Harvard to open long-awaited dedicated prayer spaces for Muslim and Hindu students after years of limited access

Harvard University will open two new dedicated prayer spaces this fall, addressing long-standing concerns from Muslim and Hindu students about the lack of adequate facilities for worship. The move follows recommendations from internal task forces urging the institution to improve religious inclusion on campus.

According to The Harvard Crimson, for years, the only dedicated prayer areas for Muslim and Hindu students at Harvard were located in a dormitory basement.

For Hindu students, the shift means moving out of a cramped basement room that could not accommodate larger gatherings. “We realized this is definitely not an environment that people should feel like they can practice their religious and cultural values in,” said Aarna Sitani ’27, co-president of Harvard Dharma to the Crimson.

The second floor of the Smith Campus Center will house a permanent musallah for Muslim students, replacing temporary locations at Sever Hall and Canaday Hall. The existing Canaday Hall space will be repurposed for Harvard Dharma, the Hindu student organization, to accommodate its growing congregation.

Muslim student leaders said the new facility ends years of uncertainty over prayer locations. “As a Muslim student, having a place where I can go to pray without scrambling for a space… it just reminds me that my faith is respected there,” said Shakira Ali ’28, co-director of internal relations for the Harvard Islamic Society.

Harvard’s Muslim chaplain, Khalil Abdur-Rashid, said he is preparing the space with new furnishings, including a foot bath for ritual washing. “We anticipate that the new prayer space will be a source of peace, spiritual upliftment, and comfort for our campus Muslim community,” he wrote in an email to students.

While the prayer space upgrades align with recommendations, they also form part of broader religious life reforms. This summer, Harvard announced a presidential initiative on interfaith engagement and expanded partnerships with Israeli institutions, while facing criticism for not making equivalent academic commitments in Islamic, Arab, or Palestinian studies.

This change comes at a time when Harvard University and the Trump administration are close to a potential landmark settlement under which Harvard would spend $500 million in return for the restoration of billions of dollars in federal research funding, NYT reported.

For the past four months, Harvard has been at the forefront of resisting the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on higher education, becoming the only university to sue after being hit with explicitly punitive funding cuts.