In recent weeks, much debate is being aired on social media in Saudi Arabia on the necessity of closing down commercial establishments during prayer times. This practice that has been in force for four decades is now an issue in the foreground as the atmosphere for questioning long-established social norms is being tabled more frequently now. The matter of closures has even been discussed in the Saudi Shura Council.
It is the customer who is most inconvenienced by this closure. You are in a departmental store or a restaurant, when suddenly you find yourself amid lights being dimmed and shutters being pulled down. Left to grope for an exit and safety in near-darkness, you notice you are not alone. Other patrons are fumbling about towards the lit exterior, some with small children or shopping bags.
The Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Trade should really look into this disturbing trend among commercial outlets that deal with large numbers of people. There is no standard when it comes to closing at these times. Nor do consumers know whether they are to be locked in or shooed out. Some store and restaurant managers are quick to point out that they have to vacate the premises and shut down their businesses at these times.
The ironic thing is that people who are rudely booted out of these places end up loitering on the sidewalks in front of the stores, waiting impatiently for them to reopen. Even the sales attendants congregate over in groups for a coffee or smoking break. And all this before prayers have actually started.
What can be so Islamic about leaving people in the dark and amid strangers, as families, children, the young and the old are all left to fend for themselves? Is there anything spiritual in such an act, or is it that sales attendants find it a good excuse for longer breaks — notwithstanding the inconvenience it causes to their patrons?
Moreover, shops and establishments have erratic hours during the daytime, further adding to the confusion. Some open at 10am, others at 11am, only to close as soon as noon prayers are announced. In the evenings, the cycle starts again when they reopen at 5pm, and shut down at sunset, about an hour later. Once they reopen, they are available for business for about an hour-and-a-quarter before customers are shooed out again.
Most of us prefer to avoid shopping during these hours and prefer to defer such tasks until that time when prayer timings are over for the day, which is usually after 8:30pm. This helps ensure an uninterrupted and hassle-free experience. Some women prefer the ‘one-stop’ shopping mode, by which they take on one task in the morning, one in the early evening and one trip at night. But that results in a lot of wear-and-tear on the car as well as inconvenience for the spouse who has to drive, if there is no family driver.
Commercial establishments in the past blamed the religious police for forcing them into this practice as they recount incidents of colleagues being jailed for failing to close the store in keeping with the stipulations. They claim that they had been threatened with similar punishments if they did not follow the rules. However, with the religious police being defanged in recent times, that argument does not hold much water. Attendants at such establishments are abusing the normal working hours and prayer times without accountability. They are simply enjoying multiple breaks during work hours.
Malls today are slowly breaking the trend of the double shift of operating hours as more stores are opting to stay open all day. But the doors still close and the lights do get turned off when prayer calls are sounded, adding to the frustrations of many shoppers who are running short of time.
Proponents for such measures insist that the closure of shops allows people to go and offer their prayers on time. Critics state that there is no ruling that dictates such a practice, except for Friday congregational prayers. It is that time and that time alone when all businesses cease and people march to the mosques for prayers. Members of the staff at shops and business establishments can still offer their prayers in shifts without having to close them. If one looks around the Gulf, one will realise that such practices are not followed anywhere.
There are expectations that in the coming days, laws will be introduced to bring clarity on this matter. Let us hope it will be for the convenience of all.
Best wishes for the New Year.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Twitter: @talmaeena.
