Senior Abdul Hassan washes his hands in the restroom of the Hinton Center, but unlike most other students, he also washes his arms, feet, mouth and face.
Hassan partakes in a formal Islamic cleansing five times a day before praying.
“I’ll get some strange looks sometimes,” Hassan said. “Most students ask what I am doing.”
Hassan, who works part time for Information Technology Services, usually finds an empty classroom in Hinton Center to pray in.
“You can pray just about anywhere,” he said, “I would pray outside under a tree before I knew I could use an empty room.”
Hassan, along with other Muslims, is required to take part in Salat, a formal prayer that occurs five times each day.
According to the “Undergraduate Student Profile,” the University has seen a rise in Muslim students from 61 in fall 2008 to 73 in fall 2009, making up 3.1 percent of the student population.
Daniel A. Brubaker, instructor of Christianity who is a doctoral student in religious study at Rice University specializing in the early history of the written Quran and Hadith material, said that in Salat, only the Quran is recited.
He said the Fatiha, or opening, occurs frequently, but that other passages may be chosen depending on time.
“It is not prayer in the sense of talking with God as in Christianity or Judaism,” Brubaker said. “Rather, it is a formal series of prostrations and recitation of verses from the Quran.”
Brubaker said the practice of facing toward Mecca during prayer has been done since soon after Muhammad immigrated to Medina in 623 A.D.
Senior Asha Hussein, Hassan’s cousin, said some people find it hard to pray everyday, but she plans her days according to the prayer times and where she might be.
“Prayer purifies your soul,” Hussein said. “It helps you to not have so much pride in yourself. You realize that there is a higher being in control.”
Hussein said she usually prays in the library, but she also prays in the Prayer Room in Atwood I.
“I don’t think a lot of people know about it,” Hussein said. “You would be surprised. When I go in there, it is empty or there is only one person praying.”
The prayer rooms across campus give students locations to pray in, but many Muslim students still use empty classrooms.
Senior Kalthoom Bouderdaben said she usually tries to find an empty classroom but recently prayed in a stairwell because all of the classrooms were being used.
Bouderdaben said she prefers a carpeted area for comfort but has no specific area set out for prayer on campus.
Finding a place on campus to pray has not proven difficult to these students, but sometimes class can interfere with prayer.
Hassan said, as a biology major, his three-hour labs sometimes conflict with the prayer times, but he always makes sure to pray right after class.
Hussein said prayer for her is important and that she makes sure to tell her professors beforehand if she has to leave to pray.
All three students said they have not found praying on campus too difficult and have had a good experience attending the predominately Christian university.
“For me, it was important to find a university like this that has God in its mission statement,” Hassan said.
Mauricio Guerrero contributed to this report.
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