Black Friday Makes Inroads To Pakistani Culture With Changed Name

Practiced as a tradition related to Western culture for Christmas preparations, Black Friday a shopping season rapidly made inroads to the Eastern culture creating a debate over its name as Friday is a blessed day for Muslim community thus converting the name from Black Friday to Blessed Friday.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Nov, 2018 ) :Practiced as a tradition related to Western culture for Christmas preparations, Black Friday a shopping season rapidly made inroads to the Eastern culture creating a debate over its name as Friday is a blessed day for Muslim community thus converting the name from Black Friday to Blessed Friday.

The blessed Friday in Pakistan will be observed on November 23 as on pattern of Western traditions, various brands, outlets and business centers will offer much discount on their items marking the upcoming festival of Christmas and winter season. While many brands have already started the weeklong discount offers marking the Blessed Friday.

Black or Blessed Friday is followed by Thanksgiving day celebrated in many countries and is known as the busiest shopping day.

During last few years, when leading brands in Pakistan started discounts of Black Friday, its name "Black Friday" got much debate over social media and in response the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said that calling any Friday as 'Black Friday' is disrespectful and the council recommended that it should be marked as a 'Blessed Friday' instead.

The term Black Friday became controversial and was widely criticized by the religious scholars as various brands and stores offer massive discounts on different goods on the internet or social media.

"The purpose of celebrating Black Friday was facilitating and giving relief to common man to get their desired products on discounted prices. We have no issue with this festivity, what we want to ensure is to respect the blessed day of Friday and the media played its due role in changing the name of the shopping season," said an official of CII while talking to APP.

The council recommended there is no harm to offer sales and providing commodities to consumers on cheaper prices on Friday but to call it Black Friday is equal to disrespecting Friday, which is not only a blessed day but also a specified day for Muslims.

After getting controversy on its name, the shopping festival witnessed boycott from various sections of society last year, thus the outlets and leading brands are calling the festival with new name this year like Blessed Friday, Super Friday, White Friday, Fabulous Friday, Big Friday and many other titles.

From dresses, shoes, accessories, decorative items to basic commodities and home decors etc, almost every product seller in markets offer discounts to attract customers around the Blessed Friday for a week or two. While the customers throng the markets to shop for their winter season.