Islam is a religion that requires the followers to pray five times a day, with the times determined by the sun. One of those times falls during school hours. We requested to pray during the break between classes, and possibly falling slightly into the next class. At first the administration told us that there was a possibility, and then the decision changed and they said we couldn't miss instructional time to pray. Which is completely understandable, but they rationalized this decision by claiming that we would be disrupting "instructive time," by saying this, are they also saying that students may not leave class to use the restroom?I feel that the rationalization is unjust. We attempted to communicate that these prayers are not an option and that they are mandatory. They could not understand. Even after a teacher spoke to them, they repeated the same things and did not reconsider. Right now we are able to pray as soon as we get home, but when the winter comes along, the next prayer also happens during school, which means that we would have missed one of the prayers. Some of us have a later lunch, which means we can pray during lunch, but some of us have an earlier lunch which means we still need time to pray during school. That only occurs during the winter, and only on some days for some students. Our request is that they let those students pray on those specific days. Otherwise,We have not asked for much, and there is only a few of us, but so far they have been opposed. That simply means that we need to continue until we reach a point of compromise between the two parties.

I urge that everyone sees that this is in no way an act of disobedience. We simply want to pray when we are unable to pray at home or during lunch. Let us fulfill our religious duties peacefully with no disruption at all.