What do you think of people who start offering Namaz publicly in a non-Muslim country?

[kaayal]

The first one is eid prayer, not a regular one. Every muslim practising/non practising comes out to pray in eidgah on that day because it's sunnah to do so. Lack of space is an issue everywhere that's why we perform it in beach here in Calicut. But out of all places why would anyone pray on a railway track which is extremely dirty and full of filth. not to mention blocking a train and the inconvenience caused to the fellow train passengers.

Second one, the security personnels could have just driven them to prayer hall instead of making a fuss about it.

Third one is totally unnecessary. Even though there is no prayer hall in a railway station(do they?), no one have the right to own a part of railway platform.

Correction- it's not eid, it's the last friday prayer of ramzan which is also auspicious for us.

 

[DRsohail]

As long as it is not disturbing general public it can be offered but u know not in dirty places,which islam teaches us as well.

 

[DRsohail]

No 'NO Parking" lines or signs, so no problem.


View attachment 77698

this is not allowed..how can u offer prayer on car....i think he is doing wrong.

 

[DRsohail]

It is publicity stunt. There is nothing wrong with praying in public, but what is the purpose of posting pictures on social media?

Unfortunately it seems to be a Pakistani thing - Hafeez, Imran Khan and other celebrities etc. often feel the urge of posting such pictures.

Imran never did it himself...i mean never seen it on his twitter account etc but mostly done by other people whic i think is not right as in this case using it as a publicity stunt.

 

[KingKhanWC]

How many religions have you even gone through to come to that conclusion? You were born Muslim and hence made no effort to find out what makes sense and what does not. You basically drew this conclusion flying on autopilot.

Check out Bahá'í for starters - I think that religion is rad.

I've read and researched all major religions. I was born into a Muslim family and did pray on Fridays, fasted sometimes but was not a true believer. There came a time where I wondered if im following a religion which is not correct as but the resreach only helped me believe isntead of deterring me further.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Brexit was partly due to people voting against too many immigrants - even though immigrants to many of the same Brexitees means brown and black faces, which has very little to do with EU immigration. In a similar vein Islamophobia, whilst triggered and spread by 'Islamic' terrorism, now to some extent is further exacerbated by anything that remotely resembles Islam or Islamic practices. Praying in public places reinforces that stereotype.

Where does one draw the line? These seem people seem 'triggered' by halal meat, women in headscarves, the name Muhammad becoming popular, number of mosques etc.

Do you recommend that Muslims do everything in secret from now on to avoid attention?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I thought it was a very strange comment too, considering the many other things which contribute to Islamaphobia.

Nice to see you posting , hope you're good DV.

Alhumdulilah all good. Sometimes log in to look at old threads. Hope you are well too.

 

[Yossarian]

Where does one draw the line? These seem people seem 'triggered' by halal meat, women in headscarves, the name Muhammad becoming popular, number of mosques etc.

Do you recommend that Muslims do everything in secret from now on to avoid attention?

Massive difference between doing it in secret and doing it in public in a very exhibitionist manner. There is also a big difference between 'private' as opposed to 'secret'.

If there literally is no alternative, even in a 'public place' it's not impossible to find a quiet corner that's out of the way and provides as much of an element of privacy as possible. But then that doesn't quite fit in with the "look world, see how pious I am 'cause I pray!"

Do you remember during Inzi's time as captain how the whole team would go out to pray on the field of play during lunch or tea break of a Test or ODI match? Not only was that pure exhibitionism, but imagine if you're one of those players who doesn't feel like praying but feels that if he doesn't join in he'll get lambasted by the virtuous brigade. Or even someone who's known to enjoy partying, and having a drink or two, but feels he has to join in or his place in the team might be in jeopardy?
Now if all that was done in the dressing room, or perhaps arrangements made in advance with the stadium officials (say for an empty room) then all of the above wouldn't arise. But then it wouldn't achieve the object of being an exhibitionist stunt.

 

[Yossarian]

Where does one draw the line? These seem people seem 'triggered' by halal meat, women in headscarves, the name Muhammad becoming popular, number of mosques etc.

And from the perspective of a non-Muslim (perhaps not an Islamophobe as such, but with stereotypical views due to the mass media), you don't see a difference between a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf / seeing the name Mohammed / seeing meat labeled as 'halal', as opposed to seeing someone praying on the pavement or in the middle of a shopping center?

 

[Torpedo]

As many posters have said above,People can pray wherever they want as long as they are doing their own thing and they don’t block space for others or create any nuisance.

