Islamic students at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, HvA, have taken to praying in a stairwell as a protest against the closure of the school’s meditation room. They hope to force the school to provide them with their own prayer room. However, the school board is refusing to meet their demands.
The school board decided to close the meditation room, used by some students to pray, last year. The board says a prayer room is unnecessary. An HvA spokesperson says it is not the task of a public education facility to provide space for religious activities.
According to HvA Rector Jet Bussemaker, the university decided to close the meditation room after a number of alarming e-mails from Muslim students. They said the existence of a meditation room forced them to use it to pray. The HVA spokesperson added, “The young women come here to be educated, to be emancipated. That’s part of our function as a university. This is not a mosque. The largest mosque in Amsterdam is just a 10 minute walk from here. Anyone who really feels they have to pray can walk to the mosque. The students also walk round the corner to get a cup of coffee or a sandwich.”
Quiet space
The protesting students feel misunderstood. Their spokesperson says they just want a quiet space at school where they can pray. They don’t want to annoy or interfere with anyone else but they feel forced to do so. “We’ve noticed that fewer people are praying. It’s a big problem for the girls, because they’re also wearing a headscarf. It’s just not practical for them. Actually what we need is a space that we can close off, where we can shut the door so that other people don’t keep walking past. Before prayers you have to wash ritually. At the moment we’re doing it in the toilet and that’s not a problem but people keep walking in and asking what we’re doing and that makes everything really uncomfortable.”
Support
The Islamic students have the support of the Labour Party MP Ahmed Marcouch. He says “the school should respond to the needs of the students,” adding that it is “a formative institute.” According to the MP, people from all sorts of backgrounds come to a school such as the HvA and it should do its best to accommodate the diverse cultures.
The HvA is sticking to its point of view and said, “A prayer room will never, ever be provided.” The board says the school is open for everyone and to everyone but “it is not a religious institute.” The HvA says “the students should spend more time studying,” but added “the students are free to pray wherever they want to.”