Doing Ablution.. A Question!

[pak-one]

@BarbieCue

For men, its easy, its just a matter of being confident.

For women, its different. I can’t do wudu in a public toilet even if I’m all alone coz I have to take my hijab off and pull my sleeves up and anyone could walk in… I know only women would be around me but still… I wouldn’t like that…

My problem is that I have long hours in college, i’m in college from 8 am to 6 pm nearly everyday which means I have to say 4 out of 5 prayers in college.

So I arranged an appointment with the Chaplain of the college and asked him whether a room could be arranged for muslim students in college where they could go n pray (there’s only about 10 or so muslim students in my college, and not all of them are paki)… he talked to the buildings manager and he refused to give us a separate room saying that if we give u a room, tomorrow another group of students belonging to a different religion will demand one. And I agreed, he was right.

There’s a mini church in college. The buildings manager said we could use the same room! I felt awkward at first but then I thought, something is better than nothing, Allah swt knows all intentions, our prayers will Inshallah be accepted if said in that room/mini church too. The good thing was that the direction of the kaaba was in the opposite direction to where the statues of Jesus/cross etc were placed.

The next problem was where to do wudu… they didn’t think it would be a good idea to use bathrooms in college coz they’re always so busy… so then he ordered a small sink especially for us, got it installed in one corner in the room, placed towels there for us n everything

This was a favour I’ll always remember… there he was a Catholic Priest organising praying facilities for muslim students! May Allah reward him for that.

So yeah, u just gotta talk to people and if they’ve got some sense, they’l try their best to help u.

Terrific story, Sis. When there is a will, there is a way. Many times, people from other religions will come to assist when things look bleak. I am glad to hear that things worked out and remember that you did a great thing by helping all current and future Muslim students by creating this space.

It’s really about creating greater awareness on the campus/office. I am not saying that we should have extra rights/protections, just let us do our Wudus and Salaats in peace.

I travel a lot but Ma’shallah usually see a few Muslims praying at airport terminals and chapels all around the world. All I need to do is go and up and say my salaams and ask them if they are praying the right prayer (“doing maghrib prayers, brothers?”) and that’s it.

:k: