Imams can pass democracy course without understanding Danish

Imams seeking permission to conduct marriages outside the Church of Denmark can complete a mandatory democracy course without understanding the Danish-language teaching, DR reports.

The course covers Danish society and values. Jakob Ulriksen, a pastor at the independent Skjern Bykirke church, attended a Danish-language session in June with six newly arrived Turkish imams. He said they appeared not to understand the instruction.

“It was a strange experience to attend teaching where half the class did not understand a word of what the teacher was asking,” Ulriksen told DR News.

He said the participants with language difficulties did not take part in the discussions between the students and the instructor. Attempts to speak with them during breaks and lunch were also difficult because they had very limited English, he said.

For the past eight years, participants have been required to complete a course in family law, democracy and freedom to receive authorisation to conduct marriages within their religious communities. The teaching is offered in Danish and English and covers topics including Danish values, freedom of expression and the right to divorce.

The requirement was introduced in 2018 under the Religious Communities Act, which was intended in particular to address Islamic divorce contracts. Participants can also take a written test instead of attending the two-day course. Those who attend receive a course certificate.

Ulriksen said the course should end with an examination to establish whether participants had learned the material. Without such a test, he said, the certificate amounted to “symbolic politics”.

Church Minister Ida Auken of the Social Democrats said it was “completely wrong” that people could attend the course without understanding what was happening. She said the requirement had been introduced partly because some imams in Denmark had kept women bound by illegal contracts and did not understand that men and women have equal value in Denmark.

Auken has asked ministry officials to investigate how the courses are conducted. She said all options, including an examination, were open for consideration because no one holding authority to conduct marriages should fail to understand what is legal and illegal in Denmark.

Copenhagen University College, which provides the course, said it could not recognise Ulriksen’s description of the June session. In a written response to DR News, it said the group had brought an interpreter who had attended the course several times and knew the material and slides. The college said it understood that interpretation had been provided in writing through translated slides and explanations in a chat created for that purpose.

The college said the courses are offered in both Danish and English and that participants may bring an interpreter.