E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Muslim students call for segregated campus prayer rooms
Muslim students are to launch a campaign to get all universities to provide proper prayer facilities. The campaign will be consolidated at the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis) conference in Nottingham this weekend following calls from Muslim students at universities and colleges around the country to get proper facilities installed. Muslims are required to pray five times a day. During the winter most would expect to pray twice during a working day and once during the summer. Fosis is calling for universities to provide proper facilities, including washrooms and a room divider to separate the men from the women.
"How'm I supposed to say my prayers with her butt in my face?"
Aisha Janjua, general secretary of Fosis, an umbrella organisation representing around 70,000 Muslim students in Islamic societies at campuses around the country, said: "One of the things that needs to be done is the research on how many universities have prayer rooms and how appropriate they are for people. Once that’s done we can work with universities and student unions towards at least a small contemplation room. A lot of universities don’t see this as a necessity. It is a necessity, praying five times a day is a necessity for Muslim students. It’s differentiating between the obligation and choice of it. A prayer room on every campus is very essential."

Andrew Nightingale, former head of the Association of University Directors of Estates, said universities are well aware of the issue and had discussed it at a conference on estate management last week. He said there was agreement that providing facilities such as prayer rooms could become an important part of a university’s remit as students become more vocal about their needs once top-up fees are introduced. "I’m not aware that there is any legal requirement for universities to provide any social or cultural facilities other than education. But a lot of universities have some facilities. Derby [University] has done a lot of work on this. It is a topic of concern. It’s something we’re becoming aware of. "A lot of universities are close to mosques anyway," he added.

At today’s conference many students reported that their universities had facilities, but in many cases these fell short of what was required. Hafida, 20, a Westminster student, said there were no prayer rooms available at her university. "I have to pray in classrooms, sometimes people come in and I have to repeat my prayers. On the other campus there is a small corridor we use." Fatima, a 19-year-old University College London student, said there was a contemplation room, mostly used by Muslim students, but nothing to separate women and men. "There’s not much competition because no one else goes. It’s a place of worship where we put up the curtain, but it is just a tiny hut." Isma, who is doing her A-levels at a sixth-form college in Redditch, said she goes home twice a day to pray. "There aren’t a majority of people asking for the facilities so we won’t get them."

Fosis is holding its four-day conference at Nottingham University, exploring areas of student life. Up to 750 students are expected to attend today. Hasan Patel, one of the conference organisers and a former executive officer at the National Union of Students, said Fosis was trying to move towards issues more specific to Muslim students on campuses in Britain - Islamaphobia, education funding and widening participation - and away from international debates.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-06-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=35799