Egyptian scholar's call for reduced prayer break finds favour with Muslims in UAE

In a fatwa issued recently as an answer to resolve Egypt's productivity problem, and posted on his web site, Qaradawi said that “praying is a good thing...10 minutes should be enough.”

He urged Muslims to reduce their prayer breaks while at work and be more flexible with prayer timings to reduce the adverse impact it has on the productivity at work places. "One must not waste time at work and use prayer as the pretext,” he emphasised.

Adel Al Marzouki, head of Guidance at Islamic Affairs and Charitable Work in Dubai, said he completely agreed with Qaradawi's plea, admitting that praying five times a day was one of the five pillars of Islam. But people need not spend more time in offering their prayers during the work hours.

Al Marzouki, who also lays great emphasis on work, said the Holy Quran makes it clear that time should not be wasted in preparation before each salah. "In Islam, work is given special importance to the extent that it is considered an act of worship," he pointed out

He said some people believed that they were not obliged to work because they dedicated themselves to worshipping God, but that was a wrong perception.

He explained that during office hours, worshippers should choose to recite shorter Quranic verses and duas and leave the longer verses and duas for praying at home.

El Sadiq Al Hassan, Manager of Real Estate Section in Dubai Islamic Bank, deplores the practice by some Muslims who find prayers as an excuse to take long breaks from work.

He said that two of each day's five prayer sessions — dhuhr (noon) prayer and asr (afternoon) prayer — which are offered during work hours, people should take only a few minutes off from work to fulfil their religious obligation.

While suggesting that companies should give only 10-minute breaks for each prayer session, he said that the system should be implemented not only in Egypt but also in all the Muslim countries.

Hafiz Abdul Rahman from Awareness Department in the Dubai Police said that some people in Muslim countries spend more time on prayers in an attempt to escape from work. Such a practice is not right, he added.

He said that Muslims needed to build up their economy in order to be able to deal with challenges facing them and to work hard to change the idea of bureaucracy that is characterised with the Muslim countries.

Rahman noted that the habit of taking long breaks from work to pray is more noticeable in government institutions.

"Some employees leave their desk 20 minutes before prayer time and return after at least half an hour. During such periods, clients keep waiting until the employee returns to resume work," he said, adding that such a practice should be stopped.

Rahman said that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a hardworking person. In his instructions to Muslims on this aspect, the prophet struck a balance between worship and work. "So, as Muslims have to be constant in their acts of worship, they also have to work hard to make a living," he stated.

While a large number of Muslims agree with Qaradawi's fatwa, there are a few like Murtada Majid, a legal consultant in a Dubai firm, who disagrees.

"Prayers are one of the pillars of our religion. Through prayer, people establish communication and dialogue with the Almighty God who has created us to recognise and appreciate his grace and blessings,” Majid clarified.

"Muslims should, therefore, offer prayers in a proper way and 10 minutes is not enough for a prayer. In all practicality, we need about 20 minutes for wash and get ready for prayers," he pointed out, while claiming that many Muslims do not like to offer their prayers in a hurry.