What prompted this blog?
It’s this column, that complains about the lack of prayer
rooms (Mescid) at my Alma Mater,
Bosphorus University.
The author is among the new cohort of pious, vocal and
dare-I-say liberal women journalists,
who came under the spotlight after the headscarf protests in Turkish
universities in 2007-8.
Full disclosure: I supported her and the free headscarf
movement wholeheartedly at the time. I believe women should not be made to
choose between their education and their religious beliefs. It’s ludicrous for
the state to micromanage people’s clothing, especially when they’re mature
adults!
But this time, I beg to disagree…
 |
| South Campus, BU |
What’s the issue?
Bosphorus University has multiple campuses: South, North,
Hisar, Ucaksavar and Kilyos Campuses. South is the oldest campus, but most
departments, classrooms, the library, dorms, university bookstore, etc are up
on the North campus. There is a small mosque right at the entrance of the North
campus.
Students who observe the 5-times per day prayer rule of
Islam, want a designated space in the South campus for this purpose.
The columnist above, who is also an Alumnus of Bosphorus
university (Sociology), claims that this is an “ontological right”.
Furthermore, she says 10 minutes between classes is not enough time to go up to
the mosque on North campus. Therefore, the University has to accommodate this
demand, and provide a prayer room at the South Campus.
Now, lets be frank:
The only times the students would need a prayer room during
class times would be the noon & afternoon prayers, and possibly the evening
(in winter times).
Depending on the time of the year, there are 2 to 5 hour
windows for Muslims to complete each of these prayer duties.
Noon & afternoon prayers are not short. They have 4
parts, as opposed to 2 parts in the morning & 3 parts in the evening.
Even if there were a dedicated prayer room in the South, 10
minutes between classes is NOT sufficient time. You’ll need to run over there, walk
up or down stairs (always stairs, NO ELEVATORS in South!), wash your
hands-face-feet, get yourself back in order, line up, concentrate on the
prayer, rush all the verses, salute, dress up & pack, and run over to the
next class. Again, numerous stairs obstructing your way… In short, prayer-in-10-mins
argument does not pass the reality check.
Aside from the unrealistic nature of a 10-minute prayer
break, there is the issue of “ontological” rights to prayer.
I support a wide range of rights and causes, all the way
from rights to express your native identity & language, religious duties, to
rights of workers to a decent wage and parental rights to provide for their
new-born babies without the fear of losing their jobs, to free expression of
ideas, students’ right to protest peacefully, sexual rights, handicapped
people’s access to services, etc, etc…
However, I would never be able to line up these rights
hierarchically and say: “Hey, you know, a mother’s right to paid leave for 12
months is an ‘ontological’ right! I just gave birth to a baby! I need to take
care of him/her. It’s about life & death, no? Give me my high order right
and back off, you foolish advocates of lower level rights!”
Tell that to the workers and union
leaders in Argentina, who were dumped into the Atlantic by the military regime,
for fighting for a decent pay and decent living.
Tell that to the activists in gay
movements, who are still brutally beaten up by law enforcement and ostracized
by their societies in many parts of the world, for trying to live a life that
is true to their personality.
Tell that to all the indigenous and
minority populations, who have been fighting for decades if not centuries, to
be accepted as who they are, with equal rights and dignity.
I don’t understand why people can be so utterly self-righteous,
when it comes to religious rights. Why should religion be an ontological right,
triumphing over all else? Why should one’s self-identity, motherhood, or demands
for a decent wage in exchange for their hard labor would count LESS THAN
religious rights?
Lets leave ontology for a minute, and go back to basic
empirical facts:
South campus is prime real estate no matter how you look at
it. The historic heart of the campus is protected by numerous zoning laws, most
famous of being the Law for the Protection of Bosphorus View. Practically, this
means the university cannot develop the area it sits on.
 |
| Kilyos Campus, BU |
There are innumerable competing interests and demands on
campus. The English prep school (YADYOK) for instance –that every student has to attend
unless s/he passes an extremely hard proficiency exam- has NO SPACE to put
classrooms. So it ships all its students across the city to the Kilyos campus,
which is essentially a beach town along the Black Sea! These poor kids cannot
see the marvelous campus they’re entitled to study for a whole year! All they
have in the name of Bosphorus University is a long beach and cold winds from
the mad Black Sea beating up their walls. Oh, and lots of humidity and mold…
Second, office space is scarce in South. Multiple faculty
members with Ivy League degrees –literally- share tiny offices cramped under
sloping roofs lines.
Third, regular capacity cannot meet the demand. Under
pressure from Turkey’s Higher Ed. Council (YOK) to increase enrollment, BU is
having a hard time to seat and accommodate its ever-growing number of
students. Hence, every bit of space, including under the stairs & old
closets, are used for something, at times very creatively: toilets under the
stairs, copy rooms & coffee rooms inside closets, etc… A dorm room in South
Campus is the most precious thing a student can get in his/her entire college
life! I had one, shared with 11 (in writing: eleven!) roommates. It was totally
worth it, despite the awful metal bunk-beds, non-stop cacophony and insurmountable
mess.
 |
| 1st Girls Dormitory, South Campus, BU |
My point: please stop demanding special treatment, and
pretending that this is the most compelling case for space on South campus.
BU is the most liberal university in Turkey that not only
welcomes students from all walks of life, but also helps them flourish. It is a
rare gem, given the suffocating atmosphere in other universities across the
country.
Let us all be reasonable, and NOT beat the tree that bears good fruit.
The freedom loving, controversy-weary Academic Mommy
