Free Republic

The University of Regina is going to great lengths to help its Muslim students avoid doing the same when washing for on-campus prayer sessions. The university has installed “foot-baths” in a public washroom at its Riddell Centre, in order to allow Muslim students — many of whom pray numerous times a day, and wash themselves beforehand — to clean their feet in a way that isn’t awkward and difficult through a use of regular sinks. “I’ve seen them do it. It’s tough for them,” Nathan Sgrazzutti, president of the U of R Students Union, said on Tuesday of the troubles...

In Boston, one university has taken steps to help Muslim students maintain an important ritual: bathing before prayer ... Across the country a number of universities, including the University of Michigan in Dearborn and George Washington University in Washington D.C., have installed foot baths. So have two airports, the Indianapolis Airport and KCI Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. In each case the move came with some degree of resistance. ... Some of the foot baths in other states were built using public funds. The American Civil Liberties Union generally objects to public money being used for religious structures.But they don't...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – On the day Muslims around the world began to celebrate Eid al-Adha, Fatuma Mohamed was at the Mall of America (MOA), far away from where she would normally say her prayers. But she and other Muslims needed to take time from the activities of the mall and find a quiet area to pray as Muslims do during the festival that commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his only son for God. “I said my prayer right at that corner,” Mohamed said, pointing to the spot. Another Muslim, Amran Ali, did the same. “I had to say my prayer...

In hopes of meeting the needs of Muslim students, a foot-washing station was recently installed in Minnesota State University’s Centennial Student Union. “What we try to do around this building is provide things that make all kinds of groups of students feel comfortable,” said student union director Laurie Woodward. The idea was brought to the Student Union Board several years ago, but it wasn’t until the renovation of several bathrooms on the second floor that the space became available. The station was paid for entirely through student fees. Woodward said anyone is welcome to use the room even though it...

Indianapolis airport officials have announced plans to add footbaths for Muslims who wish to wash before their five-times-daily prayer rituals, and that's just too much for one pastor, who has called for residents to organize and protest such an establishment of religion. The issue has been appearing in more and more airports and other public facilities in recent weeks, where Muslim immigrants are a growing segment of those who drive cabs, and spend hours waiting on arriving passengers for their fares. Several years ago, officials with Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix boasted of providing a new "customer service" by providing...

An official with Kansas City International Airport apparently has tried intimidation in an effort to eliminate discussion about the recently installed footbaths, after repeated denials they are intended for Muslims to perform their footwashing ritual before their prayers. "That's the way I perceived it," Kevin Peterson told WND in a telephone interview. Peterson said he shares his name with a union steward for the Air Traffic Controllers Union at Kansas City's airport, but he is not the same individual. He was sent an e-mail from airport spokesman Joe McBride, who assumed he was writing to the union steward. "The...

The latest battle of religion in the public square is unfolding in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with one of the highest Muslim populations in the country. At the University of Michigan's local campus, administrators have recently refitted several school bathrooms to include small footbaths in the corner--an accommodation for Muslim students who must perform ritual washing as part of their daily observance. The issue has more than a few of the usual suspects trying to explain their way out of their usual positions on the separation of church and state. The Detroit chapter of the ACLU has scrambled to find...

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