If you live in the West, or anywhere that isn’t a Muslim country, you’ll realise how difficult it can be to pray in public. Without the athan or call to prayer, a lot of people have turned to technology to know when prayer times are, which is awesome! There are so many different apps nowadays, which make it a lot easier to know when to pray. But it can still sometimes be tricky figuring where to pray.
If you’re like me, sometimes you spend the whole day out and about and it can be very difficult to find a place to offer salah. Depending on where you are at any given time of day, it can be tricky to find a quiet, suitable place.
My first piece of advice when searching to find a place to pray is: ask. It sounds cheesy, but you’ll never know unless you ask! Many multinational corporations and many workplaces now have multi-faith prayer or meditation rooms, and you might just have a prayer room not far from you! Up till a few years ago, I would forgo my salah in fear of embarrassment of asking, and would just pray all my missed salahs at home. But one day I plucked up the courage to ask, and was pleasantly surprised by my employer’s desire to accommodate me! Even if there isn’t a designated prayer room, your manager or supervisor may be able to find an unused room for you.
If you’re a student at college or university, again, there might already be a multi-faith room on your campus. If you’re new to the school, ask around. A good idea is to ask other Muslim girls; you might even make some new friends!
If you’re going to be out and about, and not anywhere where there’ll be empty, unused rooms, try to plan for it. I try to carry a mini prayer mat with me in my purse on days when I know I won’t be able to find an empty room. Try to look for a secluded corner, somewhere out of the way, where you can pray. If you don’t have a prayer mat, you can also use an old shawl or even a piece of paper. It really doesn’t matter what you pray on, as long as the floor is clean.
The point isn’t where you pray or how beautiful your prayer mat is or whether you pray in a room with a closed door; the point is to pray on time.
Those are just a few tips for a problem that many Muslim girls face. Hope you found it useful!
Keep smiling, beautiful girls!
With love.