However I have seen some Muslims skip meetings,work etc because they have to pray 5 times a day etc..now it is fine if you are doing this with your own allocated Personal Time OFF but unfortunately it happens a lot on Company time and dime.

obviously “white guilt” or “diverse HR policies” don’t address this “sensitive” matter.


Similarly I don’t agree with international athletes doing roza when they are actively playing in an event ..I find that extremely unprofessional as well.

The topic in the OP is the least of the concerns to be honest.

I find it amusing that people can go on coffee breaks and cigarette breaks during 'paid time' but if someone goes on a 5 minute prayer break, productivity will go down and losses will be in millions.

 

[cricketjoshila]

The first one is eid prayer, not a regular one. Every muslim practising/non practising comes out to pray in eidgah on that day because it's sunnah to do so. Lack of space is an issue everywhere that's why we perform it in beach here in Calicut. But out of all places why would anyone pray on a railway track which is extremely dirty and full of filth. not to mention blocking a train and the inconvenience caused to the fellow train passengers.

Second one, the security personnels could have just driven them to prayer hall instead of making a fuss about it.

Third one is totally unnecessary. Even though there is no prayer hall in a railway station(do they?), no one have the right to own a part of railway platform.

What i am trying to tell is that its public inconvenience.In Kolkata they block the main arterial for Eid Namaz.The same road is blocked for Republic day parade and Dusshera procession so people know that on that day this road is blocked.Similar plans need to be put in place at other places.

Actually that prayer room rule needs to be strictly followed in high security areas like airport.

Prayer room in Railway station?Really sister?Let them atleast have the trains on time first.


Problem is that stupid politicians will try to spin this for advantage of theirs.

 

[the Great Khan]

What i am trying to tell is that its public inconvenience.In Kolkata they block the main arterial for Eid Namaz.The same road is blocked for Republic day parade and Dusshera procession so people know that on that day this road is blocked.Similar plans need to be put in place at other places.

Actually that prayer room rule needs to be strictly followed in high security areas like airport.

Prayer room in Railway station?Really sister?Let them atleast have the trains on time first.


Problem is that stupid politicians will try to spin this for advantage of theirs.

I cant really speak for what happens in India. Blocking roads for Salah is a very Indian thing but also something that happens in Saudi when you are in ,Mecca but there is a religious reason for that. In Pakistan and brothers can correct me if I'm wrong, jummah and Eid is normally done in masjids and maidans. Most of teh masjid have a maidan or ground nearby where this can be done. It is also a Sunnat of the Prophet pbuh to not inconvenience your neighbours and to pray where you can get the most benefit.

Coming back to the blocking of roads, I disagree with it and other facilities should be made available (e.g. football ground or maidan etc).

As for prayer rooms it is part of equalities legistlation that the public sector in the uk provide prayer facilities or meditation rooms that can be used by all faiths. I remember praying at various airports where prayer rooms are available and I prayed with a priest in one corner and a Muslim in another.

In Higher education Universities that can afford it provide prayer facilities to the majority of faith based students. I was at one top ten uk university once and they had a chaplaincy facility that catered to all faiths. It had jewish,christian and Muslim designated areas with separate entrances, kitchen facilities and ablution areas. Also a Hindu facility was provided too.

 

[kaayal]

What i am trying to tell is that its public inconvenience.In Kolkata they block the main arterial for Eid Namaz.The same road is blocked for Republic day parade and Dusshera procession so people know that on that day this road is blocked.Similar plans need to be put in place at other places.

Actually that prayer room rule needs to be strictly followed in high security areas like airport.

Prayer room in Railway station?Really sister?Let them atleast have the trains on time first.


Problem is that stupid politicians will try to spin this for advantage of theirs.

True praying on roads is not the right thing tbh, either open ground/ beach or masjid is the norm. And yeah they should have permission from the concerned authorities before taking over the place and blocking etc. We does that here during eid but don't know about the north indian cities. The traffic police will be fully equipped too.

Railway station i thought somebody mentioned that they 'do have prayer halls'. and true, let the train arrive on time first lol

And yeah, politicians exploits these things but that railway station thing should have never ever allowed. Better to pray in home than on railway track.

 

[kaayal]

In Higher education Universities that can afford it provide prayer facilities to the majority of faith based students. I was at one top ten uk university once and they had a chaplaincy facility that catered to all faiths. It had jewish,christian and Muslim designated areas with separate entrances, kitchen facilities and ablution areas. Also a Hindu facility was provided too.

We do have such institutions with prayer halls in kerala. But most often this will be occupied by muslims because the rest don't have daily prayer like us.

 

[finalfantasy7]

What's the issue - I've done this loads of times in the park. I live in a white Community - prayed on 5 side pitches.

