Jeddah, July 30: Many workingwomen do not perform regular daily prayers at their workplaces because of their unwillingness to remove makeup to do ablution.
A number of women interviewed by Arab News said it was important to keep their good looks and makeup during their hours in office. They also argued that the lack of special rooms for them to remove and redo their makeup was another obstacle preventing them from performing prayers on time.
The education sector, where the majority of Saudi workingwomen are employed, has its own arrangements for female staff to perform prayers. All girls’ schools have prayer halls, and female teachers and students are obliged to pray.
Muneera Gilajo, a girls’ school principal, said congregational prayer was done on time in her school. She said women teachers are role models for the students, so she aks them to offer prayers on time.
A number of female employees in the heath sector, which employs 4.7 percent of the Saudi workingwomen, told Arab News that they were keen to perform prayers right at their workplace.
Member of the committee of merchants of clothes and ready-made garments at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aisha Ahmad Siraj criticized women who delay prayers for fear of losing makeup. “Prayer should be duly done on time. There is no way it can be delayed,” she said.
She noted that many women who work in public places such as malls normally remain in their places of work during prayer breaks. “The fact that there is no special prayer location for them should not prevent them from performing prayers on time,” she said.
Siraj called on business owners to make sure that they have special prayer rooms and restrooms for women to apply their makeup, such as nail polish, which should be removed before ablution.
She noted that many women traveling on expressways stop at rest stations to perform prayers.
Aisha Natto, who owns an ophthalmological center in Jeddah, said delaying prayer was not limited to workingwomen only. “Even young men sometimes do not pray on time. This is a personal matter and not a gender issue,” she noted.
She said she was keen to offer her prayer on time even when she travels outside the country.
Natto called on businessmen to provide special places for their women employees to pray, to rest and to apply their makeup whenever needed.
Courtesy: Arab News