The Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has sent a campaign letter to Muslim upper secondary students in Denmark, drawing criticism from school leaders, student representatives and the integration minister on August 8, 2026.
DR reports that the group has launched a new campaign aimed at Muslim gymnasium students. The letter carries the slogan telling students to stand firm in their Islamic identity and wear it with pride. It tells new students that many will meet a youth environment where behavior, norms and a lifestyle incompatible with Islam are presented as natural or desirable.
Minister for Immigration and Integration Morten Bødskov of the Social Democrats is deeply concerned about the campaign, according to separate reporting by DR. The campaign is directed at students starting the new school year at Danish gymnasiums.
School leaders reject the message
Henrik Vestergaard Stokholm, rector of Mulernes Legatskole in Odense, said the message has no place in Danish schools. He told DR that many Muslim students attend his school. He said he fears that media attention gives a platform to people who should not have one, but that rectors and politicians must still distance themselves clearly.
Per Stokholm, the Danish school system rests on egalitarian values and a view of humanity that does not match what he read in the letter. Allan Kortnum, chair of Danske Erhvervsskoler og -Gymnasier, said the campaign runs fundamentally against everything Danish school culture and the gymnasium stand for. He named freedom, open-mindedness, personal empowerment and democratic education as the values at stake, and said such approaches cannot be accepted.
Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, chair of Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning, said he sees no contradiction between being a believing student and taking part in gymnasium culture. Asked whether some students may feel pressure from a culture of drinking and parties, he said this is not a uniquely Muslim experience. In his experience, most places leave room to opt out and to be who one wants to be.
Hizb ut-Tahrir responds in writing
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s media representative Elias Lambaret declined a recorded interview, but answered written questions from DR. Asked whether the group opposes the stated aims of the gymnasium, including intellectual freedom, equality and gender equality, he rejected the premise.
According to Lambaret, the gymnasiums have joined what he called an anti-Islam political wagon. He said ordinary Islamic behavior and opinions are treated with suspicion at education institutions under what he described as thin, politicized cover terms such as social control and radicalization.
DR’s report notes that the campaign is directed at students entering the gymnasium now. No separate non-DR outlet had reported on the campaign at the time of publication.
