Mediation room conflict at George Mason

Nation: Nothing in this article is a surprise as some Muslim college groups have realized they can get away with a lot.

Controversy over the meditation room located on the third floor of the Johnson Center has become a growing concern for students due to space limitations, religious practices, and conflicting needs and uses. While Muslim students of George Mason University use the space for prayer five times daily, non-Muslim students also use the space for prayer and meditation to a lesser extent.

So what is the solution?

Also, Friday prayers are typically the largest and most important to the religion, with around one hundred students who attend, according to the president of MSA, Saleh Albarmawi. Prayer includes recitation of the Quran along with movements, which may cause disturbances to non-Muslims who use the space for silence. “Assign a prayer area for Muslim students. Have that area also serve as an Islam Education Center. Since MSA is a reflection of the general body of the Muslim Students at GMU, the area should be run by MSA,” said Albarmawi. Albarmawi also discussed some of the criteria for such a space. The religion requires Muslims to face east, toward Macca, and the wall they are facing cannot be adjacent to rest rooms. The room’s current location is ideal for these reasons, which makes it hard to find another location just as suitable.

Very slick, The room suits our needs and we are the biggest group that uses it five times a day, so they have staged a bloodless coup on the area.

Another issue is that the Muslim religion should not have any advantage over other religions. Other student organizations rent out rooms around campus to meet and other religions meet off campus. “If Muslims wish for an exclusive place, they should be allowed to rent a space much like businesses do (e.g. restaurants in the JC and SUB I), or be off campus, as the Christian chapel is,” said bobpence from the discussion board. Concerns over the mediation space also go back to its original use. Because the area is mainly used by Muslims, many of their religious rules now govern the area. “I have to say that the one and only time I have heard of someone wanting to use the prayer space that wasn't Muslim is when they went there to do some reading for class, and were asked to move to the other side of the gender wall,” said Kjennin. When asked about the area’s original use, Karton replied, “There are no rules as to gender separation or removing shoes regarding the space as far as I know. Really the only ‘rule’ in the original intention of the space was that it was not reservable.” Noncompliance with the religion’s rules, however, can be misinterpreted as offensive.

So George Mason other students will grab ankles and allow this takeover to be completed without even a whimper. This is a classic example of a student group running amok and a university not doing its job to keep them in check.