The Muslim Student Association, in conjunction with the University, is in the process of designating a prayer room on campus for students of all faiths.
Evelyn Reiman, the associate vice chancellor for student affairs, said students already have the ability to pray in a room in the Talley Student Center, but as indicated by students, the Talley location is inconvenient and not always available.
She said her goal is to come up with a new location by the end of this semester and she has already spoken with the library director who has “committed to talk to her staff” and will not only look into their current facilities but renovation space in the library as well.
Sara Yasin, a junior in textile and apparel management and former board member of the MSA, said that many Muslim students commute and the library is a central location where a lot of them “hang out” between classes.
“To put it in perspective, to pray it doesn’t take that long, but if you only have 20 minutes between class and all your classes are in the Brickyard – and a lot of commuters hang out in the library – it is hard to walk all the way to Talley to pray and then come back,” she said.
Waqaar Khawar, a senior in computer science and treasurer of the MSA, said that Muslims pray five times a day and students on campus often find an isolated place to do it. Muslims have designated times during the day for each of the five prayers.
“Muslims are required to pray five times a day and as it is right now, we tend to try to find a quiet corner where we aren’t getting in anybody’s way,” he said. “The problem with that is 99 percent of the time there is no problem, but every now and then you are in someone’s way. Having a prayer room would allow Muslims some place to go to pray and wouldn’t have to worry about getting in anybody’s way.”
Yasin emphasized that praying should be done in a clean and quiet designated area instead of random places all over campus.
“There are a lot of different positions you are doing – you are physically moving when you are praying, but sometimes you might be praying in a group or by yourself,” she said. “It is definitely something that needs to be done in a quiet area and a clean area because you don’t want to put your head in the grass.”
She added that if a non-Muslim student who is unfamiliar with Muslim faith saw a student praying, they would “probably get really confused.”
The MSA is striving to have the prayer room in the library or somewhere close to the Brickyard, which are much more central locations for all students.
Amr Mohamed, a senior in electrical engineering and vice president of the MSA, said the demand for a new prayer room is high and will become even greater because the Muslim population on campus is growing.
“It would be a lot nicer if we could have something closer – there [will] definitely be a higher demand for it once it is closer to main campus,” he said.
He added that praying is a lifestyle for Muslims and it is an “integral” and “daily” part of their lives.
Reiman indicated that the new prayer room will conform to the requests of the MSA but in the long-run significant University renovations could include a prayer or reflection area “not only for Muslim students, but for other students too.”
“It is really important for us to support all members of the University community,” she said. “As students bring concerns and issues to our attention, it is really import to me that we understand fully the nature of concern and work collaboratively with those students to come up with a response that everyone can feel good about.”
