Imam leading Friday prayers at UPEI

The UPEI Muslim Student Association has expanded services for Muslim students at the university's chaplaincy centre.

'It's a good place for them to find a prayer mat and they can comfortably pray'

CBC News Posted: Nov 26, 2018 9:30 AM EST | Last Updated: November 26, 2018

'It makes it easier for students to find a place to pray, given that they all have classes in different places on campus,' says Tartela Alkayyali. (Stephanie Kelly/CBC)

The UPEIMuslim Student Association has expanded services for Muslim students at the university's chaplaincy centre.

Prayers are now being led by an imam on Fridays at 1 p.m. They're held in a special prayer space that opened for Muslims a few years ago.

The prayer room has lines on the floor so students can pray in the right direction. (Stephanie Kelly/CBC)

Fridays are important in the Muslim faith, just as the Sabbath for Jews is on Saturday and for Christians on Sunday. It's said to be the day theQur'anwas given to Mohammed, piece by piece over the course of23 years.

Charlottetown mosque needs to expand

"It makes it easier for students to find a place to pray, given that they all have classes indifferent places on campus," saidTartelaAlkayyali, the former president of theUPEIMuslim Student Association and a masters student at the university.

About 15 students have been attending the Friday prayers since they began in earlier this month, she said. The space is used by up to 50 students a day.

'These prayers are a must'

Muslims are required to pray five times a day, and three of those times fall during the daytime, when many Muslim students are on campus.

"So it's a good place for them to find a prayer mat and they can comfortably pray," she said.

'There is something spiritual about the UPEI chaplaincy centre,' says Alkayyali. (Stephanie Kelly/CBC)

"Because these prayers are a must for the Muslims."

The roomhas recently been carpeted and lines have been laid out on the floor so people can pray in the direction of Qibla, toward Mecca.

Before the room was made available, Alkayyali said students would often carpool or take the bus to one of two mosques in Charlottetown.

"Having this on campus, it's easier since a lot of students don't have their own transportation, or they don't have time enough between their classes to get to either of these mosques," she said.

'Abasic need'

The space and the Friday prayers could be a selling point for the university, said Alkayyali.

The Qu'ran and other Muslim texts are available in the prayer room. (Stephanie Kelly/CBC)

"If more international students outside of UPEI heard the university is offering on-campus prayer, I think it would make it more appealing to Muslim students to come to UPEI," she said.

"It's kind of a basic need, for us to have a prayer space."

Universities throughout the Middle East have similar spaces, she said.

"There is something spiritual about the UPEI chaplaincy centre," she added.

"I personally feel it and I love it."