As someone who travels frequently for my work and leisure – pre COVID19 times of course – completing my obligatory prayers outside when I travel is still a lil uncomfortable or sometimes scary for me. Whenever I travel with my family, my mum will always make it a point to plan all of our activities around the prayer times, so that we can safeguard our prayers when we’re outside of our hotel. I’m sure a lot of us usually do our prayers discreetly or try to find designated prayer spaces.
Well, I’ve read up on several articles and devised some ways as well! So relax as it doesn’t always have to be an intimidating experience. If you’re going to be praying in public while you are travelling but you don’t have access to prayer areas or musollahs, let me share with you 8 useful tips for every millennial muslims, plus some tips and opinions from fellow Muslim travellers as well!
1 Research beforehand for prayer areas, musollahs or mosques
This tip tops the list and is the most essential tip for me as a Muslim traveller. There are a variety of ways to actually do your research. For example, you could search for it on the internet and on web guides, using Islamic travel mobile apps, emailing or DMing the local mosque or Islamic organisations. You could also ask a friend living there. One of the travel mobile app that has been extremely useful is Muslim Pro, a comprehensive Islamic app. A real lifesaver indeed! I like to use the function “Mosques Near Me” to locate any nearby mosques AND musollahs. Other than that, it can also show the Qiblah, and local prayer times so you will never be unsure again.
2 Visit the local central mosque when at the travel destination
I know plenty of Muslim travellers love to visit the local mosques when travelling. It makes us feel at ease and a sense of familiarity when we are at a foreign place. I love observing the intricate architectures and the things that make that particular mosque unique from my local mosques. Visiting the local central mosques or Islamic organisations when you are travelling is especially useful when there is simply not a lot of information available to you.
For example, it wasn’t exactly easy for me to find halal food or Muslim-friendly spots when I was in China. Moreover, it was hard to use translation apps, so heading to their local mosques was really helpful for me. I even met a Malaysian couple when I was in Guangzhou Mosque! When you are abroad in a foreign country, going to a local mosque is also a great starting point to seek recommendations from Muslim locals on their expertise of halal food and other prayer spaces they might know about!
When I was on a working holiday to Australia, I relocated to Mareeba near Cairns way up North. Alhamdulillah, my place was only like 2KM away from the local mosque! With the Muslim Pro app, I found out about that mosque and took some time to visit, especially in Ramadhan. I also managed to ask the locals where to source for halal meat. At that time I had difficulty finding halal-certified meat in the big chain supermarkets. When I was working in Shepparton, there was also another quaint and beautiful mosque at a nearby town some kilometres away but I didn’t have the chance to visit it as I didn’t have a car. Shepparton has a lot of halal food and a closely-knit Malay community there so I had no issues with food! Do DM me if you want more info on working holidays.
#ASingaporeanAbroad Tip: Try to visit the mosque during the main prayer times. Sometimes the mosques will be locked during non-prayer times and there might not be anyone there. Some mosques in Australia do not open during the 5 prayer times, so try the main central mosques.
If you are planning to visit Seoul or some cities in Japan for your post-pandemic trip, check out the list of mosques that I have compiled!
3 See if there are any prayer rooms or multi-faith rooms at tourist attractions and major train stations
Try to look out for multi-faith halls and prayer rooms when you are out and about exploring the city. Sometimes they can also be called meditation rooms. They are quite commonly found at big train stations, some tourist attractions and parks, airports and shopping malls. These rooms are shared by people of any faith to practise their respective religious obligations. So please remember to be considerate when using the space. Praying in public will be made much easier if you try to find multi-faith rooms around!
#ASingaporeanAbroad Tip: Most of the time, these rooms won’t provide prayer garments (telekung or kain). Usually prayer mats will be available, but it’s also best to bring your own travel sized ones! For convenience, sometimes I like to just bring along some safety pins, hand socks as well as socks for prayers!
4 Politely ask a customer service officer, information desk or the reception at the attraction, malls, train station or even the hostels
Sometimes, you just have to put aside your worries and paiseh feelings, and ask a customer service officer, information desk or the reception if they know of any quiet areas to pray. Sometimes you have tried to look out for multi-faith rooms at places like major attractions or shopping malls. But there doesn’t seem to be any designated area. Hence, you could politely ask the information desk if they could offer a secluded corner for you to pray. However, don’t take offense if they are not able to accommodate your request to you praying in public. At least you tried to ask – no harm asking!
Personal story 1: Attending a conference in Sydney
Let me share with you two stories that I’ve encountered when the service officers and receptionist were so helpful. They will always be fond memories for me!
I was attending a 4-hour event with another Muslim sister in Sydney at a conference hall. As I was already living there at that time, I wasn’t able to combine prayers. So I tried to ask a service officer if there was a small corner for us to do Maghrib.
The service officer was so kind and helpful. She tried to find a spot away from the conference hall where there were less people. She even offered to stay nearby us, just in case if anyone or the venue staff was suspicious, and said really kind and comforting words. Can’t exactly recall but it was something along the lines of “I know Muslims have to pray and it’s actually interesting to learn about this.” That was such a memorable encounter to be able to meet such kind souls from a simple act of praying in public.
