The Shoura (Consultative) Council›s committee on Islamic and judicial affairs has turned down a proposal to fix a maximum time of five minutes between the first and second call to prayer in mosques and prayer areas in markets and shopping centers. The reduction in time between calls was proposed by deputy chairman of the council›s security affairs committee, Ata Al-Subaiti, and was forwarded to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance. Al-Subaiti said reduction of time between the first and second call to prayer has multiple considerations. First, in Islam, there is no specific period of time between the two calls to prayer. However, praying on time is better. He stressed that each country determines the time based on its people's interests. Second, it enables workers in malls and commercial complexes to pray in congregation, taking into account the interests of shoppers and investors. The council members, on the other hand, lashed out strongly at the Housing Ministry and were unanimous that by its weak accomplishments during the past five years, the ministry has virtually squeezed the citizens looking for housing units. The members said the ministry has flatly failed in its primary task which is providing houses to the citizens. They went even further to ask the ministry to look for another name and to redefine itself. «The ministry is facing a number of difficulties. It has become obvious that the problem of housing in the Kingdom would not be solved in 10 years,» said Sultan Al-Faleh during the discussion of the ministry›s annual report on Monday. He asked the ministry to redefine itself and to explain the purpose of its very establishment and if at all it had any strategy for providing houses to Saudi nationals. Sadoun Al-Sadoun, another member, questioned the ministry›s continued endeavors to minimize the role of the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) making it a coordinator with the commercial banks instead of extending soft loans to the citizens to build their own houses. Fatima Al-Qarni, a female member, bitterly attacked the ministry and said it had completely paralyzed the REDF.
