BERLIN: A German court ruled on Wednesday that a Muslim student in Berlin cannot pray in the corridor of his high school even outside lesson time as it would disrupt the school.
Germany's Federal Administrative Court said in a statement its ruling applied only to this particular instance and took into account special circumstances at the school.
German media reported there were pupils belonging to five different faiths and different branches of Islam, which had caused tension in the past.
"The court has decided that...performing the prayer rite in the school corridor could exacerbate a threat which already exists to the peace of the school community," the court said, adding the school was not able to organise a separate room for prayer. "
By (peace of the school community) we mean an environment which is free of conflict and... which allows lessons to take place in an orderly manner."
The court noted conflict had broken out among Muslim students themselves after accusations that the student's prayer ritual was not in accordance with a particular teaching of the Quran.
The case dates back to 2007 when the student along with some of his peers organised a prayer session one break time in the school corridor. The students kneeled on their jackets and recited prayers.
COMMENTS (42)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1679721526-0/17-Lede-(1)1679721526-0-165x106.webp)
1679806143-0/image-(21)1679806143-0-165x106.webp)
1679721526-0/17-Lede-(1)1679721526-0-270x192.webp)
@G. Din: This is a new trend on ET, where by the trolls have started abusing others usernames !!!! There is no point in complaining as the mods obviously are reluctant to act !!!
@ashok sai: You certainly are not the "ashok sai" I know. Because you were convinced that no one would give you a second look on your own merits, you committed an identity theft. Reading your comments shows why you had to steal someone's identity just to be heard. Shame!
The Germans say in their colloquial language, "You can leave your Church in the village," because the majority is alienated from their religion. Germany is not a secular country, rather it is a human secular country and there is absolutely no place for any religious beliefs in educational institutes.
The Muslims are the biggest minority in this city and have all the freedom to practice their religion. The fact that Berlin has almost 80 mosques, which emerged in the span of last 30 years, is a solid proof of a healthy democracy, human rights and religion tolerance!
By the way I live in this city!
@V Thank u brother for amking palestine a problem and distrpying mosques and ripping holy quran in iraq and afghanistan and and we cant build a church or temple in saudi arabia becaus its forbiden by god of Abraham, Mohammad, moses, jesus u can read quran for that. and there are christian and others lived in muslim world from pakistan to moroco.
Thank you my dear Muslim brothers for building so many churches/temples/synagogues for all of us in Saudi Arabia and also in many parts of the muslim world. You are true torch bearers of God. If not for your secularism, we would have lost our religious roots long ago!
@Aryabhat: Certainly they will not object and will move out of the way.
Five different sects of Muslim students conflicting over the rituals of prayer? This is ignorance personified by the students themselves. Since they do not have to pray immediately in the school corridors but can offer prayers in a room away from the main school body, is the way not to make an exhibition of your religion. This only creates tensions and furore where there should be none. The wiser aspect will be to merge with the student body and pray without losing touch with the ongoing student relations. Obviously the mulla taught them otherwise.
Have a nice day and enjoy the sunshine
Would any school in Pakistan allow christans, hindus,ahmadis or any other religion to block the corridors for prayers. NO ONE I am sure. So be cool about the judgement.
So much for free West.
This i think is the real cause. If there is no proper place to pray, then students will try to create their own. This could be easily resolved by simply creating a small place to pray...
we fight here in pakistan i think we should ban here also if no one is interested in commenting the right way. why there hundred kinds of muslims?
@antanu g: so much for a face of progressive…liberal democracy. if it was inconvinient it could have provided another option
Another option has been provided: it's called your home and your mosque.
Islamophobia. The whole world is against Muslims.
@Syed: @Asad:
Actually most schools and universities around here have designated rooms for prayers. If not for other religions (as they do not have to pray 5 times a day like us) there are marked rooms 'Muslim prayer room' and at times they are considerate enough to the extent to make it separate for gents and ladies, especially in universities.
The real truth right now is that we have Islam, but they have the practice.
Allah says that he rewards all good deeds. So if they are practicing it, even if they don't call themselves Muslim, Allah's justice system rewards them and we are being punished and rightly so
@Asad: "Who says minorities have great rights in the West? This case is an eye opener into the islamophobic western society. Why should praying cause any disruption to peace in the school?"
