Friday Observances

Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week.

In most Western countries, Friday is the fifth and final day of the working week. In some other countries, Friday is the first day of the weekend, with Saturday the second. In Iran, Friday is the last day of the weekend, with Saturday as the first day of the working week. Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Kuwait also followed this convention until they changed to a Friday–Saturday weekend on September 1, 2006, in Bahrain and the UAE, and a year later in Kuwait. In Israel, by Jewish tradition, Friday is the sixth day of the week, and the last working day.

Etymology

In the seven-day week introduced in the Roman Empire in the first century CE, the days were named after the classical planets of Hellenistic astrology (the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn). The English name ''Friday'' comes from the Old English ', meaning the "day of Frig", a result of an old convention associating the Nordic goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess Venus after whom the planet was named; the same holds for ' in Old High German, ' in Modern German, and ' in Dutch.

"Friday" in other languages

The expected cognate name in Old Norse would be '. The name of Friday in Old Norse is ' instead, indicating a loan of the week-day names from Low German; however, the modern Faroese name is '. The modern Scandinavian form is ' in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish, meaning Freyja's day. The distinction between Freyja and Frigg in some Germanic mythologies is contested.

The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from Latin ' or "day of Venus" (a translation of Greek ', ), such as ' in French, in Galician, ' in Catalan, ' in Corsican, ' in Italian, ' in Romanian, and ' in Spanish and influencing the Filipino ' or ', and the Chamorro '. This is also reflected in the p-Celtic Welsh language as '.

An exception is Portuguese, also a Romance language, which uses the word ', meaning "sixth day of liturgical celebration", derived from the Latin ' used in religious texts where consecrating days to pagan gods was not allowed. Another exception among the Romance languages is also Sardinian, in which the word ' is derived from Latin '. This name had been given by the Jewish community exiled to the island in order to designate the food specifically prepared for Shabbat eve.

In Arabic, Friday is ', from a root meaning "congregation/gathering." In languages of Islamic countries outside the Arab world, the word for Friday is commonly a derivation of this: ( Malay ''Jumaat'' or ''Jumat'' , Turkish ', Persian/Urdu , ') and Swahili (Ijumaa).

In modern Greek, four of the words for the week-days are derived from ordinals. However, the Greek word for Friday is ' () and is derived from a word meaning "to prepare" (). Like Saturday (, ) and Sunday (, ), Friday is named for its liturgical significance as the day of preparation before Sabbath, which was inherited by Greek Christian Orthodox culture from Jewish practices.

Friday was formerly a Christian fast day; this is the origin of the Irish ', Scottish Gaelic ', Manx ' and Icelandic ', all meaning "fast day".

In both biblical and modern Hebrew, Friday is ' meaning "the sixth day".

In most Indian languages, Friday is ''Shukravāra'', named for , the planet Venus. In Bengali or ' is the 6th day in the Bengali week of Bengali Calendar and is the beginning of the weekend in Bangladesh. In Tamil, the word for Friday is ''velli'', also a name for Venus; and in Malayalam it is ''velliyalca''.

In Japanese, is formed from the words meaning Venus (lit. gold + planet) and meaning day (of the week).

In the Korean language, it is in Korean Hangul writing (Romanization: '), and is the pronounced form of the written word in Chinese characters, as in Japanese.

In Chinese, Friday is 星期五 ''xīngqíwǔ'' meaning "fifth day of the week".

In the Nahuatl language, Friday is ' () meaning "day of Quetzalcoatl".

Most Slavic languages call Friday the "fifth (day)": Belarusian – ', Bulgarian – ', Czech ', Polish ', Russian – ', Serbo-Croatian – ', Slovak ', Slovene ', and Ukrainian – '. The Hungarian word ' is a loan from the Slavic Pannonian dialect. The n in ' suggests an early adoption from Slavic, when many Slavic dialects still had nasal vowels. In modern Slavic languages only Polish retained nasal vowels.

In culture

Friday is considered unlucky in some cultures. This is particularly so in maritime circles; perhaps the most enduring sailing superstition is that it is unlucky to begin a voyage on a Friday. In the 19th century, Admiral William Henry Smyth described Friday in his nautical lexicon ''The Sailor's Word-Book'' as:

(' means "unlucky day".) This superstition is the root of the well-known urban legend of .

In modern times since the Middle Ages, Friday the 13th and Friday the 17th are considered to be especially unlucky, due to the conjunction of Friday with the unlucky numbers thirteen and seventeen. Such a Friday may be called a "Black Friday".

However, this superstition is not universal, notably in Hispanic, Greek and Scottish Gaelic culture:
In Hispanic and Greek cultures, Tuesday is the unlucky day, specifically the 13th.

Popularly, Fridays are seen as days of good luck and happiness, since it is the last day of a work week as well as many school weeks that end every Friday.

In astrology

In astrology, Friday is connected with the planet Venus and is symbolized by that planet's symbol ♀. Friday is also associated with the astrological signs Libra and Taurus.
Modern nursery rhymes claim that 'Friday's child is loving and giving', yet in 1775, children born on a Friday were described as having a 'strong constitution, but very involved in the romances; and if female, She is in great danger of turning into questionable moral behaviors'

In religions

Christianity

In Christianity, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Adherents of many Christian denominations including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, and Anglican traditions observe the Friday fast, which traditionally includes abstinence from meat, lacticinia, and alcohol on Fridays of the year.

