A comparative study of, policies and objectives of holding Friday prayers in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

Friday prayer is one of the religious-political duties of Muslims among religions and Islamic nations, but there is no consensus on how it is performed. The diversity of sects and the type of ruling system in Islamic countries has led to ups and downs in their policy towards Friday prayers. This article is applied-developmental and is qualitative in terms of method. To achieve its goals, the method of comparative study and using the data theory of the foundation as a method of research and analysis of qualitative data has been used. In this study, with a comparative study of holding Friday prayers in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the differences and commonalities are investigated. Saudi Arabia was studied for its political structure and similarity in terms of holding Friday prayers under the central government to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Turkey for its secular government despite its Muslim majority, and its claim to separate religion and politics. The results of the research show that: Friday prayers in the Islamic Republic of Iran link religion, government and people, but in Saudi Arabia it is the legitimizing factor of the government and in Turkey it promotes the individual dimension of religion and is completely separate from politics.