The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, today called on Morgantown High School in Morgantown, West Virginia, and Monongalia School District to provide Muslim students an adequate place to pray congregational Friday (Jummah) prayers on campus as they had in previous years.
With one week left before school begins, CAIR is calling on administrators to institute a clear Islamic Friday prayer policy and communicate it to students and parents.
SEE: CAIR Letter to School Representatives Requesting Adequate Friday Prayer Space
In a statement, CAIR National Community Advocacy Director Nicole Fauster-Bradford said:
“The school district’s representatives have refused to explain to us why Muslim students can no longer pray in the space they had prayed in for years without incident. Even if their original location is no longer feasible, the students have communicated with several teachers who are willing to volunteer their empty classrooms during the prayer time, which coincides with their lunch period. The closet-sized space district representatives have offered the students is unacceptable and unworkable due to the nature of the prayer.
“Without the ability to properly perform Friday congregational prayers on campus, the students must travel to nearby mosques to pray. The added travel time and traffic causes the students to miss instructional time. With one week left before school begins, the district needs to communicate with its students so those who believe that praying the Friday congregational prayer is required of them can make appropriate arrangements.”
She noted that CAIR offers information for Muslim parents who are seeking advice on religious accommodations, parental involvement in schools and parental notification.
CAIR’s advisory, titled “The Right to Participate in Your Child’s School, Education, and to be Informed,” includes sections on “The Right to Participate in Your Child’s School, Education, and to be Informed” and “The Right to a Reasonable Accommodation.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR also offers a booklet, called “An Educator’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” designed to help school officials provide a positive learning environment for Muslim students.
BACKGROUNDER:
At the beginning of the Fall 2023 school semester, Morgantown High School administrators denied the Muslim students’ renewed request to pray afternoon congregational Friday prayers on campus. The school administrator’s denial was a departure from the status quo, in which students prayed in the school’s computer lab in past years without issue.
It was only after CAIR intervened in April 2024 that Monongalia School District representatives offered the students a closet-sized space that could accommodate three students at a time. Such an arrangement would be impractical because of the nature of the Islamic Friday congregational prayer: an individual delivers a brief sermon and then leads the group, seated in rows, in a prayer that involves bending and prostrating, which must be completed in unison. It would be infeasible to conduct the prayer properly in a closet-like space.
In a June 2024 correspondence to school and district representatives, CAIR explained the nature of the prayer and provided feasible alternatives, including the unoccupied classrooms of teachers who have already volunteered their spaces. A local Imam (Islamic religious leader) met with district representatives to explain how easily Morgantown High School could accommodate the students.
To date, neither district nor high school representatives have communicated with students or their advocates as to whether they will accommodate the students in the way that would be necessary to perform their sincerely held religious beliefs. With only one Friday left before students return to class, the district’s representatives have left students uncertain of how they should proceed.
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com