THIS is apropos the letter ‘Plea for Friday as holiday’ (May 22).

If Friday is declared weekly holiday, the Friday prayers will be its first casualty as it will compete — as it did during the dark days of Zia’s rule — with picnic outings and will, more often than not, lose to picnic outings. Now, most office-goers offer their Friday prayers before going home from work.

Masjid-i-Khizra is now overcrowded for Friday prayers. It will wear a desolate look if Friday is declared a weekly holiday.

Under Islam, Friday is the most sacred of the seven days of the week. If it is declared a weekly holiday, an erroneous impression will be created in the minds of the public — most of it illiterate — that Islam encourages lethargy and laziness in the lives of Muslims whereas Islam encourages hard work and there is, I believe, a Hadis which enjoins upon Muslims to say prayers and then spread out in the world to win their bread — not to go home and pass the remainder of the day in laziness.

From this angle, even the half-day holiday is, strictly speaking, anti-Islamic. We are enjoined to pray and then engage in our respective professions and work.

As such, Friday should rather be a full working day with an hour’s break for prayers.

Besides, we have a host of problems to solve and think about.

Why add to this burden the weekly holiday issue. Raising this issue amounts to confuse the nation’s mind and engage it into frivolities.

SALAHUDDIN MIRZA Karachi