"We assess that Ibn Rushd does not have the prerequisites to manage and develop the activities in accordance with the state's purposes with the grant", says Inger Ashing, the chairman of the board of the Swedish Folk High School Council, in a press release.
Ibn Rushd is the smallest of the country's study associations with approximately 6,000 members.
"Difficult to run activities"
"There are high demands on the study associations and it is difficult to run an activity with high quality throughout the country if the organization is too small", says Morgan Öberg, unit manager at the Swedish Folk High School Council, in a comment.
Ibn Rushd has previously been criticized, among other things, for having linked to websites with texts stating that homosexuality is prohibited and that corporal punishment is permitted under certain circumstances.
Ibn Rushd writes in a press release that the association becomes another in a row of Swedish Muslim organizations that are being defunded or shut down.
"This decision is a blow to Swedish Muslim folk high school education and to Swedish democracy", writes Ibn Rushd in the press release.
Previously criticized
Several municipalities and regions have previously chosen to stop supporting the study association after an investigation by the Swedish Folk High School Council in December last year. The Swedish Folk High School Council then demanded that Ibn Rushd repay 146,900 kronor in state grants, which was done.
In June, the cultural committee in Region Skåne decided to deny support to Ibn Rushd for 2024, citing that they had linked to sources with "homophobic, misogynistic and antidemocratic content".
Ibn Rushd is a Swedish study association founded in 2001 on the initiative of the Islamic Association in Sweden. A large part of the activities are conducted within the subject areas of Arabic language and religious studies, primarily Islam.
Since 2008, the association has received state grants through the Swedish Folk High School Council. In 2022, the grant amounted to around 29 million kronor. In 2024, the funds are estimated to amount to approximately 25 million.
The study association also receives grants to its local districts through municipalities and regions.
