... to be annoyed at the Muslim who prays next to me in work?

[Beethoven]

I share a small office with two other people. A new guy has started who's a muslim, and will roll out his mat and start praying behind me. I know it doesn't hurt me, but I feel a little uncomfortable for the few minutes that he does it.

Am I being an unreasonable bigot?

aurynne - it has to be an 80k journey before it counts as travel so unless you were being very nice to them they really don't know what they're talking about. They also have to make it up later.

OP - I don't think you're unreasonable to be uncomfortable. Like others, I sincerly doubt he's praying in public out of choice. Is it worth investigating whether there's anywhere else he could pray (a meeting room, a (large) stationary cupboard not a toilet - that's forbidden) and then discussing with him how you worry about disturbing him and give him another option. If there is no where else (which is possible in a small office) then just have an open discussion about how you worry about disturbing him and what is/isn't ok for you to do whilst praying.

If there's nowhere else for him to pray I think you have to put up with him doing it in front of you - particularly in Ramadan as it's especially important for him to do the prayers.

Oh and I have been wished Happy Easter/Merry Christmas by many, many muslims. I also know quite a few who have Christmas trees and 'celebrate' Christmas.

Aurynne, were were these Muslims you worked with from? The only Muslims I know of, who do not consider alcohol as haram (forbiden), are Alevis (not sure of spelling) who are as far as I know only represented in Turkey and tend to be a minority there too.

Other than that the only Mulsims I can think of who drink are just not practising their religion properly and chances are they would certainly not be bothering you with their praying mats.

"I am sure Allah will love to hear of how easily He was fooled when all these people get to see him face to face."

Or maybe they will not love it so much when they realise He has not indeed be fooled.

I second what bedubabe said WRT travel rules.

I think you have the right to be annoyed about it. He should show a bit more respect to others around him i.e find a quiet room where he's not going to bother anyone or could he not go out to a Mosque if there was one nearby. I've nothing against people praying, but it can be done on the quiet without offending anyone else.

The guy might argue that he has the right to pray in this way at work for all to hear. This is obviously not the same thing, but a nursing mother has the right to express milk in the workplace for her baby, but she isn't going to just get her breast out and express in front of the whole office (well I wouldn't). She'd more than likely find a clean quiet place to do it, so not to make others feel uncomfortable.

Aurynne
that is funny. Come on though, there are always people who try to find loopholes in anything! I think the point about believing in god is that s/he knows what goes on in your head, so you're unlikely to get away with it lol...

My DH is a lax muslim (drinks alcohol 10 months of the year, had premarital sex, doesn't pray except during ramadan) but he is not a hyprocrite - his religion is only for his own benefit and he knows he's the only one who would suffer if he broke his fast for example, because he'd feel guilty. He wouldn't even break his fast when I was in labour and could have done with him having his wits about him....

It would piss me off I'm afraid. Yes he can pray, but there is no need to do it aloud or publicly and I do think that is likely to be annoying for other workers. I agree with whoever said religion should be a private matter as far as humanly possible. Otherwise anyone can say "well my religion requires me to sit on my arse reading grazia for half the morning". If you have to respect religious behaviour in this way, how do you decide which religions count and how much religious behaviour to allow and where the dividing line is where it starts to get in the way of other people trying to do their work?

This is one of the main problems with "respecting" religion for me.

However having said that I also used to get annoyed by all sorts of other office behaviour too - people spending half the day on fag breaks, having loud personal phone conversations, etc. and that is why I went freelance and work at home.

aurynne, I read '....having to jump over a praying mantis...'

It's probably a bit like expressing at work. You'd like a warm quiet very private place to do it, but if that's not available you're still going to to it, so you get on with what you can, best you can.

I have a colleague that snorts gunk in his throat - I love him but he's being doing this for the whole time we've worked together. it's quite disgusting. I'd much rather he prayed.

YABU especially the way you titled the thread.

What you can do is maybe ask him to do it more privately. Personally in our office no one would have been able to do it because it was noisy and everyone walked around. But I am sure he can find a slightly quieter corner.

Muslim cab/bus drivers have refused to take guidedogs on board....against their religion apparently?

unless this country does something now to stop all this madnes we will be taken over by religion....

So in answer to the op...yanbu.

twas only a matter of time before Daftpunk waded into this thread spouting her usual.

Valium did anyone ever refuse to wash the Ash off?

here

Havent read the whole thread so excuse if repeating anything. I don't think YABU.I would find it uncomfortable just because its out of the ordinary and I don't share his beliefs and would be wondering whether I should be there or not. Obviously if he needs to pray then thats it but can you not have a quiet chat with your line manager to enquire about finding him a room.

BrightLight's, experience with a christian wanting her to remove 'pagan trappings' is the kind of thing that bothers me. One group (Muslim, Christian or whatever) thinking that their special requirements trump everyone else's.

Mind you it's changed a lot since my day when people were expected to spend their time in work actually working. Aside from official breaks we didn't smoke, write emails, txt friends, post on forums, pray or play monopoly etc. I wish I could still work cos I think I'd find this new casual, part work, part socialising thing more fun than I remember it.

at Onagar.
Hear hear!

Unless it is affecting your ability to work why does it matter?

Riven, pray [sic] be more original. This DM drivel is just so dull.

Not sure why the DM is seen as dull...the vast majority of what they report appears in other papers...

they are just reporting the news, possibly why they are called a newspaper?

& what they report may seem dull to you...but you'd probably have DM journos asleep within 2 minutes

How exactly do you think "pray" should be spelled?

Or do you not know what "[sic]" means?

I have worked in an all-Muslim company and have never seen anyone roll out a mat and start praying. Having lived in a Muslim country, may I also say that I have never heard of anyone doing this, either.

I think I would also be uncomfortable if a colleague rolled out a mat and started praying next to me every day at work, and not because I am a bigot, having lots of deeply religious Muslims in my family and all that.