Prayer ban sparks legal dispute in Berlin: Muslim students take school to court

A high school in Berlin has been taken to court after allegedly banning Muslim students from performing prayers on school premises, according to The European Conservative.

The Civil Rights Association (GFF) filed a lawsuit on October 16 under Berlin’s State Anti-Discrimination Act, challenging the school’s internal regulation that prohibits “conspicuous religious practices” in order to “maintain school peace.”

The GFF argues that the policy disproportionately affects Muslim students. The organization’s legal expert Soraia Da Costa Batista stated:

“If Muslim students are forced to hide in toilets or behind bushes to pray out of fear of punishment, this represents a serious infringement on fundamental rights.”

The school principal, speaking to Tagesspiegel, defended the regulation, claiming that designated prayer areas had “disrupted order” within the school.

According to research by education expert Margit Stein, one-third of schools in Berlin experience tensions related to religious practices and worship.

The lawsuit comes shortly after the German state of Schleswig-Holstein granted Muslim students two official holidays for Ramadan Bayram (Eid al-Fitr) and Kurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha), and began preparations to introduce Islamic religious education in schools.