Finding room to pray is a challenge faced by thousands of religious students at Montreal universities. Whether Muslim or Catholic, getting a room dedicated to prayer can create problems in both francophone and anglophone academic communities.
Most religious students will say that balancing their student schedule with their spiritual life isn’t that tough. However, a lot of them want a dedicated prayer space on campus — which would make life easier for students who pray several times a day.
For Friday prayers, Muslim students at the Université de Montréal rent a room on the ground floor of the sports building. But the rest of the week, students have to find a handy staircase if they don’t want to miss a class.
“There is definitely a lack of space. We are now trying to negotiate with the administration to change our status, because the number of Muslim students coming to the Friday prayers has increased,” said Éric Séguin of U de M’s Muslim association. The association doesn’t currently have official status, which would make it easier for it to obtain a prayer space.
By contrast, close to the university, the Benoît-Lacroix Centre offers pastoral sessions for practising Catholics. And Jewish students can meet at a nearby facility of Hillel House, although its funding does not depend on the university.
At McGill University, Jewish students can use the downtown Hillel House and Catholic students have the Newman Centre and the Birks Chapel, both situated on campus. But hundreds of Muslim students had been turning to hallways, libraries and stairways for their prayers.
However, since 2007, the Muslim Student Association at McGill has occupied a small prayer room in the Student Society of McGill University building, which is independent from the university administration.
“If that prayer space didn’t exist, I’d have to go to a mosque, but the closest mosque is a much longer walk,” said Youcef Rahmani, the group’s VP external. “So that space is kind of a common refuge. Since I am able to step out, rest and focus, when I get back to work I’m hungrier than ever for good grades.”
Makeshift prayer spaces are still used when students don’t have time to get to the association room between classes.
“Whether there is an official prayer space or not, I think it’s necessary on behalf of the university to provide it,” said Trisha Islam, also a member. “If it’s snowing outside and I can’t walk to this building, then I will pray in the library. The security guards know, and it’s pretty isolated.”
Concordia University opened a multi-faith chaplaincy in 2005. This new model of gathering different religions in the same student building is seen now in more than 30 Canadian schools as well as south of the border, in cities including New York.
During the fall of 2012, the Center for Academic and Spiritual Life opened at New York University. After years of being scattered across campus, the university’s religious groups came together under one roof.
Sociologist and historian Gérard Bouchard says the U.S. concept could not work in Quebec because of its different history and culture.
“I agree that students should have prayer rooms, as long as they never become permanent,” said Bouchard, who chaired a provincial government inquiry into reasonable accommodation in 2007 with Charles Taylor. “However, I believe that the granting of a room reserved only for the prayers of a particular denomination goes against the principle of secularism in schools. Because the notion of the religious is introduced into the structure of the institution, there is an element of permanence, which should not settle on campus.”
A different point of view comes from Dr. Paul L. Allen, an associate professor in the department of theological studies at Concordia University.
“The issue comes down to an understanding of what the word ‘secular’ means,” Allen said. “For many people in our society, it has come to mean banishing religion altogether. I believe secular means being open to all people regardless of their religion and not excluding anyone for their beliefs. … Religious students should have a permanent space to pray, just like other students go to the cafeteria when they need to eat.”