The Johor sultan 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 Ismail said this during a thanksgiving prayer ceremony in conjunction with his birthday at the Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim in Muar 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.

Meanwhile Johor Menteri Besar Mohamad Khaled Nordin said he is confident that the switch of the state's rest days will not have huge effect on the state's economy.

This, he said, was because those having Sunday as their rest day could still make dealings with the state government as Sunday would be a normal working day for state government employees.

"I don't think in this current rapid technological development, a switch in weekends will bring huge effect on the state's economy.

"Furthermore, Johor used to observe Friday as its rest day before 1994," he said.

Private sector given option

Mohamed Khaled said at that time, the private sector was given the option to either follow the state government or observe Saturday and Sunday as rest days.

"Likewise this time, it is up to them to either follow the state government or not," he added.

As for schools, he said, the switch in rest days would avoid a rush for Muslim students to perform the Friday prayers.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) chief executive Ismail Ibrahim said investments in the area would continue as usual and Irda would improve its system to accommodate the needs of investors.

"We will certainly take necessary actions to coordinate all agencies at the federal level and also the business community.

"As for now, we do not foresee any disruption to our service," he added.

The communication manager of Puteri Harbour Traders Hotel in Nusajaya, Aidah Abd Rahman, believed that the switch would boost the state's travel industry.

"The hotel welcomes the switch. It certainly is good news for foreign tourists, especially the Singaporeans, who normally cross over to the state on Sunday," she said.

    

In an immediate response, PAS which is currently holding its bi-annual muktamar today tabled an emergency motion lauding the move.

Johor PAS commissioner Dr Mahfodz Mohamed, who read out the motion, remarked that this had always been the tradition until it was changed by then-Johor menteri besar Muhyiddin Yassin.

"Friday being a holiday has been the case since colonial times until 1994. However, it was changed to Sunday during Muhyiddin's time as menteri besar," he said.

- Bernama