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Students at Melbourne's Swinburne University have been locked out of the Hawthorn campus prayer rooms on the main day of worship in the Muslim faith.The Swinburne Islamic Society says it is part of a wider crackdown on their religious freedoms.
What's next?
The university says the prayer rooms in the Multi Faith Centre will stay closed on Fridays until members of the Swinburne Islamic Society meet with staff.Swinburne University in Melbourne has decided to close its Hawthorn campus prayer room on Fridays — the Muslim holy day when congregational prayers are held — forcing dozens of Muslim students to pray elsewhere.
The ongoing closure of the Multi Faith Centre has sparked outrage among almost 400 members of the Swinburne Islamic Society who said it was part of a wider crackdown on their religious freedoms.
On Friday, the students gathered in the rain to protest before praying in the campus' atrium.
Swinburne University said it made the decision to close the Multi Faith Centre after "multiple breaches" of the centre's guidelines occurred on Friday, October 11.
A spokesperson for the university said the breaches included some members of the Swinburne Islamic Society refusing to allow the university-appointed Muslim chaplain to lead prayers, as well as "encouraging attendance from large numbers of people not associated with the university".
Friends of students, alumni and nearby residents sometimes attend prayers at the university because it is the closest prayer space.
Occasionally, including on October 11, they pray outside the Multi Faith Centre if they are not allowed in.
Video of the incident seen by the ABC shows the chaplain attempting to take a microphone from a student leading prayers.
After the student instead gave the microphone to a member of the Swinburne Islamic Society, the chaplain left.
The university then closed the Multi Faith Centre for the remainder of that day.
"In response to these breaches and a pattern of behaviour from this small group, Swinburne made the decision to close the centre on Fridays until the [Swinburne Islamic Society] meets with the university to discuss our concerns and commits to follow the guidelines that everyone else follows."
The Multi Faith Centre is still open to all faith groups on other days, the spokesperson said.
It is also accessible to staff and their immediate family to use for prayer.
President of the Swinburne Islamic Society Tabish Rather said the chaplain's presence on October 11 was "unnecessary" and upset the students who wanted one of their own to lead the prayer.
He said the incident and decision to close the centre on Fridays had come after a year of issues around access to the Multi Faith Centre for Muslim students.
Students felt like they were under surveillance
Mr Rather said Swinburne University implemented new restrictions including the requirement of swipe access cards to enter the floor where the Multi Faith Centre is located and installation of security alarms in one of the prayer rooms mainly used by Muslims.The alarms were installed to ensure compliance with the key card access requirements and would sound if the door was left open.
"It felt like we were being surveilled for the past year. The university doesn't require swipe access cards to enter the student lounge which has computers but they have this security measure for us," said the 20-year-old applied mathematics student.
The alarms were disabled in February, two months after they were installed, after complaints from the Swinburne Islamic Society.
He also said the time restrictions on the Multi Faith Centre from 5am to 11pm meant many students had nowhere to do early morning prayers during Ramadan, as the nearest mosque was located 13 kilometres from campus.
The university did open the Multi Faith Centre for 24-hour access during the last 10 days of Ramadan this year.
However, in 2022 the Multi Faith Centre had 24-hour access during Ramadan.
Another issue has been the university's appointment of a Muslim chaplain earlier this year.
The chaplain was given the role of overseeing and delivering the sermon for the Swinburne Islamic Society-run Friday prayer.
The university also appoints accredited Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu chaplains to speak and lead prayers and other rituals in the centre.
But Mr Rather said there was no need for new chaplain to oversee the student-run prayer service.
"The Swinburne Islamic Society has been running their own Friday prayers without issue for the past 14 years," he said.
"As a Muslim community and independent student body it's our right to nominate our imam. We want a fellow student who knows the struggles we face, not an outsider."
In an online poll, 201 members of the Swinburne Islamic Society voted unanimously to keep a student-run Friday prayer service rather than a chaplain-led service.
Fatima, who asked to use only her first name, said she had enjoyed her studies at Swinburne University's Hawthorn campus for the past three years.
The health science masters student said she had found moments of peace in the prayer room between rushing to classes.
"It's a chill safe space, especially for us as hijabi women because it's that one place where you feel like your modesty is being guarded," she said.
However, for the past year updated guidelines for the use of the prayer room had caused issues for Muslim students like her.
The new guidelines like key card access and alarms made her feel like she was being unnecessarily watched, she said.
She said they also "infringed" on her student autonomy.
"You feel a bit out place as an international student already, and then you feel out of place with these additional barriers in the prayer room and it makes you feel unwelcome," she said.
"Earlier the space was more accessible to people outside of the university.
"It was an open space to everyone not just staff and students, now there's an added layer of exclusivity and anyone outside of Swinburne is seen with some sort of scrutiny because of the updated guidelines now being enforced.
"It's been stressful."
Centre to remain closed while discussions held
Prior to the updated policies, Mr Rather said students were largely happy with the system and it was more accessible.He said the lack of trust between the university and the Swinburne Islamic Society had made him feel uncomfortable on campus and guided his decision to pursue his postgraduate studies elsewhere.
"I definitely want to be at Swinburne, all of my friends are here, but who wants to live under surveillance?" he said.
Adel Salman, president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, the peak body for Muslims in the state, said he supported the students' right to run their own Friday sermon.
"Swinburne University should be allowing the Swinburne Islamic Society to maintain its autonomy for things like the Friday prayers," he said.
He said the biggest issue facing many Muslim international students was isolation.
There are many international students in Swinburne University like other universities, and for them the prayer area is also a place to actually socialise and form a community as well as worship," he said.
"The university interfering in the operations of the prayer room actually has an impact on their mental well being and emotional wellbeing."
Mr Rather credited the friendships he had made in the university's prayer facilities as a rewarding aspect of studying on campus.
"Most of us international students don't have family here and the prayer room has become an important place for us," he said.
Swinburne University said the Multi Faith Centre would be closed on Fridays until the Swinburne Islamic Society met with the university "to discuss our concerns and commits to follow the guidelines that everyone else follows".
Mr Rather said the Swinburne Islamic Society was refusing to do so until they could be guaranteed a safe meeting with no restrictions on which students were allowed to attend.
"We've always been happy to meet and engage with the university but it's always been them talking down on us," he said.
'It makes you feel unwelcome': Prayer room closed after dispute between Muslim students and university
Students have been locked out of a Swinburne University campus' prayer room on Islam's main day of worship after a clash over who should lead services.
www.abc.net.au
