TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsSaudi Arabia allows businesses to stay open during prayers
Since becoming de facto leader in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced sweeping economic and social changes designed to reduce the kingdom’s dependence on oil and reset the role of religion.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
S
audi Arabia is officially allowing businesses to remain open during the five daily Muslim prayers, a highly sensitive reform in a kingdom that is trying to shake off its austere image.
Since becoming de facto leader in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced sweeping economic and social changes designed to reduce the kingdom’s dependence on oil and reset the role of religion.
“Stores and other commercial and economic activities will remain open throughout the working day and especially during [prayer] hours,” the Federation of Saudi Chambers said in a statement late Friday.
Officially, the decision is part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and aims to avoid “gatherings and long queues in front of closed stores during prayer hours”.
However, it comes after a 2019 decree that said businesses could stay open 24 hours a day for an unspecified fee.
The move, which triggered confusion over whether it included the Islamic prayer times, was seen by some as a trial loosening of the rules.
Since then, some restaurants, supermarkets and other stores have stayed open, particularly in the capital Riyadh.
