In a thought-provoking op-ed printed on Friday by Saudi Arabian each day newspaper Okaz, entitled “Friday is a working day,” author Mona Al-Otaibi questions whether or not the Kingdom’s conventional Friday-Saturday weekend wants an overhaul, igniting a debate on social media.
The piece highlighted the potential monetary losses incurred because of Friday being an essential workday within the monetary world, and it has sparked discussions about whether or not Saudi Arabia ought to take into account shifting its weekend to Saturday-Sunday, following within the footsteps of neighbouring UAE which made the controversial change final yr, after plans had been introduced in 2021.
On the time, the Emirati the federal government stated it might “guarantee easy monetary, commerce and financial transactions with international locations that comply with a Saturday-Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger worldwide enterprise hyperlinks and alternatives for 1000’s of UAE-based and multinational firms”. The “shock transfer” additionally got here amid rising competition in worldwide enterprise from different Gulf international locations, significantly Saudi Arabia and as a way to spice up post-pandemic productiveness.
Presently, the Saudi weekend configuration stems from a 2013 royal decree issued by the late-King Abdullah that modified the weekend from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday. This transfer was made to align the Saudi enterprise and financial actions with worldwide markets, which predominantly observe Saturday-Sunday as their weekend. Fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state Qatar was an early adopter, switching the general public sector weekend twenty years in the past, adopted by Bahrain in 2006 and Kuwait the next yr. The Sultanate of Oman carried out the change one month earlier than Saudi did in 2013, to align its banking and enterprise days with different international locations within the area.
Throughout the broader Arab world, the Friday-Saturday weekend is frequent in international locations corresponding to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya and Iraq whereas Lebanon (which has a major Christian inhabitants), Morocco and Tunisia formally have Saturday and Sundays off, although it isn’t unusual for folks to quickly shut enterprise to attend the Friday prayer.
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Nonetheless, Otaibi means that this resolution might need missed potential monetary advantages the nation may reap by having a two-day overlap with international companies. Though she acknowledges this will conflict with the non secular significance of Friday, whereby many devoted observe the congregational Friday prayer and historically it serves as a day when Muslim households get collectively and spend high quality time with each other after the prayers.
Otaibi opines that Friday, in mild of world monetary markets, is a vital day of the week which contributes to financial progress. “Alternatively,” she argues, “Friday is among the essential days for us as Muslims as a result of it’s the obligation of Friday prayer; subsequently, what prevents there from being a system that preserves the duty of this present day and on the similar time we profit from the day as a working day that serves our native economic system as an alternative of being a time without work? Have we wasted a day that can provide us lots?” she asks.
بتوجيه سعود القحطاني
التهيئة لإلغاء إجازة الجمعة https://t.co/gWTQzppQIm
— مجتهد (@mujtahidd) August 4, 2023
Distinguished, outspoken Saudi dissident and activist, identified on-line as Mujtahidd, has been amongst Saudi Twitter customers to react to the article, and has interpreted it as Saudi Arabia “making ready to cancel the Friday vacation” probably on the recommendation of former royal advisor Saud Al-Qahtani.
There have been fascinating replies to his tweet, largely showing to be in opposition to the speculated weekend modifications.
One consumer lamented: “Friday prayers will turn out to be midday prayers in workplaces.” A number of steered doing so could be emulating the Folks of the E book: “It’s the starting of the top. Friday is figure, then Saturday and Sunday are holidays for Jews and Christians,” tweeted one other consumer.
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Nonetheless, not all Saudi netizens appeared against the concept with some questioning the non secular significance of a time without work on Friday:
“Friday is a wasted day for us as a result of every thing is intoxicating, and subsequently we don’t profit from it as a trip. A beautiful proposal and we hope to contemplate it quickly,” opined one consumer.
“Whoever says that Friday is a time without work in Islam, there isn’t any interruption of acts of worship corresponding to prayer, fasting and zakat on Friday. As for the difficulty of recreation and trip, there may be nothing incorrect with it being on Friday or every other day,” tweeted one Saudi.
“Truly, if Friday turns into a working day, the variety of those that carry out Friday prayers in mosques will double in comparison with the present state of affairs,” another user quipped.
But in step with the notion of Saudi Arabia merely following the UAE, one consumer stated: “A ridiculous justification as a result of the Saudi economic system depends upon the export of oil, and this doesn’t cease on any day, and it isn’t a diversified economic system which may be affected by a time without work. It’s clear that it’s simply an imitation of what occurred in Dubai, nothing extra.”
That is believable as Saudi Arabia has tended to watch UAE’s actions carefully, typically utilizing them as a testing floor earlier than implementing comparable modifications by itself soil. This method has been evident in numerous areas, together with extra liberal and relaxed legal guidelines relating to social actions, leisure, and ladies’s rights and arguably, in international coverage almost about Abu Dhabi’s resolution, together with Bahrain to normalise relations with Israel, with Riyadh typically imagined to be the next major Arab state to follow suit.
The Kingdom’s Vision2030 reforms, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), have aimed to diversify the nation’s economic system and scale back its dependency on oil income. Shifting the weekend to Saturday-Sunday might be considered as a strategic transfer that aligns with the broader imaginative and prescient of changing into a world funding powerhouse. It may appeal to extra international funding, facilitate cross-border transactions, and strengthen financial ties with neighbouring international locations.
Nonetheless, there seems to be a real concern amongst conservatives over the nation having the incorrect priorities and of the influence on undermining the non secular significance of Friday and the Friday prayer. As with most social reforms in Saudi Arabia, the choice, if taken, might want to strike a fragile stability between financial progress and spiritual/cultural preservation, reflecting the complexities and contradictions of recent Saudi society.
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The views expressed on this article belong to the creator and don’t essentially mirror the editorial coverage of Center East Monitor.
