Did the public school system in Hamburg, Germany ban music lessons to avoid offending Muslims who view them to be forbidden or 'haram'? No, that's not true: The Hamburg public schools did no such thing. A German language news report has been misrepresented in social media posts. The report followed the signing of a joint statement by religious representatives and school officials against intolerance and exclusion -- a move which was prompted by some incidents of religiously motivated bullying.
The 33-second video clip appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @realMaalouf on Sept. 29, 2025. The post was captioned:
GERMANY: In Hamburg, music lessons (singing, piano, guitar) are no longer allowed in public schools because music is 'haram' in Islam, and it would be considered Islamophobia to impose them on Muslim students. Thoughts?!
This is a screenshot of the video in the post:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/realMaalouf/status/1972734678659658010.)
The text on the chyron (translated by Google) reads:
Muslims Threaten Classmates
Hamburg takes a clear line against discrimination
This news report was published by welt.de (archived here) on June 25, 2025. The screenshot below shows the German language webpage translated to English. The topic is "Bullying in Hamburg's schools". The headline, originally, "„Musikunterricht kann nicht stattfinden, weil man im Islam nicht singt"" reads:
"Music lessons cannot take place because singing is not allowed in Islam."
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from welt.de/politik/deutschland/video256303878/mobbing-in-hamburgs-schulen-musikunterricht-kann-nicht-stattfinden-weil-man-im-islam-nicht-singt.html.)
In the first 33 seconds of this video (translated by Google) the anchor says:
These are still isolated cases, but apparently so numerous that the Hamburg Education Senator is now reacting together with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious associations. The issue is assaults and discrimination, predominantly by Muslim students. For example, isolated German girls are attacked - they don't belong here - while others are prevented from attending music lessons because it is haram. These assaults will not be tolerated, not a single one, according to Senator Bekeris.
The Hamburg Catholic Schools Facebook page published a post (archived here) about the signing of the joint statement on June 18, 2025. One photo in the post (pictured below) has a text caption (translated by Google) which reads:
Religious communities take a stand
against intolerance and exclusion
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from facebook.com/share/p/17Rro45Ui9.)
The Facebook post includes the text of the joint statement (translated by Facebook):
Promote and protect Hamburg's diversity - Hamburg and its religious communities show a stance for a respectful dialogueHamburg is a city of cultural and religious diversity.From this wealth we shape the future of our city. Children and adolescents grow up together and practice with each other early in kindergarten and school. Here they get to know and appreciate each other with their peculiarities and similarities. They realize differences and practice in dialogue resolving conflicts peacefully and constructively.In Hamburg's nurseries and schools, there is no place for abuse and discrimination of any kind. Everyone who is responsible in nurseries and schools show attitude when people are abused or are pressured by others themselves. Kindergarten and school show attitude when whole groups are subjected to general suspicion due to unacceptable incidents or individuals are excluded or even defamed because of their belonging to a group.This attitude corresponds to the values shared by the religious communities and the city, and shaped daily in religious education for all. Mutual respect prohibits any kind of overbearing: no matter who, against whom and especially when coercion is practiced under the cover of supposed religious regulations. All religious communities involved speak out clearly against discrimination and extremism, no matter who they belong to. The religious communities stand for a respectful mutual understanding - with an attitude that draws clear boundaries.As cooperation partners, the religious communities work closely with the authorities in the context of school and beyond, to shape life in the Hanseatic city by holding a dialogue. This is how they counter discrimination and radicalization. In religious education for all, students learn together, completely regardless of their religious and secular background. They recognize similarities, explore differences, and practice appreciative interaction with cultural and religious diversity. This is how mutual understanding and respectful cooperation are created, which ensure cohesion in our city.
