The Islamic Society in Denmark is a Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 religious organisation in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 led by Ahmad Abu Laban

Ahmad Abu Laban

Ahmad Abu Laban was the leader of the organisation called the Islamic Society in Denmark and a central figure in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy....

, which has played a significant role in bringing international Muslim attention to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...

, distributing a 43-page dossier

Akkari-Laban dossier

The Akkari-Laban dossier is a 43 page document which was created by a group of Danish Muslim clerics from multiple organizations set out to present their case and ask for support in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy....

, in order to raise inform the Middle-East about the cartoons.

The organization claims that all Muslims in Denmark are members, regardless of whether or not they have declared themselves as members. (as of 2005, there are about 180,000 Muslims in Denmark). The organisation arranges weekly prayers on Fridays, which are regularly attended by over 500 people.

Ahmad Abu Laban was a persona non grata

Persona non grata

Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...

 in the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

 and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

because of his Islamist

Islamism

Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...

 views. Abu Laban died on February 1, 2007, aged 60.

Laban's likely successor, Mostafa Chendid

Mostafa Chendid

Mostafa Chendid is a Moroccan born Imam. He received Danish citizenship in 2002.Chendid, used to be a member of the Islamic Society in Denmark, where he was functioning as a spiritual tutor, and thought of as following in the footsteps Abu Laban...

, has raised considerable public controversy in Denmark due to his belief that Muslim and non-Muslim women alike should wear a veil, also claiming about five to ten percent of all men cannot control themselves when faced with unveiled women. He also stresses that the veil serves as a signal that women are "not for sale", and that it protects them against rape.

External links

• Official homepage of Islamisk Trossamfund in Danish and Arabic