{"id":4704,"date":"2015-06-14T14:17:42","date_gmt":"2015-06-14T13:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=4704"},"modified":"2015-06-23T00:41:42","modified_gmt":"2015-06-22T23:41:42","slug":"french-app-hopes-to-link-muslim-faithful-with-prayer-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/french-app-hopes-to-link-muslim-faithful-with-prayer-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"French app hopes to link Muslim faithful with prayer sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"French<\/a>They simply wanted a place to pray, as required five times a day for faithful Muslims. But in France, that’s not necessarily simple.
\nThe country has relatively few Muslim prayer spaces compared with the population \u2014 one for every 1,200 by some estimates \u2014 and a group of five friends from a variety of backgrounds decided they could do something about a problem they found themselves facing every day.
\nThey created an online community they called Salatsurfing, building an app and website to link the faithful with people willing to donate space. Salatsurfing lists about 150 spaces \u2014 homes or businesses \u2014 throughout France. About 2,500 people have joined since the geolocation service started in September.
\nSofiane Benabdallah, one of the founders, says the idea is similar to Airbnb or Uber \u2014 with one crucial difference: The service is free and the space is donated.
\n“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.”
\nOtmane Aziz, whose meeting room is among the listings, said it was natural to donate it as a prayer space.
\n“It’s a question of brotherhood, solidarity. To me, it seems right,” Aziz said. \u2014 AP<\/p>\n

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