Dubai, Aug 18: Nearly 470 mosques have been prepared for the Eid Al-Adha prayer, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Daawah and Guidance in Madinah announced
Sheikh Fahad bin Sulaiman al-Tuwaijri, Director-General of the ministry in Madinah, said that 469 mosques and places of prayer had been equipped, both in Madinah and elsewhere.
The Eid Al-Adha prayer will be at 6:13a.m., state news agency SPA reported.
Riyadh, May 31: Over 90,000 mosques in Saudi Arabia reopened their doors to worshippers on Sunday morning after over a two-month closure as part of an ease in the curfew restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The worshipers were allowed to enter the mosques, except the mosques in Makkah, from Fajr prayers today morning (Shawwal 8) with a limit of 40 per cent capacity.
The reopening of mosques was be undertaken in accordance with the guidance of Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr Abdullatif Al Asheikh, and in line with advice issued by the Senior Council of Ulemas.
The ministry has embarked on a vigorous media campaign to urge all worshippers to abide by preventive measures for their own safety to curb the spread of Covid-19.Among the instructions are doing ablution at home, hand-washing and using sanitisers before going out to the mosque and after coming back home.
On Saturday, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has approved opening the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah in stages to the public.
The elderly and those with chronic diseases are advised to perform their prayers at home. Reading and reciting the Holy Quran online is advised, too, from one's own mobile phone or at least reading from a privately owned copy of the Holy Quran.
Bringing one's prayer mat to perform prayers in mosques is highly recommended as well as keeping a two-metre distance between one another prayer.
Accompanying children under the age of 15 to the mosques is prohibited. Putting on a face mask and avoiding shaking hands and other contact is also recommended.
Meanwhile, the ministry managed, during the closure of mosques, to undertaking a massive cleaning, sanitising and maintenance drive in all mosques Kingdom-wide, according to world-class standards and best known practices. This included sanitising over 10 million mosques, 43 million copies of several sizes and volumes of the Quran, more than 600,000 Holy Quran cupboards, in addition to repairing and maintaining about 176,000
#صور#صلاة_الفجر في مساجد منطقة
مكة المكرمة pic.twitter.com/fC4RfJInGC— إمارة منطقة مكة (@makkahregion) May 31, 2020
water closets, annexed to mosques.
Makkah, Jul 31: Organising this year's scaled-down hajj required "double efforts" by Saudi authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from hospital following gall bladder surgery.
Only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom are participating in this year's pilgrimage, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.
"Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic... required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts," 84-year-old King Salman said in a speech read out on state television by acting media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.
"The hajj this year was restricted to a very limited number of people from multiple nationalities, ensuring the ritual was completed despite the difficult circumstances," he said.
The speech came on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, a day after the king left hospital following a 10-day stay for surgery to remove his gall bladder.
The hajj, which began on Wednesday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.
Authorities implemented the "highest health precautions" during the rituals, the king said.
Pilgrims, who were all tested for the virus, are required to wear masks and observe social distancing.
For Friday's "stoning of the devil", the last major ritual of the hajj, Saudi authorities offered the pilgrims pebbles that were sanitised to protect against the pandemic.
In a sign that its strict measures were working, the health ministry reported no coronavirus cases in the holy sites on Wednesday or Thursday.
Riyadh, May 22: The family of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Friday said that they forgave his killers. Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had written columns critical of Saudi Arabia, was brutally killed in October 2018, allegedly at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
“In this blessed night of the blessed month [of Ramadan] we remember God’s saying: If a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah,” Jamal Khashoggi’s son Salah Khashoggi said in a tweet. “Therefore, we the sons of the Martyr Jamal Khashoggi announce that we pardon those who killed our father, seeking reward [from] God almighty.”
The legal outcome of this announcement is not yet clear. Earlier, Salah Khashoggi said he had “full confidence” in the judicial system, and that the accused were trying to exploit the case.
Jamal Khashoggi’s body was said to have been dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and disposed of elsewhere, but his remains were never found.
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