Are Public University Muslim Foot Washes Really Necessary?

College Life
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<p>College’s foot bath plans spark backlash</p>

<p>Project for Muslim students draws accusation U-M Dearborn is giving faith favored treatment.</p>

<p>Plans to install $25,000 foot baths at the University of Michigan-Dearborn are raising hackles and debate. Here’s a look at the issue.
Supporters say: The stations are a step toward inclusion for Muslim students who must wash body parts – including feet – five times daily before prayers. Student fees, not tax dollars, are footing the bill.
Critics say: The First Amendment bans government from favoring religion. State universities don’t spend money on projects that accommodate one religion, such as bowls of holy water for Catholics. </p>

<p>Should universities provide foot-washing stations for Muslim students, who must ritually wash before prayers? </p>

<p>DEARBORN – The University of Michigan-Dearborn plans to spend $25,000 for foot-washing stations, making it easier for Muslim students to practice their religion but sparking questions about the separation of church and state.</p>

<p>The university claims the stations are needed to accommodate Muslim students, who must ritually wash their bodies – including the feet – up to five times each day before prayers. But critics hit conservative blogs and radio airwaves Monday to argue public money shouldn’t cover the cost.</p>

<p>“Technically, they’ve got a problem, because it’s public money they’re using to pay for this,” said Hal Downs, president of the Michigan chapter of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.</p>

<p>“It’s one of those issues that we’re going to be facing more and more in this community.”</p>

<p>The issue may push hot buttons in Metro Detroit – home to as many as 250,000 Muslims – but in nearby Ypsilanti, no one raised objections when Eastern Michigan University included a private bathroom with a foot-washing area in a new student union that opened in November, said Glenna Frank Miller, its director…
At EMU, the idea of a foot-washing station at the student center building came about in focus groups that were held with hundreds of community members invited to participate in the planning process, Frank Miller said.</p>

<p>“This concept of the foot-wash was coming up fairly regularly for student groups who might want to do a meeting or prayer group in the student center,” she said. “It’s been a lovely touch of appreciation for a prayer ritual that’s just a little different than what most of us are used to.”</p>

<p>From: <a href=“Detroit Local News - Michigan News - Breaking News - detroitnews.com”>Detroit Local News - Michigan News - Breaking News - detroitnews.com;

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<p>no why wud they spend money on this</p>

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<p>I would think that there would be some other way to wash feet. Wouldn’t students have access to showers in PE facilities?</p>

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<p>I’m a Muslim, and I think installing foot washes in universities is totally unnecessary. Honestly, even the thought of it is just plain ridiculous. It’s one thing to be tolerant and try and accommodate things such as holidays, but they shouldn’t be spending $25K to build something like this. That money could certainly go to better use.</p>

<p>Perhaps installing them in the campus’s mosque/islamic center would make sense, but otherwise we can just use the sink like we’ve always done.</p>

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<p>Waste of money…catering to Muslims is not neccasary…</p>

<p>there is no catering to Jews or Christians at Public Uni’s</p>

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<p>Why can’t they just use the sinks? I don’t see a problem with the accommodation, but it isn’t necessary when Muslims usually just use the sink to wash up before they pray.</p>

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<p>On the radio, Ken and Bob were talking about how there is a concern that using the sinks is awkward and might cause a slip and fall - - one foot in the sink and one foot on the floor with water and soap in use. Do you think that is valid?</p>

<p>I, too, think having foot washes in the Islamic Center does make sense.</p>

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<p>It’s a public university funded by taxpayers. There is a seperation of church and state and they definatley crossed it. I don’t see rosaries being handed out to Catholics or any yamika’s for Jewish people. Don’t really understand the constant need to appease Muslims. Insane.</p>

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<p>RTFA</p>

<p>“It’s a public university funded by taxpayers.”</p>

<p>Gallagher argued taxpayer money won’t be used for the foot baths because the $100,000 total bill for the bathrooms is underwritten by a fee students pay for building maintenance.</p>

<p>It’s also worth mentioning that Dearborn is home to the largest Middle-Eastern population outside of the actual Middle East in the world.</p>

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<p>Even if the foot washing basins at a public university are paid for with student fees and not government money, is it fair to collect student fees from non-Muslims to pay for a fixture that only Muslims need? Aren’t the non-Muslims being forced to subsidize the fixtures?</p>

<p>Here is an article about adding foot washing basins at an airport. It describes the particular Muslim foot washing ritual:
"The Kansas City International Airport has added several foot-washing basins in restrooms to accommodate a growing number of Muslim taxicab drivers who requested the facilities to prepare for daily Islamic prayer, WND has learned. </p>

<p>The move concerns airport police who worry about Middle Eastern men loitering inside the building. After 9/11, the airport beefed up its police force to help prevent terrorist attacks. </p>

