Sunday Worship Comes to the Gulf

Economic reforms in the UAE tilt toward secularism and shift Christian services from Friday, the Muslim day of prayer.

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) wants to create a more friendly financial climate. Christians, say local evangelical leaders, are among the unintended beneficiaries.

“The business of Dubai is business, even though they are committed Muslims,” said Jim Burgess, evangelical representative to the Gulf Churches Fellowship, referencing the UAE’s economic hub. “But worshiping on Sunday—our traditional day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus—will be a great blessing.”

Seeking better alignment with international markets, the Emirates is adopting a Monday to Friday workweek. The weekend had previously begun with Friday, in deference to Muslim communal prayers. Christians aligned their corporate worship accordingly.

குவைத்தில் வசிக்கும் வளைகுடாவின் பைபிள் சொசைட்டியின் பொதுச் செயலாளர் ஹ்ரைர் ஜெபிஜியன் கூறுகையில், "வெள்ளிக்கிழமையில் வழிபாடு செய்வது சற்று விசித்திரமானது, ஆனால் நீங்கள் அதைப் பழக்கப்படுத்திக் கொள்கிறீர்கள். "[UAE யின்] காரணங்கள் முற்றிலும் நிதி சார்ந்தவை, ஆனால் கிறிஸ்தவர்களுக்கு Jesus Christ super star “It is a bit strange to worship on a Friday, but you get used to it,” said Hrayr Jebejian, general secretary of the Bible Society of the Gulf, who lives in Kuwait. “The [UAE’s] reasons are purely financial, but for Christians it will be like going back to normal.”

Of the UAE’s 10 million people, 88 percent are migrant workers. The Pew Research Center estimates 13 percent are Christians, coming largely from India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, in addition to Western expats.

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Alongside officially secular Lebanon and Turkey, the UAE is now the third Middle Eastern nation to keep the Western calendar. But it comes with a tweak. All public sector employees will be dismissed at midday Friday, as the Emirates becomes the only nation in the world with a four-and-a-half-day workweek.

While the innovation puts the UAE in the forefront of the longer-weekend labor debate, it also facilitates Muslim Friday prayers—though ..

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