Like many others, I receive WhatsApp messages every Friday—sometimes greetings for occasions, sometimes prayers. When you have a large number of acquaintances, friends, and contacts saved on your phone, these messages can reach the dozens, even the hundreds. Yet they are not personal messages written by the sender; they are forwarded exactly as received, without change or personal touch. They do not invite a reply, but they do invite reflection: why does someone send a message they did not write to someone who may not even read it, every Friday or on every occasion? What does this behavior signify, and what is its value?
In a discussion with Dreamers of Tomorrow, we talked about this phenomenon and moved on to a broader topic: reposting content without verifying its source or truthfulness. At times, we unknowingly contribute to spreading false news or supporting massive misinformation networks operated by those who seek to spread negativity in society.
All I ask is this: verify before you send. Use your knowledge, intelligence, and awareness. Some posts do not merely lie; they distort quotations, add fake images, and weave entire stories far removed from reality.
A young dreamer said: “I think Friday messages have become part of social behavior—perhaps even a sign of religiosity. But do Friday for Muslims, Saturday for Jews, and Sunday for Christians truly hold spiritual value? What is the origin of this story? And what is the relationship between religion and the days of the week?”
I replied: I see it as a contextual, organizational relationship, not a divine one. I had just finished reading My Private Universe by James Bailey, then Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, and Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking. What I read about time unsettled me and made me realize that what we consider self-evident on Earth is entirely relative in the universe. I delved into the expansion and contraction of time and its relationship to the speed of light and gravity—concepts that began as scientific theories and were later confirmed by astronomical equations.
I then reflected on the dozens of messages I receive about a specific “hour of answered prayers” on a particular day, as if God chooses fixed hours to respond. I asked myself: what is the importance of a “day” to begin with? Which day? Time on Earth is highly relative—so what about time on Mars, Saturn, or a planet in another galaxy?
I wanted to share this way of thinking with the reader, beyond local boundaries (in this case, Earth) and into the cosmic.
Another young woman said: “Explain more…”
I replied: I invite you to reflect and contemplate until we reach perspectives worthy of consideration. If Einstein’s theory of relativity tells us that time changes with speed and location, that as we approach the speed of light time contracts and mass dissolves, and that at that speed time stops and matter vanishes—then I now understand what I was once asked to believe by faith alone, without engaging the mind.
A young man said: “Like what, doctor? And what does this have to do with Friday messages?”
I said: I contemplate the relativity of time and pause before verses from the Holy Qur’an such as:
“And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count.”
I then added: my book The Courage to Think, published by Dar Al-Maaref, discusses such ideas to expand perception and distinguish between the human and the divine.
Science is beautiful, and questioning is the foundation of knowledge.
To those who believe that the mind stopped working after the explanations of the early scholars a thousand years ago, and that faith without evidence is the path to God, I say: God granted us reason so that we may reflect and contemplate. His Book began with “Read,” and what distinguishes us from other creatures is our awareness of this blessing.
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A young man asked: “So let’s go back to the days of the week—where did their names come from?”
I answered: In many cultures, the names of the days were derived from the classical planets in Hellenistic astronomy, which themselves were named after well-known gods of the time. This system began with the Sumerians, was adopted by the Babylonians, and then entered Roman culture. Early Christianity adopted the seven-day week from the Hebrew calendar. Saturday remained sacred to the Jews, and Sunday to the Christians.
The Babylonians named their days as follows:
Diana (the Moon) = Monday
Mars = Tuesday
Mercury = Wednesday
Jupiter = Thursday
Venus = Friday
Saturn = Saturday
Apollo (the Sun) = Sunday
The Arabs later adopted this seven-day division of the week, as they had no weekly system before it.
At a later stage, the names became: Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. From Sunday to Thursday, the names were derived from numerical order, while “Friday” came from “gathering,” for communal prayer. The Qur’an then affirmed this day as a day of gathering and prayer.
In Latin and English, the days were named based on celestial bodies or mythological symbols.
The influence of ancient Greek, Latin, and Germanic languages continued to shape the names of the week in modern English.
I concluded: all of these are cultural reflections of different eras. The week did not always exist; it came into being, was once five days, then became seven. The names changed according to the dominant culture. It is a human creation, worthy of respect.
Yet some believe—indeed are convinced—that repeating the names of days or their recurrence in months carries religious significance, as if time repeats itself. This is not true. Based on the Earth’s rotation around the Sun, the movement of the solar system as a whole, and its journey through the universe, returning to the same cosmic position on the same day or month is impossible.
Therefore, the Creator—closer to us than our jugular vein—is not bound by a temporal schedule to hear supplications. Weekly and daily divisions exist to organize human life; they do not concern God, because God exists in every time, every place, and every moment.
From another rational perspective, prayer is positive energy we direct toward goodness and toward those we love. When a group of people unite in prayer at a specific time, the impact of this energy increases.
The chants of crowds in a football stadium create collective energy that affects players’ chemistry and enhances their performance. This is why it is said that “the ground plays with its home team.” Perhaps unifying prayer—Friday for Muslims, Saturday for Jews, Sunday for Christians—is a means of generating collective energy toward goodness. And God knows best.
