Saudi Gazette report

THE long gap between the first and second prayer calls (adhan and iqama) continues to be a controversial issue. With no specific duration between the two prayer calls, mosques start prayers at different times. Many believe that the time between the first and second calls to prayer is too long and have called on businesses providing vital services such as pharmacies, hospitals and gas stations to observe shorter prayer times, Al-Riyadh daily reports.

Many businesses that close for prayer fail to open on time. Residents have reported waiting up to an hour for pharmacies and gas stations to open. Such disruptions can often turn serious when someone requires urgent medication or needs to fill up gas immediately.

Those who oppose the long duration say prayer should take minutes and that employees who close stores for longer than this should be urged to reopen stores in a timely manner.

Sheikh Salih Al-Rashed, a dawa activist, is against any measure to reduce the time between the two prayer calls, especially for the Isha prayer. The purpose of the delay is to give people enough time to get prepared, perform ablution and walk to the mosque to perform the prayer in congregation. "Besides, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not reduce the duration of the period between adhan and iqama; on the contrary, he made it longer based on the circumstances of Muslims at the time," said the Sheikh.

“Reducing the timings between the two prayer calls should not be applied to all situations and across the cities. It might work for some but not others. I suggest the mosques located near malls and important facilities like pharmacies, polyclinics and hospitals should reduce the timing and should not close for half an hour for prayer,” he said.

Sheikh Humaidan Al-Johani, a mosque imam, said even if shops and important facilities close for an hour for prayer, people should wait. He further said that a Muslim needs to recite the Holy Qur’an before the second call to prayer and use this time for supplication to Allah Almighty because this is one of the best times for supplication.

“I am against those who say that shops and pharmacies close for an hour during prayer and they do this on purpose. For shop owners, time is money. I do not think any storeowner wants to close his store for an hour. After all, he opened a business to make money,” he said while adding that many women spend hours shopping and do not get tired. So, they can wait for sometime during prayer to continue shopping.

Disagreeing with both men was Sheikh Ziyad Al-Rabea, a notary public. He questioned the purpose of the long gap between the two prayer calls when performing prayer should only take five minutes.

“Unfortunately, many pharmacies tend to close their doors to the public five minutes before the call to prayer and open again an hour later, causing many patients to wait for them. The same thing applies to banks and other important facilities. If we look at schools, we will see that most of them allow students to take a 10-minute break for prayer. So why don’t pharmacies and polyclinics do the same?” he said.

Abdulrahman Al-Atwi, an educational consultant, supports the view that gas stations and medical facilities should close only for five minutes during prayer. In his opinion, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs should require gas stations on highways not to close more than 10 minutes for prayer.

Wasif Al-Kabli, a businessman, said the authorities should require pharmacists and receptionists at polyclinics and hospitals to perform prayer at the workplace because Islam calls for facilitating life for people and making things easier for them.