CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The Muslim call to prayer fills the halls of a Cairo computer shopping center, followed immediately by the click of locking doors as the young, bearded tech salesmen close up shop and line up in rows to pray together.
Business grinding to a halt for daily prayers is not unusual in conservative Saudi Arabia, but until recently it was rare in the Egyptian capital, especially in affluent commercial districts like Mohandiseen, where the mall is located.
But nearly the entire three-story mall is made up of computer stores run by Salafis, an ultraconservative Islamic movement that has grown dramatically across the Middle East in recent years.
«We all pray together,» said Yasser Mandi, a salesman at the Nour el-Hoda computer store. «When we know someone who is good and prays, we invite them to open a shop here in this mall.» Even the name of Mandi's store is religious, meaning «Light of Guidance. Read more ...
Business grinding to a halt for daily prayers is not unusual in conservative Saudi Arabia, but until recently it was rare in the Egyptian capital, especially in affluent commercial districts like Mohandiseen, where the mall is located.
But nearly the entire three-story mall is made up of computer stores run by Salafis, an ultraconservative Islamic movement that has grown dramatically across the Middle East in recent years.
«We all pray together,» said Yasser Mandi, a salesman at the Nour el-Hoda computer store. «When we know someone who is good and prays, we invite them to open a shop here in this mall.» Even the name of Mandi's store is religious, meaning «Light of Guidance. Read more ...
Source: AP
H/T: Weasel Zippers
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