Changing rooms converted into Muslim prayer spaces in 'America's Somali capital'

Changing rooms have been converted into Muslim prayer spaces in America's "Somali capital".

A Target store in Apple Valley, just south of Minneapolis, transformed a corridor containing six changing rooms into a designated space for Islamic worshippers.

Photos of the converted area were captured by a customer who subsequently shared them online.

The images reveal retractable barriers cordoning off both ends of the hallway.

A notice affixed to one door bore the message "Ramadan Mubarak," the customary Arabic greeting exchanged during Islam's holy month.

The sign also read: "This room is being used for prayer. Please do not enter."

Ramadan came to end on March 18 - meaning the signage remained in place two and a half months after the celebrations ended.

Whether the prayer facility was intended for shoppers or staff members has not been clarified.

Under America's federal Civil Rights Act, employers are obliged to offer reasonable accommodation for workers' religious practices.

However, no legal requirement exists compelling businesses to establish dedicated prayer facilities.

The Apple Valley store appears not to be an isolated case among Target locations providing Muslim prayer spaces.

A post from 2023 on Target's Reddit forum displayed photographs of a prayer room with the caption: "HR set up a prayer room for Muslim TMs (team members)."

One response hailed the move as "very thoughtful and considerate and truly inclusive".

Revealingly, it added: "We had a lot of those in Minnesota stores."

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Another commenter added: "Minnesota here, we have a prayer room too! Our HR recently decorated it, I do not know how many team members we have who actually take advantage of it (we're a very white store) but it's really nice!"

However, one commenter sparked fury from other users after writing: "It'd be nice if they did something like this for Christians,."

The North Star State has become America's Somali capital in recent years - with around a third of the country's Somali-born population living in the Minneapolis-St Paul area alone.

Late last year, Donald Trump said he did not want Somalis in the US because "they contribute nothing".

The community was exposed to have run fraudulent daycare and childcare facilities misusing Government funds across the state.

Federal authorities went on to launch a targeted immigration crackdown in Minnesota focusing on illegal Somali migrants.

The recent prayer room debacle comes just months after it was revealed a Minneapolis-area school district intends to install prayer rooms and foot-washing facilities for Muslim pupils at two secondary schools.

These modifications will be financed at the taxpayer's expense as part of the Building a Better Future programme - a roughly $375million (£279.4million) initiative.

The plans have been blasted by Minneapolis Republican congressman Tom Emmer, who launched a scathing attack on social media.

He wrote: "Turns out when the woke left says they want religion out of schools, they're only talking about Christianity.

"Maybe if Osseo worried about Somali gang violence as much as they worry about pandering to America-hating leftists, their schools and streets would be safer for their students."

GB News has approached Target for comment.

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