THREE years on and the Shoura Council is yet to reach consensus on recommendations calling for all businesses to shut shop by 10 p.m. on weekdays. According to a recent news item, the Council is divided on this issue. The pro-recommendations group in the Council believes that this step would “conserve electricity and oil resources and increase productivity in the private and public sectors”. Members opposing such a move cite a number of reasons. For one, they bring up the weather, claiming that people simply do not like to go out shopping when it is blazing outside under the merciless sun. Others claim that the period between Maghreb and Isha prayers is simply too short to encourage shoppers to venture out. Such shoppers would prefer to defer their outings till after Isha prayers when all prayers are done for the day. Many businesses in the past resisted the idea of keeping their establishments open throughout the day, preferring to run their operations through a split-shift mechanism. This helped keep costs down as additional staff were not needed. The same personnel could work the few morning hours and return for the evening shift on regular pay. They would enjoy excessive break times during prayer calls by keeping their shops closed anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes, but would be required to stay open until midnight to close shop without the benefit of overtime. But aren't businesses in truth somehow fashioning the way society functions. By staying open for barely two hours during daytime, how much encouragement does it offer stay-at-home moms or housewives to get out there and do their errands? By allowing late closing times at night, does that not encourage simply staying out and staying up beyond reasonable hours? Who is establishing shopping patterns? Some of these businesses would argue that there is no traffic of customers past the hour of noon until evening. But how can there be if they are open for that short time in the morning. Why not open an hour earlier and remain open throughout the day. Closing times can then be brought back to 10 p.m. without much of an economic impact. Women, who suffer most when shops close at odd hours, would have the whole day to schedule their shopping, rather than squeeze that time in after Isha prayers when roads are clogged and traffic is at a standstill. With their shopping out of the way in the daytime, they could be back in time before their children return from school. And once the public begins to realize that shops are open throughout the day, that rush of adrenaline to flood the streets right after Isha prayers will be minimized. Families without babysitters suffer the most as they have to take their little children with them, and many of the tiny ones exhibit their irritation by wailing incessantly as their parents trudge up and down the aisles. Workers have rights too. Some even have their families waiting at home. Would it not be appropriate to allow them the benefit of some extra moments with their loved ones? Or should we demand that they creep into their homes past the midnight hour night after night, after they have closed and secured the establishment? Then there is the issue of inconsistent closure times during the different prayer times during the day which is a sore bone of contention with many shoppers. They feel and often rightly so that such times for worship are grossly abused by the staff that use this period for long extended breaks, much to the fury of shoppers left standing outside the closed doors. The Shoura Council must address this issue, sensitive as it may be in some quarters. There has to be some kind of standardization of shopping hours. Some have called for pharmacies and petrol stations not to close shop during those times, but to allow their staff to perform their prayers in pairs. The Council must also understand that our society needs to get to bed early so that they can rise early and get to work on time. Even our schoolchildren have to learn the discipline of proper sleeping habits. It is no secret that tardiness is an epidemic especially in the public service sector. Some of it could be blamed on late-night shopping indulgence, but the collective impact on society is anything but positive. Although closing shops a little earlier would not solve all such problems, it would still be a step in the right direction. The time lag on this issue has gone beyond acceptable limits. The Shoura Council has to act decisively on this problem.
