixture of the Quran’s teachings and the Danish constitution. 

 

Just over half, 53.9 percent, said that Denmark’s laws should be solely based on its constitution. 

 

The poll results come just a week after another survey found that 77.2 percent of Danish Muslims agreed that “the Quran’s instructions should be followed completely”, a marked increase from 2006 when just 62.4 percent agreed.

 

See also: Danish Muslims more devout than in years past

 

Jens Peter Frølund Thomsen, a social studies professor at the University of Aarhus who specializes in the relationship between Danes and immigrants, said it is surprising that so many Danish Muslims think that their holy book should be part of the national legal system. 

 

“Here is an indicator that religious beliefs interfere in some political opinions and attitudes. Our secular society, in which political power and the rule of law are hailed above all else, is something that many have reservations about. It shows that democratic norms haven’t taken root amongst all immigrant groups,” Thomsen told Jyllands-Posten. 

 

Radwan Mansour, an Aarhus-based imam, said that he thinks Denmark should be ruled by a mixture of the constitution and the Quran, which he argues are not in conflict. 

 

“If this was an Islamic country, it should be the Quran. But Denmark is not an Islamic country – we don’t decide – so I think it should be both the Quran and the constitution. When it comes to justice, the sharing of resources and so on, there is a fine accordance [between the two, ed.],” he told Jyllands-Posten. 

 

The anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DF) said the poll results should show Danes that “the number of Muslims in Denmark is a problem”. 

 

“When one believes that the Quran should play an essential role in legislation and for life in society, and when one one believes – as previous polls have shown – that women of a certain age should be covered up, then one does not wish to be a part of Danish society and it is delusional to act like they were here first and it is the rest of us who came later. It is incredibly rude,” DF spokesman Martin Henriksen told Jyllands-Posten.