Making A Nice Place for Salat

[Sailor Sam]

I have a new work underling, who I recently discovered in a back corner of grungy warehouse during her midday salat. She chose the space for its privacy, and she clearly doesn't want to become a spectacle, but it's a fucking grungy warehouse. Not cool.

Since I'm in charge around here, I've decided to solve the problem. I've emptied out 2 spare cubes, and removed the divider. It's spacious. Whoop! It's also grey, industrial, stark, and depressing. It needs to be better. I'm not Muslim, so I'm not certain what sort of decorations would, or would not be appropriate. I'd ask the underling, but I outrank her by 9 grades and she's kinda terrified of my very existence.

Any do's, or don'ts for making an inviting prayer space?

[G-dog]

This is awesome. I am of the faith - but found this:
Generally, Islamic law requires cleanliness in the place of prayer (musalla) as well. It must be clean, and devoid of human images; some might insist it be devoid of all images. Traditional mosques have only calligraphic inscriptions, geometric designs, and highly stylized designed sometimes called “floral” although they do not look like actual flowers. Others have religious images, for example a depiction of the Pilgrimage or the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. Nevertheless, no decorations can be in front of a believer doing the prayer that might be construed as an object of veneration. It’s best to pray in a place set aside for prayer, such as a mosque, and in which the believer can concentrate on his prayers during the time required for them.

The place should be demarcated for prayer. Shoes are never worn in a prayer space, even when it is used for non-religious purposes, or visited by non-Muslims. The practice of using a prayer rug reflects that fact that most Muslims would consider a rug to be a satisfactory way of assuring the prayer location was demarcated and clean.

Finally, Islamic tradition demands that prayer not be interrupted by people or animals passing in front of the person performing the prayer. This may be accomplished by prayer in a mosque or musalla set up in such a way that this cannot happen. It is less typical to pray in such a way that the believer is right against a wall preventing people or animals to pass in front. Islamic tradition recounts that Muhammad set a sword or camel saddle in front of his place of prayer to serve as a demarcation. In these accounts, it is noted that a dog or camel passed in front of the Prophet, and it did invalidate his prayer, or even that his wife Aisha lay in front of him, but without moving, that is, she did not pass through the space in front of him, which also did not invalidate his prayer.

[ElleFiji]

I like you. You are an excellent overlord

And yes, a prayer rug is the key thing.

[CheapskateWife]

SS, I am so encouraged when people in charge decide to make things better for their underlings.  You are a wonderful person!

[FLBiker]

Very cool!  One thing that I've noticed is / would be (depending on the building) appreciated here (I work in international ed w/ lots of Muslim students) is a place to easily wash up (including feet) afterwards.  Not directly related to decor, obviously, but I just wanted to put it out there.

[deborah]

Yes! Somewhere to wash yourself nearby is very useful. I'm sure you could get some Islamic style pictures for the sides of the room that don't face Mecca - like these https://www.google.com.au/search?q=izmir+tiles&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwir877YpNLTAhUDJZQKHREIDEAQ7AkIMw&biw=1319&bih=654

Muslims face mecca to pray, so it is useful to have a mark indicating the proper direction. There should be no images in front of the person praying.

[Sailor Sam]

Okay, someone rightfully pointed out all employees deserve a quite and joyful space, to send 5 minutes decompressing. The cube is now called the Take Five Room.

Progress:

1. Cut up some 6" diameter PVC pipes into 4' lengths, and mounted them on a cube wall. Rug storage!

2. Bought 2 rugs, for prayer use. Put them into the pipes.

3. Ordered a nice-ish chair (gov't office nice. don't expect too much), for people who would prefer to sit.

4. Hung a length of insulating and soundproofing curtain across entry, for privacy. Tied it back on one side.

5. Ordered 3 wall hangings for the interior walls, in bright and cheerful fabrics. An islamic calligraphy in the shape of a bush, a line drawing of early Jerusalem, and a decorative copy of the preamble to the US Constitution. God(s) and country; check.

6. Found a decoratively stitched M. Originally to mark the direction of Mecca, but now I know there shouldn't be anything directly in front of the person praying. Soooo, anyone want a decorative M..?

7. Ordered a white noise machine. Probably more for the quiet sitters, and meditators.

8. Framed some ground rules for use, and hung outside by the entry way. Curtain open = unoccupied. Curtain closed = occupied. Time limit not to exceed 15 minutes. Don't be an asshole, so we can all have nice things.

9. I can't plumb water in, but I bought an old fashioned ewer, pitcher, and stand. A middling solution, as long as people are willing to dumb the ewer into the sink once finished. If it gets gross, out it goes.

 

[ElleFiji]

You should tell petrie this story, when she is close enough to jump you. I assume it will have the appropriate effect on her.

Very well done

[Meowkins]

I have a new work underling, who I recently discovered in a back corner of grungy warehouse during her midday salat. She chose the space for its privacy, and she clearly doesn't want to become a spectacle, but it's a fucking grungy warehouse. Not cool.

Since I'm in charge around here, I've decided to solve the problem. I've emptied out 2 spare cubes, and removed the divider. It's spacious. Whoop! It's also grey, industrial, stark, and depressing. It needs to be better. I'm not Muslim, so I'm not certain what sort of decorations would, or would not be appropriate. I'd ask the underling, but I outrank her by 9 grades and she's kinda terrified of my very existence.

Any do's, or don'ts for making an inviting prayer space?

T_T YOU ARE THE BEST. SUCH THE BEST. I <3 YOU. Seriously dude. You are a fucking awesome manager and leader. No where have I ever worked that treated its employees with such respect and thoughtfulness.

I read your list! This prayer space is better than my own at home! Daang.

I think the decorate M is actually fine, TBH, and very practical. It's just a letter, if it were of a person or animal, that might be a problem.

Muslim ablution is really messy, so I don't think anyone will avail themselves of the pitcher, except to drink, but worth a shot! What would be more useful is a private bathroom and, if that's not possible, a message to staff that sometimes people of different faiths clean with water, so let people doing that live their lives (so long as they're not making the floor an awful mess) without too much invasive questioning. You could also leave a little watering can next to the toilets, since Muslims clean themselves with water in addition to toilet paper to maintain a state of ablution. HOWEVER, that can also be a janitorial/housecleaning mess if people get lazy or stupid about it, so up to you. I just use damp paper towels while I'm at work because I hate cold water on my hoohah anyway.

Also, Ramadan is coming up, so you might want to make special allowance for Muslims to use the Take Five Room for brief naps instead of lunch breaks... if the military allows that sort of thing...

I think that's all I know!

[rockstache]

+1 to the awesomeness of SS as stated above.

[G-dog]

How is this going? Any changes to the space or rules? Any push back by others?

This, is a great thing!

[Dicey]

T_T YOU ARE THE BEST. SUCH THE BEST. I <3 YOU. Seriously dude. You are a fucking awesome manager and leader.

There, that's even better.

[Sailor Sam]

Well. Preen, preen.

People like the space.

Thanks for the feedback!