For professionals seeking spiritual solace during Ramzan but unable to do so on account of long, erratic working hours, a masjid in a quaint neighbourhood of Old City has come up with a solution — tarawih prayers on weekends.
The holy month sees thousands converging at masjids at night for tarawih or special prayers , which usually begin at around 8.30 p.m. and end by 10 p.m. But at that time, several professionals are either still in office or on their way home after a long day at work.
The weekend tarawih , the brainchild of four friends, three of whom are employed in the IT and ITeS sector, will kick off on Saturday.
“Professionals face a problem of not making it to masjids on time for the prayers. We found no place where the prayers would start late so that we could join. So, we decided to start this weekend schedule. This year, we are updating people on a WhatsApp group about when namaz begins,” says Abdul Mateen, one of the programme co-founders.
They spoke to the management of Masjid-e-Noor in Hafiz Baba Nagar and elders of the area, and convinced them to give their plan a shot. But there was a hitch: regular tarawih prayers were scheduled at 8.30 p.m.
“We took permission to have the prayers at 10.15 p.m. after the first set of tarawih gets over. We started off with 25 people a couple of years ago. Last year, we had 50 namazis (worshippers) and the number is expected to rise,” says Abdul Hadi, another co-founder.
The organisers say this year, apart from those working in the IT and ITeS sectors, they have received calls enquiring about the late tarawih prayers from doctors as well. Most of those who join the congregation hail from areas such as Mehdipatnam, Toli Chowki, Langar Houz and Hyderguda.
Meanwhile, the series of Youm-ul-Quran (day of the Quran) speeches began at the historic Mecca Masjid. On every Friday of Ramzan, the Minorities Welfare Department accords permission to religious bodies and political outfits to deliver speeches in the masjid courtyard. While the first, fourth and fifth Fridays slots of the month have been given to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the second Friday slot has been given to the Sunni Ulama Board and the third Friday to the Majlis Bachao Tahreek.
