The Regent of Johor Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibrahim officially announced on his Facebook page that the state will revert to Saturday and Sunday as weekends.
According to the post, with the royal assent of the state Ruler, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, the decision was made in consultation with the Johor Islamic Religious Council (JAINJ) and other key stakeholders.
“I hope companies provide workers with enough time to perform Friday prayers”
Tunku Ismail said that he instructed Johor Chief Minister Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and the Johor Mufti to look into and discuss all angles of this issue.
He also shared his hopes that the private sector, government, and other involved parties will give Muslim workers enough time and space to properly perform their Friday prayers.
This change will start from January 1, 2025
The change will replace the current Friday-Saturday weekend setup that’s been in place since January 1, 2014.
According to Berita Harian, on January 1, 2014, Sultan Ibrahim switched Johor’s weekend to Friday and Saturday, out of respect for Friday, seen as the holiest day of the week, and to recognise Islam as Johor’s official religion.
This move actually brought back the original Friday-Saturday weekend that Johor had followed for a long time as an Unfederated Malay State.
Johor only started using the Saturday-Sunday weekend in 1994, when it was changed during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s time as Chief Minister.
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