Muslim Prayer Rooms...

[buddhafly]

no buddhist meditation rooms

no christian chapels

why the special muslim rooms?

[Crossy]

Recently covered here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=130233

and closed, I suspect this thread will go the same way for the same reasons.

And no, it doesn't worry me, I can talk to my god wherever I am, special space or clothing not required

[sbk]

Perhaps because the Islamic religion has stricter requirements regarding prayer than Buddhism or Christianity.

Prayer is obligatory and must be performed five times a day. These five times are dawn (Fajr), immediately after noon (Dhuhr), mid-afternoon ('Asr), sunset (Maghrib), and early night (Isha'). Ritual cleanliness and ablution are required before prayer, as are clean clothes and location, and the removal of shoes.

What does it matter to you if they have a special room? Do you require a chapel to pray in before you fly? Perhaps you should contact the airport and request one.

[sbk]

And I think cdnvic covered it quite succinctly in that thread.

6. yes, different cultures make travel more interesting, but should I be made/forced to subsidize things for others, like paying for muslim prayer rooms, when there are no other prayer rooms, or "reflection rooms", for non-believers/heathens like me?

Thailand is made up predominately of Buddhists and Muslims. There is a section for monks, and a prayer room for Muslims.

There is a section for non believers and heathens, and it charges an arm and a leg for a small Singha.

Perhaps a perusal of this rehashed topic in the thread Crossy points out will remind everyone why it got closed in the first place

Lets all try to abide by the forum rules

[garro]

Why would anybody even notice how many prayer rooms there are for different faiths.

Does the OP normally go around counting them to make sure his own faith isn't being under-represnted.

This is just my opinion but tolerance seems to have more relevace to Buddhism than catchy nicknames and t-shirts.

[taxexile]

What does it matter to you if they have a special room? Do you require a chapel to pray in before you fly? Perhaps you should contact the airport and request one.

most major airports in the west and elsewhere in non muslim countries have a chapel and a muslim prayer rooms available for those who wish to pray.

i don't know for sure , but i doubt that there are chapels available for the use of christians in the airports of muslim countries. perhaps someone can confirm or otherwise.

i would imagine that topics like this are posted because people feel that whilst the governments/ authorities of non muslim countries will accommodate the needs of muslims , the governments/ authorities of muslim countries will not accommodate the needs of those of other faiths.

is it still an imprisonable offence to import a bible into saudi?

statements of facts do not equate with racism and if a muslim prayer room is provided then i think rooms for those of other faiths to worship should be provided. i'm sure if they were provided then they would be used often by those with strong religious beliefs.

jeezus mary and buddha ! they even managed to provide half a dozen rooms for smokers at don muang.

[lotus eater]

As a general rule one can expect a country to provide religious facilities to reflect the composition of its population. Thailand, as has been pointed out above, is a buddhist and muslim country. (Christianity, hinduism, sikkhism are very, very distant 'also rans'.)

In the major western european countries muslims constitute substantial minorities, so it isn't surprizing to find facilities for them - in addition to chapels.

It doesn't make sense - culturally, historically or in terms of financial resources, in addition to the above population factors - to compare arab countries with european ones. Where there are sizeable christrian minorites (eg Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt) I would expect that there probnably are christian facilities.

Why do so many find it impossible to restrain their animosities towards muslims when they are guests in a partially muslim and wholly tolerant country like Thailand?

[Amethyst]

no buddhist meditation rooms

no christian chapels

why the special muslim rooms?

To get the correct answer Why not you ask the AOT Office > http://www2.airportthai.co.th/airportnew/s...act.asp?lang=en

Get back to us when u get to know the answer lol

[londonthai]

you don't go to the airport to pray, I would think that some non-muslims first time fliers would pray only on a take off or during bumpy landing.

as an atheist on my long layovers in the airports I was checking prayers rooms just from the boredom - they are all empty with an exception of mini-mosques. A good place to have a nap if there are no other quieter places.

[jeffer]

why does anyone even care unless you're muslim yourself

next!

[Naam]

Why do so many find it impossible to restrain their animosities towards muslims when they are guests in a partially muslim and wholly tolerant country like Thailand?

some clowns get extremely bored when they have finished poking their noses. then -instead of washing their hands- they start completely irrelevant threads like "why is it that...?" as simple as that.

[tw25rw]

no buddhist meditation rooms

no christian chapels

why the special muslim rooms?

So they don't have to put their mat down in a public area where people will step over them, take pictures, drink alcohol etc etc during their private moment.

[Andiamo]

Why do so many find it impossible to restrain their animosities towards muslims when they are guests in a partially muslim and wholly tolerant country like Thailand?

some clowns get extremely bored when they have finished poking their noses. then -instead of washing their hands- they start completely irrelevant threads like "why is it that...?" as simple as that.

Totally Agree - Good posts Lotus Eater and Naam.

[Ollie]

Personally, I'd be offended if I had to watch a muslim say whatever he wants to say to his particular God in an open space, prayer mat and all. So it works both ways when considering why they need their own room.

[sfokevin]

There are 10 bars for every Prayer room at the airport- why are you complaining?...

