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The Friday Prayer (Salatu-l-Jumu’ah)

             So far we have been dealing with the daily prayers. Now we come to the weekly convention of Friday Congregation. This service is compulsory upon every Muslim who is required to observe the other prayers and has no reasonable excuses to abstain. It falls on Friday of every week and is especially important because:-

1.         It is the occasion earmarked by God for the Muslims to express their collective devotion.

2.         It is an appointment to review our spiritual accounts of the week gone by and get ready for the following week just as people do in any other business.

3.         It is a convention for the Muslims to reassure themselves and confirm their religious bonds and social solidarity on moral and spiritual foundations.

4.         It shows how the Muslims give preference to the call of God over and above any other concern.

             Muslim of the Daylight Saving time zones seem to run into some difficulties and confusion over the proper time for the Friday Congregational Prayer (Jum’ah). The problem can be solved easily by setting the prayer time between 1:15 to 2.30 p.m. throughout year. In this way there will be no need to change the time from winter to summer. We strongly recommend this to our brethren so that they may work it into their weekly schedules as a permanent arrangement.