Earlier this year, a prominent WhatsApp message strongly entreated Muslims to use a prayer room at the Kotoka International Airport, KIA, in Accra.
A part of the message alleged that a lack of use could see it closed by authorities - which point I doubted unless the authorities didn't know why they alloted it a space in the first place.
All airports the world over have standards which makes the control tower as important a requirement as a washroom - urinal and toilet. Even before getting to see the KIA mosque, I was lucky to pray and supplicate in the one at the Bole International Airport at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It was holiday season and I was heading back home to Ghana. I was at the Addis Ababa airport after a layover to connect to Accra, I had no need to pray because I dispatched the dawn prayer at a hotel and was due in Accra at midday for the next prayer.
But I needed to use a washroom and that led me to the mosque at the airport. The search for the nearest washroom revealed two other rooms - the prayer and smoking rooms.
The prayer room, subject of this piece, was positioned at the furthest end of the main terminal and had up-to-date support facilities - customized washroom - male and female - and a 'fashionable' ablution area.
A well segregated space for both gender, with a capacity of 20 odd people, fitted with woolen carpets and copies of the Quran and a clear indication of Qiblah - the mandatory direction to face during prayers.
Despite a clear instruction to not sleep in the place, it seems sleeping / lying down is the next most pronounced task undertaken in the facility. I'm told that as dozens troop in to offer prayers at different times of the day, you are like at every point to find someone 'relaxing' after prayers.
In the wake of the WhatsApp message above, a brother also recounted how an airport in the United States had a multi-faith worship room. A trend I saw as emphasizing the new standard of inclusion or tolerance of different faiths if you want.
I have had reason to pray on the premises of two airports aside Bole and KIA, my first was at the Felix Houphuet Boigny airport in Abidjan and then the Maya Maya airport in Brazzaville.
For a Muslim who has been taught that the whole earth is a prayer place, I have prayed on land and in the air - aboard Ethiopian. Muslim air travelers are enjoying significant recognition despite the rising spate of Islamophobia.
It's a matter of time before airports add mosques / prayer places to the likes of control tower, washrooms, check-in counters and immigration booths.
With Addis mosque under my belt, I'm lacing my boots to walk into the KIA terminal mosque. I couldn't access it on arrival because it is only accessible to departing passengers. Fingers crossed as always.
21 Safar 1441 = 20 October, 2019
A part of the message alleged that a lack of use could see it closed by authorities - which point I doubted unless the authorities didn't know why they alloted it a space in the first place.
All airports the world over have standards which makes the control tower as important a requirement as a washroom - urinal and toilet. Even before getting to see the KIA mosque, I was lucky to pray and supplicate in the one at the Bole International Airport at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It was holiday season and I was heading back home to Ghana. I was at the Addis Ababa airport after a layover to connect to Accra, I had no need to pray because I dispatched the dawn prayer at a hotel and was due in Accra at midday for the next prayer.
But I needed to use a washroom and that led me to the mosque at the airport. The search for the nearest washroom revealed two other rooms - the prayer and smoking rooms.
The prayer room, subject of this piece, was positioned at the furthest end of the main terminal and had up-to-date support facilities - customized washroom - male and female - and a 'fashionable' ablution area.
A well segregated space for both gender, with a capacity of 20 odd people, fitted with woolen carpets and copies of the Quran and a clear indication of Qiblah - the mandatory direction to face during prayers.
Despite a clear instruction to not sleep in the place, it seems sleeping / lying down is the next most pronounced task undertaken in the facility. I'm told that as dozens troop in to offer prayers at different times of the day, you are like at every point to find someone 'relaxing' after prayers.
In the wake of the WhatsApp message above, a brother also recounted how an airport in the United States had a multi-faith worship room. A trend I saw as emphasizing the new standard of inclusion or tolerance of different faiths if you want.
I have had reason to pray on the premises of two airports aside Bole and KIA, my first was at the Felix Houphuet Boigny airport in Abidjan and then the Maya Maya airport in Brazzaville.
For a Muslim who has been taught that the whole earth is a prayer place, I have prayed on land and in the air - aboard Ethiopian. Muslim air travelers are enjoying significant recognition despite the rising spate of Islamophobia.
It's a matter of time before airports add mosques / prayer places to the likes of control tower, washrooms, check-in counters and immigration booths.
With Addis mosque under my belt, I'm lacing my boots to walk into the KIA terminal mosque. I couldn't access it on arrival because it is only accessible to departing passengers. Fingers crossed as always.
21 Safar 1441 = 20 October, 2019
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