RIYADH: With
burger patties sizzling over a hot grill, a Saudi eatery did the unthinkable as
a muezzin's call to prayer sent Muslim worshippers scrambling to lower their
shutters: it stayed open. The scene, amid a sweeping reform drive, was a
striking contrast to the days when religious police wielded unbridled powers
and drove people out of malls and shops to enforce the Islamic world's only
mandatory prayer-time shutdown. Last month Riyadh, keen to stimulate an economy
hit by low oil prices, decreed that some businesses can stay open 24 hours a
day for an unspecified fee.

But the decision
triggered confusion over whether it includes the five daily Islamic prayer
times. Stores in some Riyadh malls saw it as a nod-and-a-wink approach to avert
a conservative backlash, testing what could be one of the most sensitive of a
string of reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom. The burger shop manager
showed AFP a text from its Saudi owner, instructing him to stay open: "The
(government) decides to allow shops, restaurants and markets to work for 24
hours and the decision includes... prayer times."

It was among a
handful of eateries in Riyadh's upscale Kingdom Centre mall openly catering to
customers during the sunset Maghrib prayer. At another leading Riyadh mall,
Al-Nakheel, a similar scene played out during the evening Isha prayer. While
many retailers rolled down their shutters, several cafes and restaurants
teeming with customers kept their cash registers ringing, while children
continued to bounce around in an indoor amusement park. "Most of the time
stores here are (now) open during prayer time," Francis, an Asian coffee
shop manager, told AFP.

Two other shop
managers said they had paid no government fee to stay open, but were cautiously
testing the waters, as officials appeared to be looking the other way.
"Those (workers) who want to pray can pray, those who want to work can
work," one of them said, pointing out that many were non-Muslim and had
previously been obliged to idle away time. The other manager, who also
requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity, said he would still shut
shop if confronted by the religious police.

Until three years
ago, the religious police elicited widespread fear, chasing men and women out
of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex. But
the bearded enforcers of public morality, whose powers have been clipped in
recent years, are now largely out of sight. Retailers could take advantage of
"vague government statements to stay open, especially with the relative
absence of the religious police that was responsible for enforcing the
system," Eman Alhussein, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign
Relations, told AFP.

Following the pre-dawn
Fajr prayer, shops in the kingdom typically have to close four times daily,
with workers often out of action for more than 30 minutes. But it is too soon
to know the financial impact of easing a restriction that members of the
advisory Shura Council say costs the Saudi economy tens of billions of riyals a
year.

"The ability
to make closing for prayer more optional would increase worker productivity and
possibly overall business activity" as the kingdom seeks to boost non-oil
revenue and tackle high youth unemployment, said Karen Young from the American
Enterprise Institute. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has rolled out a series
of reforms over the past two years, including allowing women to drive,
reopening cinemas and reining in clerical power as he seeks to project a
business-friendly image.

The reaction of
archconservatives has so far been muted, given his parallel crackdown on
dissent. But in a series of tweets last year, the religious police, officially
known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,
said it was forbidden to keep stores open during prayer, calling it "one
of the most important pillars of Islam".

Last month, Saudi
state media reported that the kingdom will allow round-the-clock trading - for
what some local media said was a fee of up to 100,000 riyals ($27,000). But
nothing was said about prayer times. Confusion reigned after Saudi-owned
Al-Arabiya television first tweeted that the decision included prayers, but
quickly deleted it after a government official rejected the claim on air. Saudi
Arabia's media ministry and the mall operators did not respond to requests for
comment.

Not all shops are
staying open, however. One Turkish eatery said it preferred to close during
prayers as the vague government ruling offered "no guarantees" it
would not be penalized. Beyond large malls, shops also appear to be observing
the shutdown, even as some operate on the quiet after rolling down their
shutters. "Give it time," said Amer, a Saudi pharmacist in his 40s,
buying a coffee and dessert at Al-Nakheel during Isha prayer. "The
government is testing reactions. If there is no (backlash) they might make it
official." - AFP