Muslim students at the Technological University (TU) Dublin’s Grangegorman campus have complained there is no prayer room suitable for their needs there.
Supported by the TU Dublin Students Union, the Islamic Society at the campus has claimed Muslim students “are forced to pray anywhere around campus (corridors, empty classrooms, outside on the grass, etc ...)”.
The society said “an interfaith room/quiet space is not enough to facilitate Muslim students’ needs/requirements for performing obligatory daily prayers”.
The Islamic Society said currently in TU Dublin (spread across five major campuses), “virtually none of the interfaith ‘quiet spaces’ are suitable for Muslim students”.
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It notes Muslim students’ requirements for worship included practising daily prayers that “can be difficult in an interfaith room since Muslims have allocated times for each prayer. This can be disturbing for those of other faith who may be meditating, reflecting or performing their own personal prayers”.
It was also the case that “Friday prayers are performed in congregation with aloud recitations [and the issue of noise].”
The society said it believed “it’s a right for Muslim students to have a prayer room seeing how other universities do – for instance, UCD, RCSI, NUIG etc.”
What was required included an “appropriate ablution area/washing facilities with separate ablution area required for men and women. This is needed for a ritual washing just before every prayer,” the society said, as well as “a separation barrier/curtain to divide men and women”.
Muslim students would also require separate rugs/carpets for men and women, and it was “required for a Muslim to pray on a clean surface area with a shoe-free zone”.
Islamic Society members and Muslim students “all across campus express frustration at the lack of facilities in Grangegorman. A prayer room is something all Muslims expect to have in universities, to not have that here is an absolute disappointment”, the society said.
Brian Jordan, president of TU Dublin Students Union, said: “for literal years, active members of the Islam Society in TU Dublin have been asking for a few basic things. They just want rugs, dividers, and appropriate feet-washing facilities. This could be done at a minimal cost to the university,” he said.
A spokeswoman for TU Dublin said it was “proud of its diverse student population and continues to support all our students by providing a quiet room on each campus for prayer and reflection”.
“Unfortunately, the current space on the Grangegorman campus requires renovations, and the age of the building has made building works more complex.
“Over the last few months, we have engaged with the Islamic Society weekly and made some improvements to the space over the summer; however, the temporary solutions did not meet the Islamic Society’s requirements. We regret any upset the delay to building works has on any of our students and will continue to work with the Islamic Society to look for solutions.”
