The Islamic Association of Raleigh is pleased to announce a pilot (trial) program for a fourth shift of Friday prayers. The purpose of the pilot program is to test how many students and community members would make use of this fourth shift and to determine if the fourth shift will be made permanent. Some of our high school and college students offer Friday prayers at high school, however there are some students who are unable to attend Friday prayers due to various reasons.

We conducted a survey of High School students and they wanted the flexibility of attending Friday prayers at the Islamic Center of Raleigh after school hours.

We want to enable middle school, high school and college students to attend Jumuah prayers with a larger gathering than is currently possible due to staggered lunch breaks and their busy schedules.

The pilot program will begin InshaAllah on March 21. The fourth shift khutba will begin at 3:30 PM and end at 4:00 PM. The khutbah will be delivered in English and will be aimed at the youth.

We will regularly conduct surveys of the fourth shift participants to make sure we meet the needs of our youth. We hope the parents of high school students will carpool and provide transportation to the masjid. This pilot can be successful only if the parents actively participate in it.

The pilot program is scheduled to run until June 20 and we will make any future decisions about the fourth shift at that time.

And if you have any suggestions please let us know.