Tunku Ismail said he had obtained the consent of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim, who is currently the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and had also taken into account the views of the state Islamic religious department.

“I have decreed that the Johor menteri besar, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, and Johor mufti discuss and study every angle and aspect regarding this matter.

“I hope that the private sector, the government and related parties allow sufficient time and space for Muslim workers to perform Friday prayers accordingly,” he said in a Facebook post.

In 2014, Sultan Ibrahim, who is the sultan of Johor, changed the state’s weekend to Friday and Saturday as a mark of respect for Friday’s importance to Muslims and as recognition of Islam as the state’s religion.

He had said this was a reversion to the state’s original weekend, which had been in effect since the time Johor was an Unfederated Malay State.

The switch to Saturday and Sunday was made in 1994 during Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure as the menteri besar.

In June 2022, Onn Hafiz said the state government would review the weekend rest days after a comprehensive study.