This sounds reasonable... let The Student Muslim group pay for it... if it is so important, I am sure some of the local area mosques and/or the benefactors will be willing to absorb the rent as a cost of spreading the faith.

Will they install foot baths as well?

http://theislamicworkplace.com/2007/0 ... aths-for-muslim-students/

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Cool.

Why not make some rooms available within HCC for hourly public rental for an admin charge - say $50/hour, then let people do as they please during their rental period?

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Thank you. Prayer was taken out of the morning school routine in the '60's because a person got her panties in a wad. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If you are going to pander to one, then pander to all.

I am getting rather tired of double standards... when we are secularizing public building by removing or banning public prayer we now have to make exceptions for Muslims because of the number of times a day they pray??? You can't even say invocation prayers at college graduations anymore.

Regardless of religion, most if not all religions have an institution to pray and carry out their activities. A library is a purpose built public area or space for a specific activityand thus, should be void of any religious activities or any activity not associated with a library - This said, doesn't cityhall have a hall available for rent; once rented, you can do as you please.

We have synagogues, mosques, churches of all denominations scattered throughout the city and to use a public building space paid for by everyone's tax dollar is not right and would cause friction in the community. Public use buildings that are open to all should be void of any religious influence or needs (with the exception being if you hire a hall owned by the city) - If the Muslim community need a pray room, then they should also seek a private establishment and have an agreement with them. (or hire a hall from the city for their private function)

Religion is such a 'hot human rights' topic that any discussion will cause issue with someone

What does a particular religion has to do with prayer, it is where the prayer is held. Prayers are sacred and not something to take lightly. Jerseymom, God is not Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or Muslim but people are. My conduct in church is reverent but my conduct in a library is not. I would not be comfortable doing research is someone is praying. I would feel I was disrespecting God while someone is praying and I am doing research.

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Yvonne, just curious if you wouldn't be comfortable if anyone was praying in a library, or just a Muslim person? What if you sat next to a family at a restaurant reciting "grace" before dinner? Would that make you uncomfortable, too?

To keep this in context, Muslims pray five times per day at specific times that change as the lunar calendar changes. A Muslim can pray "anywhere" - they face toward Mecca as they pray - a brief process that follows a set pattern (you will notice standing, bending at the waist, then bowing down on their knees with head toward the floor. If you are able, the prayer is done on a special "prayer rug" that one carries with them. In a world that moves at a dizzying pace, the prayers remind Muslims to keep mindful of God and what is really important in their spiritual lives.

The library study rooms certainly sound like a good resolution. But at the end of the day, every Muslim knows that it's not the room you pray in, but that you remember to pray. Battling the ignorance of some regarding the perception vs. reality of Islam is really the true battle that these young students face.

If I had to use the library and knew someone was praying, I wouldn?t use the space. I would not feel comfortable. But the issue for me ? shouldn?t a religious sect provide for their own?

When I went to William Paterson the Muslim students were allowed to use mixed use rooms in the library for prayer. Many of the rooms were empty most of the time, so no one seemed to mind (they are supposed to pray 5 times a day at specific times, hence the urgent need to have a place to pray).

Today, I went to St. Ann's Church on Tonnele Avenue and the second collection was for Catholic Universities of America. It should be the responsibility of various religious groups to raise money and purchase property for their religion. They should purchase property near the college similar to a chapel. People forget that the beautiful churches in NY and NJ were the donations of poor immigrants, especially Irish maids. My concern is this will go through and it will not be universal.

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And when students start using it not for personal prayer but to hold de facto services.

There is no reason why the college could not provide an interfaith meditation room as long as it was open to all people of all faiths including lack of religious faith. The problem comes the moment you provide for one but not another.

Because then Christians,Jews, Hindus, etc, will as for the same type of treatment and also to reserve that room would take away from other uses it has been reserved to do, which means the school is funding religion with taxpayer money.

Imtiaz Syed wrote on Facebook: Muslim students at the Hudson County Community College requested the authorities that a small room to be designated for the prayer in the college, since this has been allowed and practiced at the airports ,Hospitals and many offices, I fail to understand why a request for a peaceful prayer place be denied.
This will be discussed May 8 at the Freeholders Meeting. Personally, any prayer room should be open to all faiths not exclusive to one. Several years ago, I read in the Jersey Journal that a priest was asked to leave the county building during Ash Wednesday; he eventually gave ashes in the parking lot. It would be nice to see all religion treated equality.