Assessing the Feasibility of Changing Government Employees’ Working Days: Jurisprudential and Legal Considerations

This study assesses the feasibility of modifying the schedule of working days and weekly holidays for government employees in the Islamic Republic of Iran, with particular emphasis on its jurisprudential and legal dimensions. The regulation of working hours and days is a fundamental instrument of public policymaking that directly affects economic productivity, social capital, family cohesion, and international interactions. Within Islamic governance, such regulation cannot rest solely on global models or administrative considerations; it must also align with Islamic jurisprudential principles, constitutional provisions, and the public interest. This study examines whether modifying the weekly holiday schedule—particularly by designating Saturday as an additional holiday alongside Friday—is permissible under governmental jurisprudence and constitutional law and, if so, under what conditions and constraints. It seeks to provide policymakers with a systematic jurisprudential and legal framework for moving decision-making beyond controversy toward rigorous analysis. The central research problem concerns the increasingly multidimensional debate over extending weekly holidays and selecting an appropriate distribution of working days in Iran. Beyond legal and administrative considerations, these issues raise significant jurisprudential questions. The principal challenge is whether adopting globally prevalent holiday patterns—particularly Friday–Saturday or Saturday–Sunday—could constitute tashabbuh bi’l-kuffar (resemblance to non-Muslims). On the one hand, Article 17 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran designates Friday as the official weekly holiday, and some interpretations regard this designation as exclusive. On the other hand, economic requirements, the need for greater coordination with international 
markets, and efforts to improve work–life balance have prompted calls to reconsider the existing schedule. The subsidiary questions are as follows: Under what conditions does a practice constitute tashabbuh bi’l-kuffar in Imami jurisprudence, and does observing Saturday as a holiday still fall within this prohibited category given changes in global custom? Does Article 17 categorically preclude an additional weekly holiday, or does it permit a non-exclusive interpretation? Finally, how can religious identity, administrative efficiency, and the public interest be balanced?




218                                                                    Islamic Governance Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2026




The study adopts an analytical–jurisprudential approach within an interdisciplinary methodological framework. The jurisprudential analysis examines primary sources of Imami Shi‘i jurisprudence, relevant traditions concerning the rule of tashabbuh bi’l-kuffar, and the views of early and contemporary jurists. Particular attention is paid to the conditions under which this category applies, including a practice’s exclusivity to non-Muslims and the intention of cultural imitation. Changes in global custom and the loss of Saturday’s exclusive association with Judaism are also examined to determine whether the prohibition associated with tashabbuh remains applicable. The legal analysis examines Article 17, legislative practice, and the views of the Guardian Council and the Expediency Discernment Council, evaluating both narrow and broad interpretations of the provision’s scope. The Islamic understanding of holidays as customary matters governed by the public interest, together with the principles of governmental jurisprudence, provides an additional basis for the analysis. Data were collected through documentary research, examination of jurisprudential and legal texts, and comparative analysis of juristic opinions and legislative practices, and were analyzed through systematic reasoning and argumentation.
The findings encompass two dimensions: jurisprudential and legal. At the jurisprudential level, the analysis indicates that classification as prohibited tashabbuh requires two essential conditions: the practice must be exclusive to non-Muslims, and there must be an intention to imitate them or follow their cultural practices. Given changes in global custom and the widespread adoption of two-day weekends in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, observing Saturday as a holiday is no longer exclusively associated with Judaism. Consequently, in the absence of an intention of cultural imitation, classifying a Saturday holiday as tashabbuh bi’l-kuffar is highly contestable. The views of some contemporary jurists further support the permissibility of designating Saturday as a holiday for reasons of administrative policy and public interest rather than religious observance or identity. At the legal level, the analysis indicates that Article 17 mandates Friday as a weekly holiday but does not explicitly designate it as the sole official weekly holiday. A narrow interpretation of the provision’s requirements therefore permits an additional weekly holiday to be established through ordinary legislation, provided that Friday remains a holiday. Moreover, understanding holidays as customary matters governed by the public interest creates broader scope for jurisprudential reasoning in policymaking. The findings indicate that the regulation of working time within Islamic governance should neither follow global models uncritically nor be confined to formalistic considerations of avoiding tashabbuh. Rather, it should be situated within the broader framework of the public interest, administrative efficiency, and governmental jurisprudence. The study concludes that modifying government employees’ weekly holiday schedule is feasible within Islamic governance, provided that the change rests on rigorous jurisprudential and legal analysis 
and serves the public interest. Decisions concerning weekly holidays require an integrated, jurisprudentially grounded approach to governance that considers religious identity, administrative efficiency, and socioeconomic requirements together. A Friday–Saturday weekend is therefore a defensible option: it preserves Friday’s religious status, facilitates greater coordination in international interactions, and, subject to the relevant conditions, mitigates jurisprudential concerns associated with tashabbuh. Implementation requires
a clear legal framework, efforts to secure public acceptance through scholarly and jurisprudential discourse, and continuous monitoring of its effects. Ultimately, the study emphasizes the need to move beyond formalistic approaches toward fuller engagement with governmental jurisprudence so that working-time policies achieve both religious legitimacy and practical effectiveness.