What's the issue?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Massive difference between doing it in secret and doing it in public in a very exhibitionist manner. There is also a big difference between 'private' as opposed to 'secret'.

If there literally is no alternative, even in a 'public place' it's not impossible to find a quiet corner that's out of the way and provides as much of an element of privacy as possible. But then that doesn't quite fit in with the "look world, see how pious I am 'cause I pray!"

Do you remember during Inzi's time as captain how the whole team would go out to pray on the field of play during lunch or tea break of a Test or ODI match? Not only was that pure exhibitionism, but imagine if you're one of those players who doesn't feel like praying but feels that if he doesn't join in he'll get lambasted by the virtuous brigade. Or even someone who's known to enjoy partying, and having a drink or two, but feels he has to join in or his place in the team might be in jeopardy?
Now if all that was done in the dressing room, or perhaps arrangements made in advance with the stadium officials (say for an empty room) then all of the above wouldn't arise. But then it wouldn't achieve the object of being an exhibitionist stunt.

All of what you have said is fine but my question was regarding your feelings that it makes this difficult for you and your children which your response doesn't really address.

Every team has their own culture that binds them btw for that particular Pakistan side it was prayer. I guess it would be quite hard being a Muslim in many non muslim sporting sides given their fondness of a beer (especially 5-10 years ago) but you just have to get on with things sometimes.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

And from the perspective of a non-Muslim (perhaps not an Islamophobe as such, but with stereotypical views due to the mass media), you don't see a difference between a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf / seeing the name Mohammed / seeing meat labeled as 'halal', as opposed to seeing someone praying on the pavement or in the middle of a shopping center?

Again dealing specifically with the bit about making your life difficult - dont see how someone praying in public is any different to the other stuff I have mentioned that seems to make a certain section of non muslims very angry. I'd imagine that most people would walk by someone praying in public and not make too much of a fuss about it (perhaps be a little startled) and it would only really annoy the certain section of non muslims who are already ****** off with everything else.

 

[Yossarian]

All of what you have said is fine but my question was regarding your feelings that it makes this difficult for you and your children which your response doesn't really address.

Every team has their own culture that binds them btw for that particular Pakistan side it was prayer. I guess it would be quite hard being a Muslim in many non muslim sporting sides given their fondness of a beer (especially 5-10 years ago) but you just have to get on with things sometimes.

Again dealing specifically with the bit about making your life difficult - dont see how someone praying in public is any different to the other stuff I have mentioned that seems to make a certain section of non muslims very angry. I'd imagine that most people would walk by someone praying in public and not make too much of a fuss about it (perhaps be a little startled) and it would only really annoy the certain section of non muslims who are already ****** off with everything else.

The difference that it makes to my and my familiy's life is that I'm a member of this society, both in terms of the UK society in general, as well as (due to my colour / ethnicity / cultural background / even name) of the UK Muslim subset, and anything that reinforces the current stereotypes portrayed in the media (ie the juxtaposition of terrorism and Muslims/Islam) affects me adversely. Whether you agree or not, the fact of the matter is that someone praying namaz on the pavement or in the middle of a shopping centre does reinforce those stererotypes.

A person doesn't have to be an Islamophobe in order for them to absorb those stereotypical views and in turn to affect you in a manner not to your liking (perhaps by raising the topic of Muslims/terrorism (even if only in order to ascertain your views) as a form of 'polite' conversation just because they discover you are a muslim and they've seen someone praying in the middle of a shopping centre). And thus, by definition, that does affect me.

 

[Yossarian]

^^^ And that's at the mildest and most innocuous end of the scale.

 

[Varun]

I find it amusing that people can go on coffee breaks and cigarette breaks during 'paid time' but if someone goes on a 5 minute prayer break, productivity will go down and losses will be in millions.

Probably because they go for a prayer break as well as coffee and cigarette breaks?

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Some awful comments here. Sometimes there is no masjid or prayer room nearby and as long as you aren't blocking anyone's way there is nothing wrong with it

 

[Pakistanian]

I've prayed outside in a halal restaurants parking lot with a group of friends. There wasn't any traffic, it was a very isolated place off. I think as long you aren't bothering people then it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Varun]

I've prayed outside in a halal restaurants parking lot with a group of friends. There wasn't any traffic, it was a very isolated place off. I think as long you aren't bothering people then it shouldn't be an issue.

Sory, couldn't resist - reminds me of this.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gmED0U_w8Dg" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[cricketjoshila]

Some awful comments here. Sometimes there is no masjid or prayer room nearby and as long as you aren't blocking anyone's way there is nothing wrong with it

Problem is everyone isnt as considerate with not blocking logic.

