Friday prayers are a special experience for many Muslims worldwide. Whether in a grand mosque that can host thousands or a small room in the basement of a building, the ritual of coming together to perform Friday prayers is universal.
Indian photographer Aqib Anwar, who lives in Dubai, explores what happens after finishing those prayers. He's captured moments, including people exiting the mosque and greeting each other or children running home or off to their parent’s car. For six years, Anwar has documented these scenes through snapshots he has shared on Instagram.
The collection, titled Friday, is now on display at the Sikka Art and Design Festival in Al Shindagha. “The reason I started this was my own way back to faith,” Anwar tells The National. "The only constant in my life was Friday prayers because I’ve been going since I was a child."
He also says he noticed there were a lot of negative portrayals of Muslim men in the media, so he decided to use his considerable following on Instagram to show a different side. He adds: “It’s about a sense of community, it's about love between fathers and sons. Love between neighbours and a shared sense of spirituality.”
Most of the images at the exhibition were taken at Al Farooq Omar bin Al Khattab Mosque in Jumeirah. The location reflects Dubai’s cultural and architectural tapestry. Anwar took the skills he learnt from shooting fashion shows in New York and London to create the compositions of his shots for the prayer series.
Anwar says that having travelled the world and performed Friday prayers in different cities, the experience is similar everywhere.
“I think the only difference is geography, apart from that, everything just feels familiar," he adds. "It's the same people. People who are dressed well come early. There are also people who come in at the last minute. Me and my brother call it the '95th-minute winner', they come right before the prayer starts. It's the same the world around in my opinion.”
The goal, Anwar says, is to create “a serene and immersive environment that reflects the essence of the Friday prayer moments". He adds that he purposefully chose the exhibition space to be small so that people could sense the intimacy displayed in the photos.
Anwar hopes that visitors – Muslim or not – experience this serenity and get a sense of what it’s like going to Friday prayers from his point of view, seeing what he calls the “moments of love between brothers". The space also functions as a carpeted space for those who want to pray.
He adds that the success of the exhibition has driven him to want to grow the series, taking it to different countries and capturing the same moments worldwide.
“Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed came for the opening and asked: ‘How are you thinking of taking this to a wider audience?’" he says. "I said: 'I want to make a book because I'm sitting on an archive of hundreds of Fridays over six years, but another friend also said I should take this to Europe, and I should take this to America because the diaspora there are craving to see imagery like this.'"
The exhibition is on at the Sikka Art and Design Festival until Sunday
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
EXPATS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lulu%20Wang%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicole%20Kidman%2C%20Sarayu%20Blue%2C%20Ji-young%20Yoo%2C%20Brian%20Tee%2C%20Jack%20Huston%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
The biog
Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.
Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.
Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.
Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Moving%20Out%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SMG%20Studio%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Team17%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsoles%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20One%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
Racecard
6.35pm: American Business Council – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.10pm: British Business Group – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,200m
7.45pm: CCI France UAE – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
8.20pm: Czech Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,400m
8.55pm: Netherlands Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
9.30pm: Indian Business and Professional Council – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Fiona Sampson
Profile
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
MATCH INFO
World Cup 2022 qualifier
UAE v Indonesia, Thursday, 8pm
Venue: Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
Autumn international scores
Saturday, November 24
Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia
The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
Read more about the coronavirus
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
