Salat surfing: French Muslims create app linking them to free prayer space

App caters to France's large Muslim population who have very few designated prayer spaces in the country

FRANCE: A group of five students in France have designed an app that links a Muslim looking for a place to pray with someone willing to donate space.

The group has created an online community called Salatsurfing. They have built an app and a website connecting the faithful people with those willing to contribute some space.PHOTO COURTESY: SALATSURFING

France has a large Muslim population and very few prayer spaces – one for every 1,200 according to some calculations. The lack of prayer spaces led Muslims to pray on the streets, which was banned in 2011. While prayer centres exist they are not quite enough to accommodate all those willing to pray.

Since September when it was first launched, 2,500 people have joined the geolocation service, Salatsurfing. It service lists about 150 spaces - homes or businesses throughout France.

The group came up with the idea based on personal experience and a year and a half of brainstorming and hard work resulted in Salatsurfing. One of the founders Sofiane Benabdallah, explains that the idea is similar to Airbnb and Uber except that the space is donated and the service is free.

Read:Muslim who saved Jews during Paris supermarket attack honoured in New York

"By no means do we want to replace mosques. The mosque's role is clearly identified in Islam's precepts," said Yosra Farrouj, another of the founders. "Salatsurfing is really an alternative in the way we allow someone to pray when a mosque is closed or there is no mosque around."

Otmane Aziz, whose meeting room is among the listings, said it was natural to donate it as a prayer space.

"It's a question of brotherhood, solidarity. To me, it seems right," Aziz said.

The sentiment of the group is further explained on their website which says “praying is a blessed link with our creator, a link with our Oumma! And what is better than act side by side in order to face hardship together? Create projects together or simply get to know each other.”

The article originally appeared on USNEWS