Muslims believe Friday was chosen by God as a dedicated day of worship. In the past few years, Muslims have been attacked and killed while praying, many times on a Friday. It’s not in the past alone. It’s really an ethical issue, one that requires careful attention. All religions, all this singing, one song. Attending Friday prayers, the Prophet said, is equivalent to one entire year of praying and fasting alone. In between all that, there were US ships bombed and hijacked, planes with US passengers hijacked or crashed, US Embassies blown up or overrun, and an entire laundry list of assaults on American property, lives, and freedoms. In countries where the call to prayer is projected from loudspeakers, entire cities will be saturated with their sounds. Crowded cities are often empty and quiet, up until the prayers, after which they are full of people enjoying their day off. Aussies are a hearty bunch known for their ability to survive in the vast wilderness, but also the high living standards of their many ultramodern cities. The differences are just illusion and vanity. These situations are not the cause of anxiety, stress, fear; rather the emotional response that we choose to have to the situations and constant daily pressures is what creates these unhealthy emotions.

Worshippers have been targeted in countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq and Kuwait. Some Muslim majority countries, such as Egypt, Iran and Pakistan, include Friday as part of the weekend, with Saturday sometimes being a holiday, and Sunday being a regular workday. This knowledge is particularly meaningful for young Muslim Americans, who struggle to claim their place in a country in which they are sometimes made to feel like outsiders. In some countries, such as India, Pakistan and Tajikistan, women are not usually permitted to pray in mosques whereas in countries like Iran and Kenya, they attend in larger numbers. In addition to the prayer itself, which is shorter than the usual midday prayers, Friday services include a sermon, usually given by a professional male Muslim clergy member in Muslim majority countries, but in the West, they are also given by a male lay community member. Commercial activities always continue after Friday prayers, but in Muslim-majority countries, most people get the day off. The Qur’an invokes the importance of Friday as a sacred day of worship in a chapter called “Al-Jumah,” meaning the day of congregation, which is also the word for Friday in Arabic.

A Gothic-style church, which was built in 1912, still stands in Mahamba, and is the oldest existing place of worship in the country. For example, when I teach my class on medieval architecture, students are surprised to learn that the two oldest continuously run universities in the world are in North Africa (in Fez – a city in Morocco – and Cairo). For example, in May 2005 the Uzbek government massacred over 700 of its own civilians demonstrating following a trial of 23 suspected Islamic radicals, saying that they were terrorists. Whereas in the States, if you think of the constitution, much of it is there to protect the citizen against over powerful government. It states, “O you who believe! In the United States, Muslims have to receive special accommodation from their workplace to visit a nearby mosque. British troops. Under the Taliban rule, religious minorities and other Muslims who did not share their fundamentalist understanding of Islam were not tolerated. I’m a scholar of Islam who researches and writes about Muslim ritual practices. Muslim singer Raef Haggag describes how Muslims prepare and perform jumah prayers and their benefits. On this day, many Muslims spend the day with their families, attend the prayer and also relax, although practices can vary.

Muslims pray five times a day every day, but the most important prayer of the week is “jumah,” or the day of gathering, on Friday. To prepare for prayers, Muslims bathe, apply perfume and brush their teeth to make their appearance pleasant to their fellow worshippers. In modern practice, the birds’ wings are clipped to encourage them to stay put, and a few extra ravens are always on hand to make sure the group never numbers fewer than six. Mercury’s 116-inch wheelbase stretched four inches longer than Ford’s, enough to add elegance to the styling and make the car look larger. The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Rose S. Aslan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. In the West, many women choose to attend prayer if they can get time away from work or other duties. Thomas currently lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he devotes his time to his family, the ministry, and his job.