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Muslims still seeking prayer space at McGill

Reader comment on item: Islam Drives the Social and Legal Agenda in the West

Submitted by Ian (Canada), Dec 6, 2005 at 00:12

The gig is not over,

Regardless of the numerous accomodations and other shrewd ways to Auto-exclusion, they are at it again.

Today Dec.5th 2005, McGill university is now treated as Islamophobic by: CAIR-CAN

http://www.cbc.ca/montreal/story/qc-muslims20050603.html

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations says it will decide by next week whether to proceed with a human-rights complaint against McGill University for its refusal to find space for a Muslim prayer room on campus.

Muslim students lost the space they'd been using this week when an agreement, made with the university in 1998, ran out. McGill says students are free to find a quiet place to pray on campus, but the university will no longer provide them with a prayer room.

FROM JUNE 2, 2005 - McGill Muslims need new prayer room

The controversy has been brewing for months. It came to a head on Tuesday, when McGill changed the locks to the prayer room it plans to convert to an archaeology lab.

The Students' Society of McGill University offered Muslim students a space for the summer — providing the university would accommodate them again in the fall. But McGill refused.

"The proposal by the students' society would just bring us back to the status quo," says McGill spokesperson Joe Zackon. "[That is] where we're being asked continually to provide space for a particular religious group when we're a secular institution that doesn't provide space for any other religious group — and shouldn't be."

But the executive director of the Canadian Council for American-Islamic Relations, Riad Saloojee, says McGill's position is at odds with at least 20 other universities across Canada.

"The law doesn't say that self-professed secular institutions can escape from the duty to accommodate religious needs or other needs," he says.

Saloojee says McGill's celebrated diversity makes it even more surprising that it's unwilling to find space on campus for observant Muslims who want to continue to gather in one place to pray.
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Reader comments (42) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
2Public prayers are nuisance and are for political purposes [182 words]PrashantJan 20, 2019 18:42247255
3Resistance toward Islamic usurpation [316 words]PrashantDec 25, 2018 19:11246749
A question still unanswered, [25 words]Jules PosnJun 13, 2015 09:28223801
The full spectrum about prayers need to be discussed [168 words]PrashantJun 2, 2015 00:13223623
The problem isn't them. The problem is us. [303 words]Charles MartelDec 18, 2014 01:04219836
True Believers won't rest until total victory [269 words]BG DavisJun 13, 2015 11:08219836
1Using prayer to pay down debt, help Universities. [43 words]Abu NudnikMar 17, 2013 14:03204418
They are eating into your society [120 words]AristocratNov 5, 2010 20:38179958
Robert Paladino is absolutely right [159 words]TedJul 26, 2010 23:30176081
1What is a reasonable person to do? [182 words]LarryJul 23, 2010 12:13175936
LIttle by little the muslims chip away at our basic rights and culture. ..it is like the frog in the slowly heated water...one day we will just die away [287 words]Phil GreendMay 17, 2010 12:11172814
Have Hijabist right to impose their will in sex driven businesses in the West? [206 words]SvetSep 24, 2009 13:22162025
Islam did not come up with something new or odd. [37 words]esraaJun 27, 2009 19:51158085
2don,t compare with Mother Mary or catholic nuns [151 words]G.VishvasJun 28, 2009 07:52158085
my society [132 words]esraaJun 29, 2009 07:24158085
It is about islam as a whole and its intentions [171 words]G.VishvasJul 3, 2009 10:54158085
Esraa is correct [145 words]TedJul 26, 2010 23:17158085
content [16 words]fazleAug 3, 2011 04:00158085
2Where Islam goes trouble soon follows [195 words]ZahirJun 2, 2015 00:05158085
Makes me furious! [67 words]Islam setting the legal & social agenda in the west!Feb 26, 2009 10:18151225
birth defects [489 words]KiwiJul 4, 2008 02:13134351
It is law already [49 words]Gabrielle CroftsJun 15, 2008 02:38132163
Cousins [17 words]alanJun 9, 2008 09:04131522
Ban it EVERYWHERE! [26 words]Straight_Talk_LuigiJun 8, 2008 03:51131416
1Keeping it in the family islam style [355 words]GabrielleJun 15, 2008 06:32131416
Muslim marriage patterns [213 words]Straight_Talk_LuigiJun 16, 2008 16:25131416
quran misunderstood [274 words]JIBRAN SABIR QURESHIJun 18, 2008 02:02131416
Science and the Qu'ran [70 words]Straight_Talk_LuigiJun 19, 2008 17:03131416
1islamic is what comes from the kuran [161 words]G.VishvasJun 23, 2008 10:31131416
reply Jibran [163 words]Gabrielle (Australia)Jul 11, 2008 03:41131416
Over confidence [84 words]JIBRAN SABIR QURESHIJul 12, 2008 02:41131416
re Jibrans comment [57 words]Gabrielle CroftsJul 13, 2008 23:03131416
Enlightning Mr Straight_Talk_Luigi [116 words]Amit SharmaNov 30, 2009 16:06131416
What is wrong with this? [96 words]fifiJun 16, 2013 16:24131416
Not sure what this has to do with my comment [99 words]Straight_Talk_LuigiJun 19, 2013 00:14131416
I will take a shot at it [555 words]PrashantJun 19, 2013 00:46131416
1In our own back yard-Jihadist blogger in North carolina [274 words]gary fouseJun 8, 2008 00:39131406
She's got a ticket to ride! [1009 words]DeadMessengerDec 17, 2006 14:2269781
Re: She's got a ticket to ride! [4 words]LissetteDec 19, 2006 16:3469781
1Islam vs Christianity [52 words]dfgsaikpdafgpkpk[ozxcvbk[xpmc BSep 28, 2006 23:1958132
DUE TO THE NEW, GUTLESS, 'EFFEMINISED ENGLAND'. [147 words]Gordon WeareNov 3, 2009 15:1458132
Muslims still seeking prayer space at McGill [311 words]IanDec 6, 2005 00:1229494

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