In an e-mail sent to Muslim Student Association members and miscellaneous SA administrators on Wednesday morning, Muslim SA President Shujauddin Hussain charged "SA officials" with discriminatory practices.
The complaints were filed after the MSA was instructed to vacate the SA office at 350 Student Union immediately following a prayer held there by the group past business hours.
"I told them 'after you finish praying, please leave,'" said SA Vice-president Ashish Abraham.
The business hours of the SA office at 350 Student Union are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with one extra hour until 6 p.m. usually reserved for paperwork and administrative tasks. The office is not open past that time for club services.
"The doors might be open, people might be in here, but we don't allow any clubs to use the space past six," said current SA President Peter Grollitsch.
MSA is also currently under club suspension for failing to attend club orientation.
"We had to discipline the clubs that didn't attend orientation, and we thought a 14-day suspension was reasonable," Grollitsch said.
After business hours on Monday, Sept. 24, former MSA President and former Student Association President Viqar Hussain participated in a protest against the removal of the prayer group from the SA office. He was escorted from the Student Union by University Police after a confrontation between his prayer group and Student Association Vice President Ashish Abraham, who asked the group to leave the room because the office was closed to services.
According to Grollitsch, Hussain claimed to have received permission from Administrative Director Mark Sorel to hold the prayer in the office prior to the confrontation.
"I never had the opportunity to ask him if that's what he said," Sorel said. He added that he did not give Hussain permission to hold the service.
Muslim SA had already been provided a location at 145B Student Union for prayer by club coordinators, which the group declined to use on Monday evening.
"They wanted to stage a protest because they felt wronged," Grollitsch said, referring to the club's suspension for failure to attend orientation.
Muslim SA member Viqar Hussain and President Shuja Hussain initially declined to comment on the issue until suspension negotiations with the Student Association and administrators were complete, but later came forward to respond when they learned the SA executive board had spoken with the press.
"I'm only a member of the Muslim Student Association, I don't want to get anybody in trouble," Viqar Hussain said.
Responding to rumors of the club's dissolution, Grollitsch explained that there was no plan to dissolve Muslim SA and that there is "no reason to."
"We're very conscious of their rights and religion, and after (the suspension) they will continue to be one of our strongest clubs; business as usual," Grollitsch said.
Abraham and Club Programming Director Jeyandini Fernando were particularly unsettled by the accusation of discrimination.
"A lot of my family is Muslim, so I know how important this month and the services are. I made an effort to work around their schedule," Fernando said.
She went on to agree with Abraham's denial of discriminatory practices.
"Discrimination is saying 'you're Muslim, so you can't do this.' What actually happened is that people didn't follow the rules," Fernando said.
Though the rules in question state that failure to attend one of the four orientations offered will result in club suspension, a fifth orientation was offered for any clubs that needed to make up the attendance.
According to Club Service Director Victor Bulinski, a confirmation e-mail was received by the Student Association on Wednesday, one day before the makeup orientation.
"I booked the rooms, sent out an e-mail Tuesday stating the time and location, and (Shuja Hussain) responded on Wednesday that he and his e-board would be there," he said.
The makeup orientation was not attended by the Muslim SA e-board.
"We had the event and they weren't there," Bulinski said.
Shuja Hussain demands on behalf of Muslim SA that the Student Association executive board deliver an apology to MSA's membership.
"We want to forgive them and we want to move on," he said.
MSA Vice-president Farah Hassan extended a similar gesture of forgiveness regarding the issue.
"It's the month of Ramadan. This is the month of forgiveness, when you don't hold a grudge against anyone."
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
