The United Arab Emirates has instructed mosque preachers across the country to limit the duration of Friday sermons and prayers to a maximum 10 minutes as searing heat continues to engulf the region, the state news agency said on Thursday.
A mosque is seen on the Jumeirah beach road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Reuters/Satish Kumar
The United Arab Emirates has instructed mosque preachers across the country to limit the duration of Friday sermons and prayers to a maximum 10 minutes as searing heat continues to engulf the region, the state news agency said on Thursday.
The directive, issued by the UAE's General Authority for Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Zakat (AWQAF), will take effect on Friday and last until early October, according to the WAM agency.
The decision was made to " ensure the safety of worshippers and to meet the needs of those who visit the houses of God, especially during the summer months when temperatures are high," WAM added.
According to the UAE's National Center of Meteorology, summer temperatures in the Gulf country frequently exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with some areas experiencing highs of up to 50 C (122 F).
At the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 1,301 people died, 83% of whom were unregistered pilgrims exposed to direct sunlight "without adequate shelter or comfort," Saudi Arabia's health minister said earlier this week.
By Tala Ramadan
Dubai International Airport has once again demonstrated its unrivalled dominance in global aviation, handling 95.2 million passengers in 2025 and ranking second worldwide for total passenger traffic, according to the latest rankings released by Airports Council International (ACI).
LVMH's most prized division, fashion and leather goods, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior, has reported a 2% decline in organic revenue in Q1, undershooting even the modest contraction analysts had anticipated, according to Gate Advisory, a firm specializing in Financial Intelligence.
Negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Islamabad later this week, five sources said on Tuesday, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries in decades ended without a breakthrough.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.