FROM 1982 onwards there have occurred a number of changes in weekly holidays. It was in that year the country broke away from the century old tradition of weekly holiday on Sunday and introduced five days week with Friday and Saturday as weekly holiday although there was no demand in the country for a holiday on Friday even from the religious rights groups. This destabilized a situation upon which there was no conflict and difference of opinion in the country. In March 1984, in view of disaffection among the government employees against the then prevailing weekend system followed by their open protest, the weekend was reduced to one day and that was on Friday. The Awami League government reintroduced two days weekend,
Friday and Saturday, in 1997. But the BNP, immediately after coming to power, restored one day weekend. So never before 1982 this country, even when it was a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, observed Friday as a weekly holiday. And a discord was unnecessarily created in the society.
But the government, imitating Ershad and Awami League, has declared Friday and Saturday as weekly holiday, a couple of days back, based on the argument that this will result in reducing cost of fuel and thus saving public expenditure. It appears that the calculation of savings that will accrue from curtailing the number of working days was a one-sided exercise without taking into account how much money will be lost due to extending the weekend by one day and consequently closing or at least slowing down
many economic, trade and commercial activities in the private as well as in the public sector. Also the big question raised by the business community as to how much it will affect international trade due to one of the weekend holiday falling on Friday which is a working day all over the world excepting, perhaps, Saudi Arabia remains to be examined.
About cutting down government expenditure is this measure of declaring two days weekend an adequate one? Certainly not. If the government sincerely wants to tighten its belt then it should
consult the report of the Public Expenditure Review Commission which is currently gathering dust in the Ministry of Finance. The report has succinctly examined the quality of public expenditure, pointed out areas where serious wastages and misuse of public money are taking place and suggested how wasteful and unproductive public expenditure could be curtailed and diverted to more productive activities of the government which will be more beneficial for the economy and the people. It is strongly felt that resorting to the measures sug-
gested in the report will do away with the necessity of saving public money by introducing two days weekend.
Then comes the question as to why Friday should be enjoyed as a holiday. Is it because Islam enjoins that Friday should be observed as a holiday and the Muslim community should abstain from work on that day? In this connection the English translation of Section 2 'Sura Zumah, Ayat 9 and 10' wherein Zumah prayer was prescribed as Farz on all Muslims is quoted below:
"Ye who believe!
When the call is proclaimed To prayer on Friday (The day of Assembly) Hasten earnestly to the Remembrance
Of God, and leave off Business (and traffic); That is best for you If ye but knew And when the prayer Is finished, then may ye Disperse through the land And seek of the Bounty Of God and celebrate The Praises of God Often( and without stint) That ye may prosper.
(Translation by Allama Yusuf Ali, page 1547-48)
The above verses of the Holy Quran clearly and unambiguously say that on hearing the call for prayer on Fridays the Muslims should give up trading and rush for performing prayer but immediately after Zumah prayer they should spread out in search of livelihood. These orders of Allah as revealed in the Holy Quran should be treated as obligatory on all Muslims implying thereby that Friday should be observed as a working day and not a holiday. And Friday was all through a working day until 1982 when Hussain Mohammad Ershad usurped power and, perhaps, wanted to do something spectacular to show that he was a great Muslim. It is pertinent to mention here that in most of the Muslim countries Sunday, not Friday, is observed as week-
end.
Since the verses of the Holly Quran have not enjoined upon the Muslims to abstain from the work rather the verses have asked them to work for earning livelihood throughout the whole of Friday except the Zumah prayer time it is necessary that Friday should not be enjoyed as holiday. So from the point of view of religion as well as from the point of view of keeping uniformity with the world order government should think of declaring Sunday instead of Friday as the weekend for Bangladesh. In case government decides to continue with two days weekend, which if considered desirable, then it should be Saturday and Sunday and not Friday and Saturday.
M. Hafizuddin Khan is ex-Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh.