6 June Town Hall Referenda
Should the LSESU lobby the Faith Centre to open a new prayer room for Muslim women?
Proponent: Salsabel Abuazza
What is the issue you are trying to solve?
The current female islamic prayer room is too small. The womens prayer room is much smaller than the male prayer rooms, unfortunately, the womens prayer room is so small that it gets busy and filled up really quickly to the point that during prayer times, many of the female muslim students have to wait outside the prayer room until it empties. This means being late to classes and being unable to pray alongside other students. Moreover, in comparison to UCL and KCL, the LSE prayer rooms are lacking. The LSE prayer rooms do not have any space for contemplation or reading religious texts, which is an important part of our faith. We usually have a 'sisters circle' each week (gathering where we share religious reflections and build community with each other), but we are unable to hold these sister circles in the prayer room as it is too small and we often have to hold these circles in random places on campus, whereas the male students are able to hold their 'brothers circle' in the male prayer room as they have a larger prayer room.
What is the solution?
LSESU to lobby the Faith Centre to:
- Open a new female prayer room on campus
- Ensure that the new prayer room is large and in a different part of campus
- Ensure that there is a dedicated area for reading and reflection
- Ensure that there is enough space to hold the sisters circles without impacting the use of the space for those praying individually
- Work alongside myself and the islamic society in planning this space and ensuring that it fits the needs of the Muslim women on campus
Amendments added post-Student Panel:
If a new room is sourced and meets requirements, then the old room should be opened up as an interfaith space