Cardiff University is now considering introducing a timetable break between 1pm and 2pm on Fridays to accommodate jummah prayer, which is compulsory for Muslims.

The International Student Officer Abdullah Sheikh spoke to gair rhydd to highlight the problem many Muslim students face when lectures, seminars or practical work clash with this compulsory prayer. He explained that Friday is a holy day for Muslims and the QurÔÇÖan directly instructs them to obey this call to prayer. ÔÇ£It is the day where Muslims gather and pray the Friday afternoon prayers together in harmony. To a Muslim student, this act is of utmost importanceÔÇØ, he said.

Islamic Society President, Abdelrahman Elashry Mohamed┬áadded to this, saying, ÔÇ£these prayers have to be done at the local mosque, and because we believe that the Qur’an is the word of God, we must go.ÔÇØ He said that on other days of the week, Muslims are required to pray five times a day, but there is a certain amount of leeway on the times that they can do this. Friday is the exception, which is why he

feels that it is important, especially with the amount of work Islamic students could potentially miss.

When first contacted, the University informed gair rhydd that this time was already a dedicated lunch hour for all undergraduate students. Further investigation found a wide range of subjects which had scheduled classes at this time. This evidence was put to the University, and a spokesperson has said that, in accordance with the UniversityÔÇÖs policy and guidelines on religious beliefs, ÔÇ£If there is a conflict between the timing of classes and religious needs, students should draw this to the attention of the relevant staff.ÔÇØ

However, the guidelines say that some courses have compulsory attendance aspects and that the University will not be able to offer flexibility regarding the time of these elements.

The University spokesperson stressed that they were not aware of any disciplinary action being taken as a result of missing classes because of absence for religious purposes.

Abdullah says he had tried to engage with the University over this issue, saying ÔÇ£I had a meeting with Patricia Price, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and showed her the number of signatures on the petition, and considering we hadnÔÇÖt really pushed it, itÔÇÖs quite a good number. If sheÔÇÖd wanted more in order to implement this idea, we would get them. She laughed this off.ÔÇØ

When pushed as to whether the University would consider protecting this time on a Friday, in line with the needs of Muslim prayer, the spokesperson said, ÔÇ£we pride ourselves on the level of engagement we have with our student body.ÔÇØ This issue had not, according to the University, been brought up as a concern at any staff-student panel meeting in this academic year, and had not been mentioned in any responses to the ÔÇÿWelcome to CardiffÔÇÖ survey.

Following our enquiry, the University has informed us that this proposal has now ÔÇ£been brought to the attention of senior University staff and is being considered.ÔÇØ

Abdelrahman cites Swansea University, who have got the hour free from timetabled classes. He says a big factor for supporting this campaign is the impact on students’ educations. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖve spoken to a lot of Muslim students and they have said, that because of the compulsory nature of jummah prayer, they have had to make the difficult decision between choosing to miss the Friday prayer, or miss their lectureÔÇØ he said.

gair rhydd will continue to communicate with the University and report on this campaign.