Traditionally, Roman Catholics were obliged to refrain from eating the meat of warm-blooded animals on Fridays, although fish was allowed. The Filet-O-Fish was invented in 1962 by Lou Groen, a McDonald's franchise owner in Cincinnati, Ohio, in response to falling hamburger sales on Fridays resulting from the Roman Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays.

In the present day, episcopal conferences are now authorized to allow some other form of penance to replace abstinence from meat. The 1983 Code of Canon Law states:
:Canon 1250. The days and times of penance for the universal Church are each Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
:Canon 1251. Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
:Canon 1253. The Episcopal Conference can determine more particular ways in which fasting and abstinence are to be observed. In place of abstinence or fasting it can substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

The Book of Common Prayer prescribes weekly Friday fasting and abstinence from meat for all Anglicans.

In Methodism, the Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744) mandate for all Methodists fasting and abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year.

The Eastern Orthodox Church continues to observe Fridays (as well as Wednesdays) as fast days throughout the year (with the exception of several fast-free periods during the year). Fasting on Fridays entails abstinence from meat or meat products (i.e., quadrupeds), poultry, and dairy products (as well as fish). Unless a feast day occurs on a Friday, the Orthodox also abstain from using oil in their cooking and from alcoholic beverages (there is some debate over whether abstention from oil involves all cooking oil or only olive oil). On particularly important feast days, fish may also be permitted. For the Orthodox, Fridays throughout the year commemorate the Crucifixion of Christ and the ( Mother of God), especially as she stood by the foot of the cross. There are hymns in the which reflect this liturgically. These include ' (hymns to the Mother of God) which are chanted on Wednesdays and Fridays called ' ("Cross-"). The dismissal at the end of services on Fridays begins with the words: "May Christ our true God, through the power of the precious and life-giving cross...."

Quakers traditionally referred to Friday as "Sixth Day", eschewing the pagan origins of the name. In Slavic countries, it is called "Fifth Day" (, , ').

Hinduism

The day is named after Shukra son of Bhrigu and Kavyamata (Usana). In Hinduism, special observances are practiced for forms of the Devi, such as Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali, Parvati, Annapurna, Gayatri, or Santoshi Mata on Friday. Fridays are important for married ladies and they worship the goddesses on that day.

Islam

In Islam, Friday (from sun-down Thursday to sun-down Friday) is the day of communion, of praying together, the holy day of Muslims. Friday observance includes attendance at a Masjid (mosque) for congregation prayer or Salat Al Jumu'ah. It is considered a day of peace and mercy (see Jumu'ah).

According to some Islamic traditions, the day is stated to be the original holy day ordained by God, but that now Jews and Christians recognize the days after. In some Islamic countries, the week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday, just like the Jewish week and the week in some Christian countries. The week begins on Saturday and ends on Friday in most other Islamic countries, such as Somalia, and Iran. Friday is also the day of rest in the Baháʼí Faith. In some Malaysian states, Friday is the first week-end day, with Saturday the second, to allow Muslims to perform their religious obligations on Friday. Sunday is the first working day of the week for governmental organizations.

Muslims are recommended not to fast on a Friday by itself ('' makruh'', recommended against, but not '' haram'', religiously forbidden), unless it is accompanied with fasting the day before (Thursday) or day after (Saturday), or it corresponds with days usually considered good for fasting (i.e. Day of Arafah or Ashura), or it falls within one's usual religious fasting habits (i.e. fasting every other day), then it is completely permissible.
Muslims believe Friday as "Syed-ul-Ayyam" meaning King of days. A narration in Sahih Muslim describes the importance of Friday as follows.

" Abu Huraira reported the Messenger of Allah as saying:

The Qur'an also has a surah (chapter) called Al-Jumu'ah (The Friday).

Judaism

Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday. There is a Jewish custom to fast on the Friday of the week of Chukat.

Named days

* Black Friday refers to any one of several historical disasters that happened on Fridays, and, in a general sense, to any Friday the thirteenth.
**In the United States, Black Friday is also the nickname of the day after Thanksgiving, the first day of the traditional Christmas shopping season.
* Casual Friday (also called Dress-down, Aloha or Country and Western Friday) is a relaxation of the formal dress code employed by some corporations for the last day of the working week.
*Good Friday is the Friday before Easter in the Christian liturgical calendar. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus.
* Jumu'atul-Wida ''(Farewell Friday)'' is the last Friday of Ramadan, the fasting month in Islam.

Other

* Greta Thunberg's '' School strike for climate'' usually occurs on Fridays, and the movement is also called ''Fridays for Future''.
* Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster celebrates every Friday as a holy day.
*While the phrase "Thank God It's Friday" can be traced back to a newspaper column first published in 1904 in a New York newspaper ''The Independent'', Alan Stillman, owner of a New York City bar named TGI Fridays trademarked the phrase and used it as a brand for a popular chain of restaurant bars. The phrase now is used worldwide without regard to religion to express joy in anticipation of the weekend.M Bahktiari. Thank God It's Friday...Oh, Wait, It's Monday. Medium. URL:https://medium.com/@mbakhtiari/thank-god-its-friday-oh-wait-it-s-monday-98bd25e54e8a. 20 September, 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2025.

See also

* ISO 8601

References

External links

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