Please read the article. It is pretty clear why praying caused disruption.It was some Muslim boys who complained that the prayer was not being performed in the correct way. The school does not have the ability to monitor and ensure the 'correct way' prayers are being performed.
The article also makes it clear that there is not a general ban on praying in schools but in this specific school where 2 groups of Muslim students were fighting with each other about the correct way to pray@antanu g: "so much for a face of progressive…liberal democracy. if it was inconvinient it could have provided another option…i believe the school must be having a church".
Did you read the article? When some boys were praying the people who complained were other Muslim boys who said that the prayer was not being performed correctly. It wasn't other Christians or Jews who complained.
Secondly, it is not the duty of a school to provide places for people to pray. Nowhere in the world is this done.
@ashok sai: Hi ! Its not me , here ! Its an Idiot who has decided to start using my name and Mods at ET have decided that its OK !!!! I live in Europe and this sort issues are rising everywhere in EU ! Hence i have decided not to comment anymore ! sorry about this, but its not my view !
@Ali Tanoli: Freedom of reliegen in Europe …….
What the Muslim students engaged in is was a combative display of political Islam.
@Asad:
"Who says minorities have great rights in the West? This case is an eye opener into the islamophobic western society. Why should praying cause any disruption to peace in the school? Shame on the court of Germany!"
If one wants to be so orthodox, why not remain in their own native countries and practice their religion and culture the way they want? Why impose your values and religious practices on the host countries and try to force them to make changes for you? If one can't adapt to the ways and culture of the host countries, why go there in the first place?
Let's be truthful here. While you badmouth the West, isn't it a fact that 99% of Pakistanis and citizen of other Muslim countries will catch the next flight out if given residency in western countries? So, why the hypocrisy?
On the other side of the coin, do any of the Muslim countries allow public display of religions other than Islam? In Saudi Arabia one is not allowed to pray even in their own private homes. All books, symbols and artifacts of other religions are confiscated at the airport itself.
@Hedgefunder: "It is not a muslim country !! period ! don’t like it, than leave !!! This newspaper is Pakistani and most news relate to Pakistan, period. If you don't like Pakistan or Pakistanis, then leave. Trust me you won't be missed!!!
School is for learning and hallway corridors are for walking to and from class.
Germans are so wrong on this issue!!! If the students want to pray, they should be allowed!!! Everybody has a right to pray!!!
That's the reason why muslims are bashed all over the world
It is not a muslim country !! period ! don't like it, than leave !!!
now issue in world islamic court- pakistan
Freedom of reliegen in Europe .......
@Asad: Please read comment by "@blahblah".
@ Asad, Nobody in his right mind would give permission to pray within school when they/we(muslims) would start fighting on how to pray. Shame on you for not seeing the reason behind it.
Most Muslims or other religious minorities in Europe are immigrants, so them asserting their foreign culture will cause friction but don't forget that all the religious minorities in Pakistan are natives.
Poor Pakistani children, Germany is part of Nato .. death to Nato, Its a grand conspiracy. Indians must be behind this, Death to India, Death to KFC, Death to McDonalds
Who says minorities have great rights in the West? This case is an eye opener into the islamophobic western society. Why should praying cause any disruption to peace in the school? Shame on the court of Germany!
Muslims dont pray in corridors in Muslims countries, so why did he pray in a corridor? Couldn't he find an empty room? This seem less about human rights and more about stupidity. Maybe someone told him that praying in a corridor would turn other kids muslim.
so much for a face of progressive...liberal democracy. if it was inconvinient it could have provided another option...i believe the school must be having a church.
dear sir
this is a european school. not a madrassa. Standards need to be maintained.
The hate-West campaign will start again.
lets be realistic here. Are pakistani boys and girls allowed to pray in their school cooridors in pakistan? a corridor is a place which is frequently visited by all students, would you really want to offer your prayers there? it was a wrong decision to choose the school cooridor in the first place. so really this news is another attempt to sensationalize a weak story in the name of religion.
In this case it is obvious that it was Muslim students who were responsible for this outcome.
However, bigger issue is - Would Pakistan allow Christians and Hindus to pray in the school corridor?
Correct judgement... He want to pray find a out of the way place like all religions do. This is political prayers
As long as we don't treat religion as something that is really personal, such issues are bound to come up and disturb the peace of the society.
Now, who is to be blamed here?? German court or the Muslim students?