Dubai, September 15: A Saudi online newspaper website’s decision to shut it down for 20 minutes during prayer times has kicked off a controversy with some calling it superficial and other describing the move as noble.
One local daily in Hail province, Aen Hail or Hail’s Eye downed its website for 20 minutes, five times a day, placing a message ‘Closed for Prayer’ in Arabic along with a countdown to the end of the break.
Saudi Arabia, seat of conservative Islam, has recently seen a furious debate on stopping all commercial activities during prayer times. The newspaper site shutdown, which was unveiled this month, is automated and linked to local prayer times, according to the site’s online editor, Majid Al-Mismar. Many online commentators to the website have praised the decision, expressing their support of a similar nation-wide system.
Professor at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University’s High Judiciary Institute Mohammed Al-Nojaimi, called the newspaper’s decision ”noble” but others called the measure superficial.
”You are focusing on appearances and presentation rather than the original principles of the religion,” one commentator at the site was quoted by the Arab News as saying. ”What if the person wishing to surf the page is a non-Muslim?” he asked.
Another online comment called the measure an act of ”stupidity” and said posting local prayer times was sufficient.
”Closing down the page is an act of backwardness and stupidity.
Just like closing gas stations, pharmacies, and stopping service at airport immigration; it’s a disruption of interest with no positive benefit,” it said.
—Agencies