Aisha Sherazi Responds to Muslim Prayer Controversy in Toronto

Remember all that fuss about Friday Muslim prayer being held at a Toronto public school? This article, answers most, if not all, the queries Canadians have about the prayers being conducted at the school. Let's hope the controversy started by secular and so-called 'humanist' groups, dies down. The article is reproduced below for ease of reading:

There's been a strong reaction to kids praying at the Valley Park Middle School in Toronto. Certain people appear to be horrified that these students have been given the space to pray in a public school. Some imply that Muslims are being given special treatment.


Nonsense. Any faith group would be accommodated if it were important to them and could be scheduled in. If the walls of the school were lined with Islamic religious edicts and paraphernalia, I might see reason to be concerned for the rights of non-Muslim students. Given that isn't the case, it is misleading to say that Muslims kids are being treated differently. If any students wish to have a prayer group, they should and would be allowed to as per the policies of the Toronto District School Board. The community organized and paid for the services, not the school.


I know of a Christian prayer group that met on a weekly basis in a public school. No one batted an eyelid. Demographics have a lot to do with this. Valley Park School is located in Thorncliffe Park, cited as being the neighbourhood in Canada with the highest percentage of Muslim people. That means that community members probably get together regularly for social functions, as well as religious ones, and prayer is normal for many of the children in the neighbourhood.


I've been surprised about many of the things I have heard and seen in the media. For one thing, contrary to some reports, Friday prayer is not mandatory for girls of any age, or pre-puberty boys. Not only do these kids seem to want to pray on a Friday, the girls are showing up even when they have been excused by the vast majority of Muslim scholars (when they are menstruating). Likely they were curious about all the fuss, and about the way their prayer group was being reported in the media.


Regarding menstruation, being "ritually clean" is a part of prayer, but this has little to do with being male or female. It is widely held that a person praying should be clean of blood, fecal matter and urine. If a man cut his finger, he would have to wait until the wound clots before he could pray.


There has been a lot of discussion about the boys and girls being separated. That has irked a lot of people, who assume sitting behind the boys makes the girls second-class citizens.


It depends on where you are to decide whether that is the case or not. From the children's perspective, I don't think the girls would feel discriminated against. Sitting at the back of the bus is deemed cool. So is sitting at the back of the classroom.


For many Muslims, male and female segregation during prayer, and even at social events has become a cultural norm. But I should stress that this is a cultural, not a faith issue. During the Hajj (or pilgrimage) season, men and women pray side by side. You are lucky to find a spot to pray anywhere close to the focal point of prayer, let alone care about who you are next to. It is up to the Muslim community to have a debate about whether they want to have mixed prayer or not.

To date, the social and cultural norm has been for women to pray behind males. I personally have seen many women breastfeeding hungry babies in the mosque, and women help each other out when a child cries. There is a distinct bond created when women sit together, a sisterhood that can provide comfort. Growing up in a Hindu family, men and women always sat separately, even though it wasn't required, it was the cultural norm and seen as respectable. Maybe that has changed now too. For my parents' generation, it was normal.


To be sure, that debate needs to happen, because there wasn't a strict separation of men and women in the times of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It is up to the Muslim community to decide whether menstruating females can pray or not. There is a movement that says it is acceptable. Not everyone agrees.


What should not happen is for the entire world to take this group of kids, and place them under a microscope. That doesn't lend itself to healthy debate. It provokes an insular response.


Smoking is bad for your health. It is a proven fact. And yet, many people continue to smoke. It took us centuries to ban smoking in public places.


]That's why I'm curious as to why certain pressure groups are up in arms about Muslim kids praying on a Friday afternoon in Toronto. Kids could be doing worse things. Smoking would be one of them.


Aisha Sherazi is an Ottawa freelance writer who blogs for the Citizen at ottawacitizen.com/outsidethebox. She is former principal of Abraar School and now works as a pastoral care worker at Merivale High School.

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