When Space Is to Be Shared

Abstract

Shiʿa Muslims constitute 10–15% of Danish Muslims, but until recently they lacked public visibility. Within the last decade, the number of Shiʿa mosques and other places of worship in Denmark has doubled, but the change in terms of the group’s public presence is even more significant than this. This article compares Denmark’s leading Shiʿa organisation with its Sunni counterpart in terms of the physical presence of places of worship and participation in public life. It discusses based on the concept of public religion (Casanova 1994) how Shiʿa Muslims have become the most visible representative of Islam in Denmark due to a mix of factors.