MCgill’s muslim students pray in stairwell

Temporary prayer space inadequate, student group says

JESSE ROSENFELD THE MCGILL DAILY (MCGILL UNIVERSITY)

MONTREAL (CUP) — Muslim students at McGill University are beginning yet another year without a campus prayer space, creating a feeling of exclusion and loss of community for some, says the school’s Muslim Students’ Association.

“Without a prayer space . . . many students are having trouble practicing their religion or having a central space to meet and talk,” said Ayaz Hyder, president of the MSA. “It’s having a severe impact on the MSA carrying out its responsibilities on campus.”

Muslim students at the Montreal university are using a hallway and stairwell in the Islamic Studies library as a temporary place to pray, but Hyder described it as inadequate, citing health and safety concerns. He pointed to the space’s close proximity to the Tuesday Night Cafe theatre, where stage props pose a safety hazard.

“There is a lot of dirt and the space is quite limited, so often there will be workshop materials and props from the Tuesday Night Cafe,” said Hyder, adding that the area can get very noisy between classes.

The MSA has not had direct contact with the administration since it launched a complaint with Quebec’s Human Rights Commission over McGill’s unwillingness to provide a multi-faith prayer space that meets the MSA’s needs. Hyder expects it to take at least another year before the complaint is dealt with.

In a similar case last year, the commission ruled that Montreal’s École de technologie supérieure was required to provide students with prayer space.

The MSA was evicted from its temporary prayer space in Peterson Hall on June 1, 2005. McGill has refused to grant a multi-faith prayer space on the ground that it is a secular institution.