Photo by omarali.md.

Jumu’ah, the Friday prayer said by Muslims, will be offered at the Washington National Cathedral this week.

The event is being held with South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Muslim Public Affairs Council and The Nation’s Mosque. It came about as the Rev. Canon Gina Campbell, the Cathedral’s liturgical director, and Rasool were planning a memorial service for Nelson Mandela.

“This is a dramatic moment in the world and in Muslim-Christian relations,” Rasool said in a release. “This needs to be a world in which all are free to believe and practice and in which we avoid bigotry, Islamaphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Christianity and to embrace our humanity and to embrace faith.”

According to organizers, this is the first time Muslim leaders have been invited to offer prayers in the Cathedral. Seats are limited to invited guests, but the prayers will be live-streamed at 11:30 a.m.