Arab News
MAKKAH/MADINAH, Sep 27: Nearly three million Muslims attended Friday and other prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah yesterday, the last Friday of this year’s Ramadan.
The Grand Mosque in Makkah was overflowing with worshippers as they came to perform Umrah, attend the Juma prayers and take part in special night-time prayers of Taraweeh and Tahajjud that are held during Ramadan.
They also came seeking the blessings of Lailat Al-Qadr (the Night of Power), which according to the Holy Qur’an, is better than a thousand months. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said: “Whosoever offers voluntary prayers during the Night of Power out of belief and expecting its reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven.”
While delivering his Friday sermon, Sheikh Osama Khayyat, the imam and khateeb of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, urged the faithful to follow the teachings of Islam in all walks of life. He prayed to God to accept the fasting, prayers, and other good deeds done by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan and forgive their sins.
“Those who fail to win the forgiveness of God during Ramadan are big losers,” Khayyat said quoting a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He urged the faithful to work hard to get maximum reward from God during the remaining days of the holy month.
Muslims will mark the end of the fasting month by celebrating Eid Al-Fitr, which is likely to be on Tuesday. The Supreme Judiciary Council has called upon Muslims to look for the Shawwal crescent on Monday evening and inform the nearest Shariah court or the governorate if they see the new moon in order to register their witnesses.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and senior Cabinet members are currently present in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque to take part in the prayers as well as to supervise the services being rendered to the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have come from different parts of the world.
More than 4,200 police officers have been deployed to maintain law and order in the city. The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques has deployed 5,600 cleaning workers to keep the mosque and its surroundings neat and tidy. More than 19,000 water coolers have been kept in different parts of the Grand Mosque to supply drinking water to the faithful round the clock.
Despite the huge crowd of worshippers, the traffic in Makkah was smooth and no major accidents have been reported. Special security officers had been deployed to arrest pickpockets and other criminals. The Civil Defense Department has kept 92 fire-fighting and rescue units ready inside the central region of Makkah as well as along the roads leading to the mosque.
At the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, a large number of faithful including expatriate workers and foreign visitors had occupied their seats since early hours of the day. Walid Abdul Hay from Pakistan and Wail Attiyah of Egypt praised the Saudi government for carrying out the new expansion project at the mosque, adding that it would help worshippers offer their prayers at the mosque in a comfortable manner.