DAR AL HARB - U.K.: MOSLEMS FEEL HUMILIATED, WILL THEY BLOW THEMSELVES UP TO TAKE REVENGE UPON INFIDELS?

Praying Under the Stairs

Being forced to pray in hallways because of the lack of facilities in university is ‘humiliating’ says Islamic Society President

Muslim students have claimed that they frequently feel humiliated and under stress because the University does not provide adequate prayer facilities.

Cardiff University Islamic Society is calling on the University to install new prayer rooms on campus, denouncing the current provisions as a ‘disgrace’.

The number of Muslim students at Cardiff University is estimated to be in the thousands, but the Cathays campus prayer room has a maximum capacity of only four people.

Last year, Cardiff rated second to last for prayer facilities in the International Student Barometer, a survey of international students in 30 top UK universities, letting down its otherwise outstanding performance.

Muslims must pray five times a day, and up to three of these can fall during lecture hours.
Students claim that their studies are being disrupted due to the lack of designated rooms in University buildings.

Up to 50 students trek to the converted shower room in the basement of the Bioscience building each day, where they often find the room full and have to pray in hallways or stairwells.

Alternatively, students can go to the nearest mosque, which is a half hour walk away for some, but the time this takes can force them to miss lectures or lunch.

A room is available on the Heath Park Campus for students to share with doctors and patients, but this is too far away to benefit those based in Cathays.

Muslims must wash their face, hands and feet before prayer, and worshippers must be segregated along gender lines.

Currently, students solve the problem of gender division by allowing women to pray inside the room while men pray outside in the hallway. Men who arrive after prayer has begun cannot enter the room to use the washing facilities until all women have vacated it, meaning they must use the men’s toilets.

“We do get funny looks when we take off our shoes and socks and try to wash our feet in the basins,” Islamic society president Mohsin Malik said.

“If people walk past while we’re praying in the hall they are generally quite surprised. It breaks our concentration and can be quite humiliating.”

It is obligatory for all male Muslims to attend Friday prayers, meaning that hundreds of students would use a facility available specifically for this purpose.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Praying Under the Stairs

2) Cardiff University