It’s a good day for Muslims and Christians
Christians have Sunday service, Jews have Shabbat. But for observant Muslims, it’s TGIF all the way.
Friday afternoons are blocked off for weekly congregational prayers — you know, just to truly maximize the inconvenience for working Muslims around the world. (Except in some Muslim countries. Their weekends are Friday-Saturday. So that’s cool.)
The rest of us observant, and occasionally observant, Muslims have to shlep to the nearest Friday prayer (called jumah — “joo-maah”) on our lunch hour. Not that I’m complaining — jumah can be prayed nearly anywhere, though ideally in a mosque and ideally among others. Like other religious services, the point of jumah is to worship in a group.
It doesn’t take too long, either. There is a short sermon of about 30 minutes, followed by a fiveminute formal prayer. When he’s really busy, my husband attends what he calls the “express jumah” at a nearby mosque — the whole thing is done in less than 15 minutes — shorter than a smoke break.
Like other faith groups, Muslims are accustomed to marrying their spiritual identity with the obligations of daily life. Choose to wear hijab? Pick a brightly coloured one and tie it in the most on-fleek way possible. Fasting in Ramadan? Adjust your working hours! Need to pray during the day? Find a corner and start meditating.
For most of the year, jumah is a weekly lunch-hour appointment. Head to the mosque (or conference room, or classroom, or gymnasium) for the prayer, pick up some shawarma on the way back. Quick and easy, if not entirely satisfying.
Except for one day each year — the one day that the Muslim tradition of jumah and one of Christianity’s most holy days coincide: Good Friday.
In Canada, Good Friday is a statutory holiday, which means that banks, schools, government offices and most malls, stores and restaurants are closed.
As for the mosques — well, they are wide open and ready for business. Many mosques count Good Friday jumah as one of their busiest days of the year. They use the opportunity to organize fundraisers, carni- vals, workshops. They rent bouncy castles and hire entertainers. They fly in well-known speakers for the sermon. They get on the phone tree and mobilize their volunteers weeks in advance.
Most importantly, they organize epic bake sales.
I’ll be honest. I’m not a super diligent jumah-attender. As in, I think holy Friday thoughts of the “Thank God I made it through the week” variety more often than I actually make it out to a formal prayer, but I never miss Good Friday jumah. One word: doubles. I attend a mosque with a large West Indian population. This means that in addition to the usual jumah bake-sale staples of chocolate cupcakes, (halal) pepperoni pizza and biryani, on special occasions, they break out the good stuff — pholourie, roti and doubles.
Doubles are two small, deep-fried bhatura (a type of leavened flat bread) with chana (chickpea) curry in the middle. They feature my two favourite food groups: carbohydrates and deep fried anything.
Every year, the doubles sell out almost immediately. Last year, I had my husband, my kids and my mother-in-law all ready to pounce the minute the prayer finished. Even then, I only managed to procure one double.
I haven’t figured out which doubles agent to bribe yet, but I’m working on it. This year, I’ll be ready.
Good Friday jumah is a family event. I look forward to lingering after the prayer to hang out, catch up with friends, buy doubles (or last year’s consolation prize, cupcakes) and make plans for dinner. It’s an unexpected, joyful celebration that reminds me of spring and renewal.
Best of all: According to statutoryholidays.com, “A complicated but precise formula . . . determines the day Easter Sunday (and therefore Good Friday) is celebrated: It is the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring (after March 21).”
Any holiday that requires a complicated lunar-moon calculation is one that Muslims can get behind . . . and also argue about for decades.
If you ever want to stir up some drama among Muslim friends, ask them where they stand on the calculation vs. moonsighting issue. Then pop some popcorn and enjoy the show.
Happy Good Friday! Uzma Jalaluddin is a high school teacher in York Region. She writes about parenting and other life adventures.