Morning Crossers
Another Friday morning in Riyadh, the start of the weekend out these parts. Friday mornings are always quiet. Inside the hotel or outside. Few people visible as many have a lie-in. The Prayer channel from Mecca is on, as usual, on the hotel lobby TV and some Imam lad is singing verses from the Quran as pilgrims walk in circles around the holy kaba. Music generally is forbidden in Saudi, except when it relates to singing verses of the Quran or belting out the call to prayer five times per day. But suppose it’s more chanting than singing. The Imam is not backed by acoustic guitars and tambourines like you might see and hear in churches back home.
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