Sultan of Johor decrees that weekends be on Friday and Saturday

by **Cals** Sun 24 Nov 2013, 19:34

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Bernama

Saturday, 23 November 2013 19:10

MUAR (23 Nov): The Sultan of Johor has ordered that weekend in the state be changed to Friday and Saturday effective Jan 1.
He said Friday was the most auspicious day of the week and Muslims should take advantage of the day to perform more religious deeds.
He said the blessings of Friday began from the night which was usually filled with Yassin-reading and Muslim men performed the obligatory Friday prayers in the day, and during this time parents must teach their children to follow suit.
"If we observe, currently, Muslim men rush hastily to the mosques for Friday prayers during the short office break, the sermon is used for resting and sleeping.
"When Friday prayer ends, they hurriedly get up and leave the mosque and some cannot even wait for the imam to recite the doa (prayers). As such, after scrutinising numerous views, I have decided that the weekend in Johor be changed to Friday and Saturday from Jan 1, 2014," he decreed.
Sultan Ibrahim said this during a thanksgiving prayer ceremony in conjunction with his birthday at the Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim, here today.
Johor had made Friday a weekend holiday prior to 1994.
"Johor is the earliest state to recognise Islam as its official religion and history also shows that the expansion of Islam in Johor became an example to other states," he said.
He also suggested that the Johor Islamic Religious Council provide an online religious knowledge resource centre to enable the community to get correct information from a reliable source.
It could also be turned into a medium for the community to voice all their doubts and questions so that they could get answers and advise in line with the Islamic religion and fatwa issued by the Johor Islamic Religious Council.
In another development, he expressed his gratitude because Johor continued to be peaceful and harmonious and the people lived in prosperity and enjoyed a prolific and balanced economic development.
"The economic progress which we enjoy now is due to the close effort and cooperation between the leaders in the state and the federal government.
"I thank the federal government which always assist, support and provide allocations in the development of basic facilities and general infrastructure to boost the economic level and prosperity of the people in the state.
He also hoped the people in the state would always endeavour to preserve the prosperity they were currently enjoying by being moderate and united to strengthen racial unity and communal harmony. – Bernama