An Employers Guide to Islamic Religious Practices
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AN EMPLOYERS GUIDE TO ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICES Third Canadian Edition TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 INTRODUctiON ...................................... 3 02 DiVERSitY OF CANADIAN MUSLimS ......... 4 03 CANADIAN LEGAL PROtectiONS OF RELIGIOUS FReeDOMS ....................... 5 04 ISLAmic WORK etHicS ........................... 5 05 ACCOMMODATION WORK ISSUES ............. 7 Prayer ...................................................... 9 Washing (Ablution) ...................................... 10 Friday Prayer ............................................ 10 Fasting .................................................... 11 “That a human can have nothing but Pilgrmage (Hajj) ......................................... 12 Holidays .................................................. 13 what they strive for; That the fruit of Clothing ................................................... 14 their striving will soon come in sight: Beard ..................................................... 14 Then will they be rewarded with a 06 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ...................... 16 reward complete.” 07 GLOSSARY OF TERMS ............................ 18 Quran, An-Najm, The Star, Chapter 53, verse 39-41 08 CONTACT INFORMATION ..................... 20 01. INTRODUctiON According to statistical data, Islam is a growing religion in Canada. As such, Canadians who identify either culturally or religiously as Muslim make up an increasing percentage of the Canadian workforce. In order to ensure an equitable work environment for all Canadians and to remain competitive both domestically as well as internationally by attracting and retaining top talent, it is important that employers familiarize themselves with the needs of an increasingly multi-cultural and multi-faith workforce. Mutual trust, respect, and understanding are important elements of any productive work environment. This Guide aims to promote better understanding between employers and their employees. It is also designed to assist employers and human resource departments in formulating and implementing policies that will help create and facilitate inclusive and productive workplaces. 03 03 . CANADIAN LEGAL PROtectiONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Prayer, fasting, religious holidays, pilgrimage, as well as dietary and clothing requirements form part of Islamic practice for many Muslims. 02 . DIVERSITY Such religious practices are legally protected in Canada. OF CANADIAN MUSLIM The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms constitutionally COMMUNITIES guarantees the freedom of religious practice, in addition to such fundamental rights as the freedom of peaceful assembly, The Canadian Muslim community is diverse. association, thought, belief, opinion and expression. Although the majority of Canadian Muslims identify as belonging to the branch of Islam known as Canada also has provincial and federal human rights legislation that operate to prohibit discriminatory practices by private “Sunni”, which is the overwhelming majority of actors and individuals on the basis of religion in the areas Muslims worldwide, there are significant numbers of of employment, accommodation and the provision of goods, Muslims from other branches of Islam, for example services and facilities. Consequently, employers are prohibited the “Shia” community and others. from discriminating against employees on the basis of religion. Similar to other faith communities, given this diversity, not all Muslims will adhere to all the practices mentioned in this guide. While many of the practices are similar, there 04 . ISLAMIC WORK ETHICS are differences amongst the groups. Employers may have employees from various Muslim backgrounds as well as Throughout traditional religious texts, Muslims various levels of practice. are encouraged to consider their efforts at work as a form of worship. Thus, this publication is meant to provide general guidelines only in providing information and suggestions to employers on a variety For this reason, many Muslims put in a lot of effort and care of issues that may arise with respect to Muslim employees. into their daily tasks in order to be successful both practically Accordingly, it is always best to ask rather than assume. and spiritually. 04 05 05 . ACCOMMODATION ISSUES Employers have a positive “duty” under the law to accommodate an employee’s religious observances, where doing so would not cause the employer undue hardship. The purpose of accommodation is not to provide “special treatment” for some individuals or groups. Rather, the notion of accommodation is based on the recognition that rules and procedures that apply equally to everyone do not affect everyone in equal manner. According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, “Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, an employer or service provider can claim undue hardship when adjustments to a policy, practice, by-law or building would cost too much, or create risks to health or safety. There is no precise legal definition of undue hardship or a standard formula for determining undue hardship. Each situation should be viewed as unique and assessed individually. It is not enough to claim undue hardship based on an assumption or opinion, or by simply saying there is some cost. To prove undue hardship, you will have to provide evidence as to the nature and extent of the hardship.” One simple example is that, in Canada, the regular work week is from Monday to Friday. Employees belonging to faith groups that meet for worship on a Saturday or Sunday are not impacted by a Monday to Friday work week in same way that employees belonging to faith groups that gather for worship on other days. Consider that the latter set of employees may need to make special arrangements to be away from work in order to attend 07 special congregational services, while most other employees do PRAYER not need to seek out similar accommodations. Daily prayers are a central practice of the Islamic faith. Accommodation is a requirement of the law; however, To that end, Islam prescribes prayer five times daily. accommodating religious practices at work holds advantages for both employee and employer. Employees that feel included and treated equally are less likely to leave their jobs which ultimately THE FIVE DAILY PRAYERS reduces workplace turnover. What’s more, happy employees are .................................................................. productive employees. FAJR Between dawn and sunrise The following are some common areas where Muslim employees .................................................................. may make requests for religious accommodation at work. DHUHR Between noon and mid-afternoon .................................................................. ASR Between mid-afternoon and sunset .................................................................. MAGHRIB Just after sunset .................................................................. ISHA Late evening .................................................................. Because the prayer times follow the trajectory of the earth’s sun, the daily prayer times shift throughout the calendar year. Typically, two of the five daily prayers (Dhuhr and Asr), fall within the typical 9-5 working day. The time it takes to perform the washing (see next section) and the prayer is usually about 10 minutes. This enables the Muslim employee to pray during break times or at lunch/dinner breaks. 09 Washing/ Ablution before prayer (wudu) Because Jum’ah falls on a Friday, this presents a problem to employees who have work schedules that conflict with the time Before prayer, Muslims are required to wash their face, hands, of Jum’ah. Employees may request a revised work schedule that arms and feet with clean water. This washing is normally would allow them to attend Jum’ah prayer. A Muslim employee performed in a restroom sink or other facility that has running should be able to complete Jum’ah prayer during a slightly water and takes about three minutes. extended lunch break, with time allotted to also accommodate time required for travel to and from the prayer. Any work missed may be made up by either staying later or coming in earlier, or Prayer Space through whatever arrangements are mutually satisfactory. During the act of prayer, Muslims stand, bow, and prostrate (touch their forehead to the ground). Worship may be performed .................................................................. in any quiet, clean space. During prayers, the worshipper will face towards the direction of Mecca (generally northeast in FASTING North America). Some measure of privacy is preferred. However, Fasting during Ramadan is another important practice in Islam. should others be present, they must not walk in front of or The month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, interrupt the worshipper during the prayer. It usually takes less is the time when Muslims are required to fast from dawn until than 10 minutes to perform the prayer. sunset (abstaining from all food and drink, as well as water). As During the prayer the employee may not respond to verbal calls the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, the month of from his/her colleagues but, in an emergency, can and should Ramadan begins 10 or 11 days earlier each year: in Canada this interrupt their prayer. means that the hours of fasting vary from year to year. Muslims are not meant to remove themselves from the regular Friday Congregational Prayer (Jum’ah) activities of everyday life during Ramadan. However, an employee observing the fast will not be able to eat during