After six years, the Muslim Student Association has finally acquired a prayer room on campus in Kelly Thompson Hall.
Since its founding in 2019, the MSA chapter has resorted to reserving spaces on campus for their daily prayers and meetings.
The MSA previously met in Cherry Hall 227A on Fridays for the congregational prayer, Jum’ah. They acquired the room from the History Club but were left without a place to pray during the rest of the week. Cherry Hall will be closed for the 2025-2026 school year due to renovations.
Jihad Mansour, the MSA graduate rep, said after an article written about the students searching for a prayer room on campus was published, he received an email from a professor in the biology department offering to help them find space.
“After we walked around the floor, we saw multiple room options,” Mansour said. “We landed on this one, and honestly, this was really nice because we have a (chalk) board, bookshelves, everything.”
A spokesperson from the biology department said the university helped to come through with the space.
Annie Khazi, the MSA president, said that before the prayer room many women would have to pray in public places on campus, such as behind bookshelves.
Even though the room was previously a small office, the students said all they needed was a safe place to practice their faith.
“It’s just not safe to pray in public with a lot of people who have obviously very different opinions living in this country,” Khazi said. “So now we can close the door, and it’s private, nobody can see us and that’s my biggest outcome of this room.”
The MSA currently holds their own key to the room and Khazi said the goal of the prayer room is to have it available to any Muslim as long as the university allows them access.
Dania Khan, the founder of WKU’s MSA chapter, said that having a space for prayer creates a solid grounding for the organization. The chapter had stopped its activities in 2020 shortly after its startup due to COVID-19.
“So now because of this space I think the fear of MSA evaporating like it did during COVID, that will never happen because this room is permanent for us,” Khan said.
Khan said the MSA will be in charge of maintaining the prayer room but all students are welcome to use it.
“We might be in charge of this space because we are maintaining and cleaning but this is a space for whoever walks in,” Khan said. “You don’t even have to be Muslim to walk in so if you want to come in and learn about our faith, you are welcome.”
The prayer room is located on the third floor of Kelly Thompson Hall in room 3040.