<p>“Why are we constructing places of worship for them inside our airports?” said an airport official who requested anonymity. “Why are we catering to their rituals? We don’t do it for any other religion.” </p>

<p>Other major airports also are dealing with increased demands from Muslim cabdrivers. </p>

<p>For instance, cabbies at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recently caused a stir when they refused to carry passengers possessing alcoholic beverages or accompanied by seeing-eye dogs. Alcohol is forbidden in Islam, and dogs are considered unclean. </p>

<p>There are approximately 250 taxicab drivers operating at KCI Airport in Missouri, one of the largest airports in the U.S., linking some 10 million passengers between mid-America and other U.S. cities. Approximately 70 percent of the drivers are of Middle Eastern heritage and practice the Islamic faith, sources say. </p>

<p>KCI Airport Police are responsible for the cab drivers, including the holding areas of the building. The KCI Aviation Department, which oversees the police, recently expanded the taxicab facility restroom area to include the construction of four individual foot-washing benches. </p>

<p>The cost of the project is not immediately known. A spokeswoman for the engineering department said she could not break out the figures. </p>

<p>KCI Airport Police Capt. Jim Harmon declined comment, explaining, “This is a touchy subject.” </p>

<p>He referred questions to the KCI Aviation Department. </p>

<p>In a cleansing ritual known as ablution, Muslims are required to wash their feet before praying to Allah five times a day. They often complain that public restroom sinks do not accommodate their needs. Floor-level basins make it easier for them to perform their foot-washing ritual. </p>

<p>The Council on American-Islamic Relations has pressed government agencies and businesses to install the foot basins in restrooms. </p>

<p>The controversial Muslim lobby group advises employers to allow Muslim workers time to perform both the washing ritual and prayer, which “is usually about 15 minutes,” according to a pamphlet CAIR publishes called, “An Employer’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices.” </p>

<p>The Islamic purification ritual, known in Arabic as “wudu,” involves a 10-step process, which includes: </p>

<ol>
<li>Praising Allah while washing both hands up to the wrist three times, making sure that the water reaches between fingers and under rings. </li>
<li><p>Rinsing out the mouth thoroughly three times, using the right hand (the one not used for cleaning private parts) to bring the water to the mouth. </p></li>
<li><p>Snorting water into the nostrils from the right hand, three times, to cleanse them of demons that Muslims believe reside there, clearing the passages of any mucous using the left hand. </p></li>
<li><p>Washing off the tip of the nose with the left hand. </p></li>
<li><p>Washing the entire face three times from right ear to left ear. </p></li>
<li><p>Continuing to wash from forehead to throat. </p></li>
<li><p>Washing the right arm and then the left arm, three times, from the wrist up to the elbow, removing watches. </p></li>
<li><p>Moving wetted palms over the head from the top of the forehead to the back of the head. </p></li>
<li><p>Passing the wetted tips of the fingers into the grooves and holes of both ears, and also passing the wetted thumbs behind the ears and ear lobes. </p></li>
<li><p>Finally, washing both feet to the ankles starting with the right foot, including between the toes, then reciting: “Ash-hadu an la ilaha illal lahu wa ashhadu anna Muammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh” – meaning there is no god but Allah and he has no partners, and Muhammad is his servant and messenger."</p></li>
</ol>

<p><a href=“http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55417[/url]”>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55417&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I’m not Muslim by any stretch of imagination, but I seriously think that they’d be sort of useful just for washing my feet because they can get fairly dirty after walking around in flip flops, especially when it starts raining, and I don’t want to take a shower, but maybe I’m the only one who is that OCD about foot cleanliness, not sure if that’s enough to compel me to pay extra fees, but whatever.</p>

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<p>Im sick of PC people, catering to Muslims, when its totally inapproriate.</p>

<p>My parents tax money should never go to a foot wash…thats ridiculous.</p>

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<p>I know these issues are somewhat different at public universities than private universities, but I think I would support the construction of such a facility on my own campus, especially if it were more in-line with the Eastern Michigan University of incorporating such plans with an on-going project. Though I can’t say that any of my Muslim friends have ever brought it up, it was much more important to them that a room be made available for prayer (this room is shared by other religious organizations on campus as well - we don’t have a chapel). It does seem to make sense from a safety standpoint - I have difficulty enough performing the balancing act to wash my feet in the shower (because I wear flip flops), and can imagine it would be just as inconvenient in a small sink. </p>

<p>I think it’s unfair to say that a strict separation of church and state exists on many public campuses - tax dollars pay for the salaries of university chaplains, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders who are generally present on university campuses. They pay for the facilities religious groups use, subsidize trips and fund other activities held by religious clubs/organizations. I know at my own school you can request kosher meals. </p>

