Posted on 09/30/2006 3:15:49 AM PDT by Doctor13
The Muslim month of Ramadan is being celebrated in Windsor Castle with the blessing of the Queen, it was revealed.
A special prayer room has been set aside in Her Majesty's favourite residence for the Islamic month of fasting.
The room is being used by just one person who works in the gift shops at the castle.
Every workday at 1.30pm visitor services assistant Nagina Chaudhry locks herself in the room to roll out her prayer mat and point it towards Mecca.
She then dons her hijab - headscarf - and begins the half-hour lunchtime prayer required of all Muslims during Ramadan.
Miss Chaudhry said she was thrilled when castle bosses allowed her to use a specially-converted office in the historic Saxon Tower.
"It feels amazing to be the first Muslim to read namaz (prayers) at Windsor Castle," said the 19-year-old.
"I was reciting the prayer with more power than usual because I knew I was making history."
University student Miss Chaudhry, who works at the castle for two days a week, said being able to pray during her normal lunchbreak made the fasting easier.
"Ramadan is hard at the start because the days are long and your body's not used to it. At 1.30pm I would normally be going out to lunch, but because I'm praying it seems to go faster.
"The prayer really relaxes me and gives me more energy for the rest of the day."
Miss Chaudhry said she was pleasantly surprised when her request for a special prayer room was granted.
"I was worried that I might not get it because there are so many misconceptions about Islam. I've only worked there for two months, so I was surprised when everybody went out of their way to help me.
"The Queen is the head of the Church of England so it's great to know she respects other people's faith.
"I think I'm the only Muslim who works here so I feel special knowing they've made such an effort for me."
A spokesman for the Royal Household confirmed that the room had been set aside for prayers during Ramadan.
"We have had Muslim employees before who have taken time out to pray, but a decision has been made to make a particular room available during Ramadan," she said.
"There is no cost to the change of use because the office will continue to be used throughout the working week.
The spokesman added that she was not able to say what the Queen's views on the room were, but confirmed that she had been consulted.
"Because this is a decision that has been reached which affects Windsor Castle, the Queen would be aware of the decision," the spokesman added.
I'm not sure, but they're certainly going to have to do some SERIOUS shagging between now and then to overcome an almost 30:1 ratio!
Even that figure is making an assumption that all the people counted as 'Muslim' in the UK census would vote in favour of the introduction of Sharia law. Which is not the case at all.
Absolutely true... there are many Muslims in the UK who love the freedoms here and would not support the introduction of Sharia in any way.
Kidding aside, if muslim birthrates exceed native rates by say 2 to 1 (I think natives are at about 1.5 kids per female, with muslims over 3.0), then your 30:1 ratio will be cut in half in a couple of generations, even without immigration.
LOL: Viz fan, eh?
Immigration to the UK is more strictly controlled than it was 20 years ago and as I said before, our main source of immigrants is now from Eastern European countries that have recently joined the EU. The strength of our economy and low unemployment rate is what attracts them here. We're expecting even more when Romania and Bulgaria join the EU in January!
I wouldn't doubt it one bit. (no sarcasm intended)
Yep, big Viz fan. I spent quite a bit of time in London and got hooked.
On your other post, I truly hope British culture holds on, not that nothing changes in life. If push came to shove, there would come a time when Europeans would say, "enough".
Evidently, the British Daily Mail thought so. I highly doubt one Brit speaks for all Brits.
And prior to that, someone in the Royal Press Office clearly picked up that here was a nice story for the press to show Her Maj being all tolerant as well as caring for her staff.
My employer let me borrow a spare room and a pc in my lunch hour the other week to type up some random personal stuff I was doing, but I fear the press release has been delayed...
Nothing to see here, move along. What if the woman were breastfeeding and they gave her an empty office at lunch to pump in? What if she were Jewish and they gave her short days on Friday in the winter so she could get home before sunset?
Fantastic, lets just enable people to want even more concessions. What happened with the whole, "working" when you're at work thing?
"What happened with the whole, "working" when you're at work thing?"
Pfft, they don't pay me in my lunch hour, I ain't working then! Well, some of the time :(
I don't believe that for a second. If you want to, go ahead.
Or if a sufficiently large minority intimidates enough legislators into going along with implementing Sharia. That's thug politics for you.
It's amazing what concessions you can get in exchange for not burning the cities down in a "long hot summer"
"I don't believe that for a second."
Sorry, which part don't you believe?
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