Mosques Closed in Urumqi

Although the violence in Xinjiang has calmed down, tensions are still high as the Chinese government ordered mosques in Urumqi not to open for Jumu’ah, Friday prayers. According to the BBC, an unnamed government official told the AFP news agency that the order not to open for prayers’ on Friday, the holiest day of the week in Islam, was because of fears of further unrest, saying “For the sake of public safety, all of the mosques have told people that there will be no Friday prayers and that people should stay at home today and pray,” But the government’s imposition may do more harm than good. One Uighur man told Reuters, “Jumu'ah (Friday) is the time of the week when we must pray. For us, it would be an insult to shut it down… If we're not allowed to hold normal religious activities, there will be a lot of anger."