[Rumpole]

is it still an imprisonable offence to import a bible into saudi?

Yes. And only in Saudi. Whilst I cannot recall seeing chapels in any of the Middle Eastern airports I have used; population centres in Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Yemen all have Christian places of worship of various denominations. You will also find copies of the bible and other non-Muslim religious tracts on sale in the bookshops (and the Gulf States do not have significant indigenous non-Muslim minorities). The Saudis are no more representative of Islam and the Middle East than the Amish are representative of Christianity and the West.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Rumpole

[nonthaburial]

Not just the Airport, Impact Arena also has its fair share of Prayer rooms also.

[Kerryd]

Most religions allow their adherents to pretty much pray where ever, when ever, how ever they want. No rules on which way to face, or which position to be in at the time.

Islam how ever, requires its followers to pray 5 times per day, while kneeling and facing the direction of Mecca. Even on some airlines, the "map" channel (that shows your point of origin and destination as you are flying) will even have an arrow pointing the current direction to Mecca (though I haven't seen anyone get down in the aisle and start praying, yet).

Can you imagine the chaos in the departure areas if hundreds (or thousands) of Muslims were laying out prayer mats and praying at all hours of the day and night ? Having the prayer rooms gives them a place where they can fulfill their religious requirements, without infringing on the rest of the travellers and staff.

Most major airports will have taken such matters into consideration, as they would not want to give up a potential revenue-earning spot out of the goodness of their corporate hearts, unless the alternative (i.e. no prayer rooms) would create more chaos than it's worth.

[Andiamo]

Personally, I'd be offended if I had to watch a muslim say whatever he wants to say to his particular God in an open space, prayer mat and all. So it works both ways when considering why they need their own room.

What a strange comment to make!...... Why should YOU be offended? Nobody did anything to you.

Seriously, this topic has been rehashed so many times, I really cannot understand the fascination with it.

Live and let live and each to his own is my motto. Peace to all - whichever Religion you believe in (or don't believe in).

Edited November 12, 2007 by Andiamo

[Ollie]

Personally, I'd be offended if I had to watch a muslim say whatever he wants to say to his particular God in an open space, prayer mat and all. So it works both ways when considering why they need their own room.

What a strange comment to make!...... Why should YOU be offended? Nobody did anything to you.

Not strange, I don't particularly like religion rammed down my throat - especially as visual as one like Islam when in prayer. I was arguing in favour of the prayer room for my consideration as well as there's. Why is that an issue? No idea what you mean by saying nobody did anything to me?

.

[Alf Witt]

Anyone who is seriously interested in these issues should read two books:

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and

"The End of Faith" by Sam Harris.

Also recommended for "believers" to test their belief.

[cdnvic]

Anyone who is seriously interested in these issues should read two books:

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and

"The End of Faith" by Sam Harris.

Also recommended for "believers" to test their belief.

Nobody's debating the merits of religion here. Your argument is for another time, and another topic.

[dutchrdam]

I think the best thing for buddhafly and his fellow people who feel them discriminated is not to come to Thailand. Nobody did force you to come here and if you don’t like it please leave and don’t come back.

Regards

[jackspratt]

Clearly this is another Suvarnabhum scam, designed to rip off the poor unsuspecting traveler. I believe it is controlled by the Mosque mafia, and with the full complicity of the police, customs, excise, AOT and King Power.

What sort of a message does it give to arriving passengers, who have yet to run the gauntlet of the blue jacketed excise rogues, the orange jacketed transport touts, overwhelming numbers of duty free shops, and finally the taxi mafia.

God (or maybe in this case, Mohamed) help us all.

[londonthai]

at this tage it's still free and not obligatory to go there - things might change when the demand is higher for the floor space in the mini mosque.

[Alf Witt]

Anyone who is seriously interested in these issues should read two books:

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and

"The End of Faith" by Sam Harris.

Also recommended for "believers" to test their belief.

Nobody's debating the merits of religion here. Your argument is for another time, and another topic.

Nor am I debating the merits of religion. I am drawing attention to the availability of two books, particularly that of Richard Dawkins, which deals in some detail with the question posed by the OP as to "why the special treatment" accorded to religious groups.

What, plese, precisly was my "argument" to which you are referring? I don't recall having taken any position in my post.

Presumably you have read both books from cover to cover and decided that they are totally irrelevant to the OP's question or you believe that such questions are deserving of only superficial answers!

Edited November 13, 2007 by Alf Witt

[corkscrew]

Anyone who is seriously interested in these issues should read two books:

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and

"The End of Faith" by Sam Harris.

Also recommended for "believers" to test their belief.

Also, Sam Harris' "God is Not Great".

[taxexile]

Sam Harris' "God is Not Great".

do you mean "god is not great" by christopher hitchens ??

[Naam]

Anyone who is seriously interested in these issues should read two books:

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and

"The End of Faith" by Sam Harris.

Also recommended for "believers" to test their belief.

Also, Sam Harris' "God is Not Great".

he is a dwarf?

[corkscrew]

Sam Harris' "God is Not Great".

do you mean "god is not great" by christopher hitchens ??

My mistake! You are correct.