<p>I guess I feel that anything that could make a group of students should feel more welcome is probably an idea worth considering. I would hope that such accommodations wouldn’t be dismissed on the grounds that they don’t benefit all students - funding for better lab equipment for a nursing program doesn’t benefit me, but that doesn’t mean spending my money on it is a bad idea.</p>

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<p>There is an article about ritual foot washing on wikipedia under Wudu.</p>

<p>Also, in Australia, there are separate Muslim only restrooms at universities. There is no tradition of church/state separation in Australia.</p>

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<p>How do Muslims usually handle their ritual bathing when they’re not at home? Muslims are throughout our society, so are used to not having a special facility to do their rituals. How do they normally perform those acts? Seems that since they manage to do without special foot baths normally, it wouldn’t be necessary to install such objects at universities.</p>

<p>I hope some Muslim weighs in on this thread as I’d like to hear their thoughts, and don’t currently know any Muslims to ask about this.</p>

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<p>First of all, this is Dearborn, Michigan we’re talking about… Muslims are not going to be a tiny minority there! Heck, I’m sure this will make it easier for non-Muslims who’re using the bathrooms at prayer times (imagine going to wash your hands after peeing and finding all of the sinks occupied by people who are having to contort themselves to wash their feet… and from what I’ve heard about the area, this isn’t a far-fetched image). It’s not like universities bend over backwards to find reasons to spend more money on bathroom fixtures; it sounds like adding foot-washes would be more convenient for everyone.</p>

<p>As for separation of church and state… at my university, public funds recently went toward building a new kosher cafeteria. No uproar over that, nor should there have been–a university needs to serve the needs of its student population; at my school that meant a kosher cafeteria, in Dearborn it means foot-washes. </p>

<p>Not to mention several people seem to have missed the part of the article where it explicitly states that student fees, not taxes, are being used to fund the renovations.</p>

<p>School funds at any university, including public ones, frequently go toward things that are only designed to serve a portion of the school’s population. Student fees at my school pay for programs run by the Muslim Student Association even though not everyone’s Muslim, the Catholic Campus Ministry even though not everyone’s Catholic, Hillel even though not everyone’s Jewish, LGBTA even though not everyone’s queer, La Table Ronde even though not everyone speaks French, and the Ballroom Dance Club even though not everyone likes to dance! Student funds should go to serve the students’ needs and interests, period, whether the university is public or private. In this case, UMich-Dearborn decided the best way for them to do that was by adding some stuff to their bathrooms, so why should we second guess their assessment of what would make their own students’ lives easier?</p>

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<p>Well, I am muslim and I think public footwashes are completely unnecessary. It is nice to maybe have them in the Islamic Center but it is not that we can’t do wudu without it. Personally, I have never used a foorwash to do wudu. Filling a container with water from the sink and washing your feet suffices.
I don’t think that University is wrong in spending that money since they are student fees and not tax money, I would rather see that money go into building something better…something more useful.
About the taxi cab drivers asking for a footwash…seperation of church and state! It is quite true that other religions are not accomodated and why should we get preferential treatment?</p>

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<p>Generally, public univerisities do not provide kosher meals at dining halls. Instead, observant Jews go to the Hillel for their meals. That makes sense. Having the footwashes in the Muslim Student Center still makes more sense to me than having them scattered around campus.</p>

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<p>The bottom line is that other religions are not constantly accomadated like Islam. If you think all they want is foot washes in bathrooms, you’re wrong. They also requested at the same university (I’ll try to find the article), Muslim-only housing. Do you support student funding for that too? If you let it go too far all women on college campuses will have to wear head scarves as to not offend some Muslim students. Glad I don’t live in Michigan.</p>

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<p>“The bottom line is that other religions are not constantly accomadated like Islam. If you think all they want is foot washes in bathrooms, you’re wrong…If you let it go too far all women on college campuses will have to wear head scarves as to not offend some Muslim students.”</p>

<p>If you let it get to far? If you think all they want? Some of the comments on this thread are almost reminiscent of McCarthyism, except instead of “Oh no, the commies” it’s “Oh no, the Muslims”. They’re your fellow students, not some organization that’s trying to infiltrate and take over universities. Most universities (including public universities) offer special interest housing - it’s quite common to find housing options affiliated with Hillel, Muslim housing, GLBTA housing, same-sex housing, substance free housing, Asian or Spanish housing, etc. Many universities offer Kosher and Halal meal plans at their dining halls (you can see a list of services offered by Brown here: <a href=“Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED) | Brown University)%5B/url%5D”>Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED) | Brown University)</a>. I don’t understand what the big deal is. It might be a little ridiculous to construct these facilities if they weren’t planning on renovating the bathrooms to begin with, but I don’t understand how having them at all is any different from the options most colleges and universities already offer to satisfy the needs of students on campus.</p>