My Personal Story 2: Staying in a backpackers hostel
The following year, I was travelling with one of my housemates to Airlie Beach where we stayed in a backpackers hostel, in a room with 6 other people because we wanted to save as much as possible. It is somewhere along the East Coast of Australia where there was no existence of mosques in the area or halal eateries. I felt a little uncomfortable doing prayers if there were going to be 4 other people, or if any of them suddenly came inside the room. So, I decided to ask the reception if there could be any secluded spots around the place where I could do my prayers. I was ready to hear “No, sorry we don’t have any.” To my delight, she actually gave me a map of the hostel and showed me a spot outside the admin office that I could pray at, and even circled it. Alhamdulillah!
#ASingaporeanAbroad Tip: If you are curious, here was what I asked the hostel receptionist. What I said was : “I’m a Muslim and I need to pray 5 times a day. I feel a little uncomfortable praying in the dorm rooms. Jusr wondering if there are any other quiet areas where I can pray for just like 5 or 10 minutes?” Just be polite and sincere. And of course be considerate and respectful!
5 Praying in public hack: Fitting rooms at shopping malls
Ah, this one is a great life hack and has been a popular one for many Muslims. I don’t usually do this often, as far as I can remember I think I only did this twice. How you can do this is first take 1 or 2 clothes to try on. Then, find the fitting room and then you have some moderate comfort and privacy when praying in public space. The ones that I went to luckily didn’t have any music playing! Some fitting rooms have curtains while others have doors with locks – I prefer the latter. Remember to be considerate with this as well. Avoid the super crowded and peak moments, and try not to take like 30 minutes. Oh, and remember to return those clothes to their respective racks.
6 Try finding a quiet area or corner with less human traffic (any corners, nursing rooms, staircase)
If you aren’t able to implement any of the tips from 1 to 5, then sometimes the only option left is to pray in open spaces at some quiet area or corner, with less or no human traffic. These could be just a small corner at a park, at staircases and nursing rooms. Yes, it could sound daunting and intimidating when strangers walking by stare, but try calm your mind and heart. Most of the time they are just curious, and won’t even bother or disturb you. When you are praying at a staircase, be mindful and try not to obstruct people walking through. And if you are worried, try to get a friend to wait beside you while you finish your prayers.
There are also some areas where it is not permitted to show public displays of religion. In those cases, you won’t be able to pray so publicly open. Try out the other tips instead!
#ASingaporeanAbroad Tip: Remember my tip for bringing pins, hand socks and socks? I prefer using these than the telekung. Moreover, if someone sees me, they will not be alarmed or shocked. Yes, it happened before that a security officer had a shock when he saw me in my telekung. It was 8PM at a staircase. (I was attending an evening workshop!)
7 Find out prayer times and do your best to plan your day around those times
While you are having a packed itinerary, it is easy to overlook the time to perform prayers. So before travelling to any destination, researching the prayer times beforehand will help you a lot. Try to plan your activities around those times especially Zohor and Asar prayers. So you won’t end up missing your prayers. So for example, you could plan heading out in the morning to your different tourist attractions, and then set aside 30 minutes in the afternoon to either return to your room or any of the tips above to combine your Zohor-Asar prayers, and continue on with your itinerary. You could complete your Subuh and Magrib-Isyak (Jama Qasar) in your accommodation room. Screenshot the prayer times for all the destinations in your trip, so you won’t always need WiFi or data!
If you head to Muslim-friendly cities like Alhambra and Granada, I have a comprehensive itinerary for your trip to Andalusia!
8 Remember your intentions and remember that God is with you
With all of the above tips and hacks to praying in public while travelling, this is my final one. Calm and reassure your heart that we pray because it is an act of worship. We pray because we love Allah and the religion and we do our best to fulfil our obligations. When we remember our intention to solat and know that God is always with us, it would feel less scary and may the act of worship be made easier for you. Inshaa Allah you’ll be able to overcome the challenges such as lack of prayer facilities and whatever other obstacles you could face.
Here are also quick bite-sized tips and thoughts by my fellow Muslim travel friends!
1 – “I think having a travel sized prayer mat is the best way to feel more comfortable praying in public. It’s kind of like when people do yoga outside in public, they always have a mat, which allows others to understand they are doing yoga. Similarly, a prayer mat creates some sort of familiarity to the public when they see a Muslim praying. And the next step would have to be finding a safe and somewhat private place to pray 💕 ”
2- “One top tip that I’ve done myself is not being afraid to ask someone. In Universal Studio Japan, we went to the Guest Services office. I then told the receptionist that we needed room to pray. They kindly gave us a meeting room that is spacious and clean. Another time at Gardens by The Bay, I asked a cleaner staff in the toilet if there’s a place to pray. She took me to an empty Nursery Room and told me that I could use that space. So, ask away politely, and people will surely help you.”
Sis Jumaiyah. Check out website | Instagram!
Minah Travel. Check out website | Instagram | YouTube!
While I’m trying to be a better Muslimah inshaa Allah, I hope to share these tips and tricks that I’ve tried on my journey to complete my compulsory prayers when I’m out and about when travelling. Praying in public for the first time (or not your first) could bring you some fond travel memories and remind you that God is with us wherever we are. I like to think of a quote by one of my favourite educators that I follow on Instagram – which is “Allah ada, Allah jaga”. It may feel a little daunting and scary at first, but may your affairs be eased for you!