I had a muslim room mate for 3.5 years. We were 4 people in the room. So on the first day 3 of us were chatting and the muslim friend just came took out his prayer mat and started to prepare for the namaz. All 3 of us moved out. After finishing he called us back and thanked us. This continued for the entire 3.5 years and for every namaz except Fajr as we would be asleep.Not one day he asked us to move out and not one day we stayed and disturbed his prayer. That sir is consideration.

On the other hand i have seen people making fuss if their hindu room mate kept photos or idols of their gods in the room.
[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION]

Its ok if the road is blocked for eid namaz as same is done for dusshera procession and republic day parade. People are aware that road is blocked and they plan accordingly.

Problem is when suddenly they will block roads or railway tracks or pathways.

 

[kaayal]

Problem is everyone isnt as considerate with not blocking logic.

I had a muslim room mate for 3.5 years. We were 4 people in the room. So on the first day 3 of us were chatting and the muslim friend just came took out his prayer mat and started to prepare for the namaz. All 3 of us moved out. After finishing he called us back and thanked us. This continued for the entire 3.5 years and for every namaz except Fajr as we would be asleep.Not one day he asked us to move out and not one day we stayed and disturbed his prayer. That sir is consideration.

On the other hand i have seen people making fuss if their hindu room mate kept photos or idols of their gods in the room.

[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION]

Its ok if the road is blocked for eid namaz as same is done for dusshera procession and republic day parade. People are aware that road is blocked and they plan accordingly.

Problem is when suddenly they will block roads or railway tracks or pathways.

Still praying on road should be avoided as far as possible. What if an ambulance comes there with someone very sick? Our prayer should not endanger someone else's life.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It is our duty to maintain law & order. There has been an increase in offering namaz in open. Namaz should be read in Mosques or Idgahs rather than public spaces: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on increase in the number of incidents of disrupting namaz in Gurugram <a href="https://t.co/82ZQw6M2WN">pic.twitter.com/82ZQw6M2WN</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/993001874231087105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Hadi Rizvi]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It is our duty to maintain law & order. There has been an increase in offering namaz in open. Namaz should be read in Mosques or Idgahs rather than public spaces: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on increase in the number of incidents of disrupting namaz in Gurugram <a href="https://t.co/82ZQw6M2WN">pic.twitter.com/82ZQw6M2WN</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/993001874231087105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sounds fair.

Pray in public places only when you know you are going to miss it and when you are CERTAIN that no one is getting disturbed. IIRC there is a hadith regarding the approval of the landlord for permission to pray.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

It's just common decency to not make a nuisance in public spaces. Good to see Muslim speakers taking a lead in this as public space belongs to everyone.

 

[moghul]

It’s nonsense and stupidity. Muslims are not the only culprits, some Jews also do the same here in US, but Muslims are the worst in this respect.

 

[Bubby]

I have never seen Indian Muslims offer Namaz like that in public places in India. May be its just a Pakistani thing.

I have seen some Pak Students offer Namaz in the Library hallways and near elevators and stairs. I find it interesting and I usually glance a bit to see what they are doing.

Then my friend you don't live in India, Muslims in Delhi especially area like seelampur, zakhira on Friday, the roads are jammed because of jumme ki namaz, they block the whole road.

 

[Bubby]

And it causes the huge frustration, nobody has problem with u worshiping but atleast don't harass other people, by blocking roads do you think the God will be pleased with this act.

 

[Bubby]

God doesn't want showoff, what's purpose it serves if you worship him, but disturbs his people 0.,dont think he will be happy with that.

 

[Bubby]

Problem is everyone isnt as considerate with not blocking logic.

I had a muslim room mate for 3.5 years. We were 4 people in the room. So on the first day 3 of us were chatting and the muslim friend just came took out his prayer mat and started to prepare for the namaz. All 3 of us moved out. After finishing he called us back and thanked us. This continued for the entire 3.5 years and for every namaz except Fajr as we would be asleep.Not one day he asked us to move out and not one day we stayed and disturbed his prayer. That sir is consideration.

On the other hand i have seen people making fuss if their hindu room mate kept photos or idols of their gods in the room.

[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION]

Its ok if the road is blocked for eid namaz as same is done for dusshera procession and republic day parade. People are aware that road is blocked and they plan accordingly.

Problem is when suddenly they will block roads or railway tracks or pathways.

Dusshera parade is a one off and republic day is a one off too, they don't happen every Friday.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

I remember somebody telling me at work about people doing yoga outside their front garden
That must be weird to see