Okaz

RECENTLY, 11 women, seven men and five boys and a housemaid who was new convert missed the Maghreb prayer as they were standing in a long line, some of them with their children.

They were waiting for the cashiers to finish their prayer, which sometimes take more than half an hour, so they could pay for their groceries and go home for prayer. By the time they reached home, the time for Maghreb was over and this why they missed it.

This is a small example of what is happening daily in many commercial centers and this is what we go through each time the store closes for prayer. And this in addition to the overcrowding on the corridors and in prayer sections that are not designed in the first place for hundreds of worshippers to pray at a time.

When we call for a review of the decision to close down shops during prayer time, except for Friday prayer where it is obligatory to leave all the buying and selling to go to the prayer, we are actually calling for making it possible for everyone to pray on time.

We are keen on performing our prayers on time. With the increasing number of people who are going to commercial centers and malls, shutting down stores for every prayer is becoming a real problem. It is similar to an accident that is forcing a road to close down. This forces people to use alternatives roads. The same way people refrain from buying from shops, even pharmacies, and filling their cars with gas in order not to miss the Maghreb prayer.

Until when have we got to remain standing in line with doors closed on our faces and delay performing our prayers?