The summer festivals in the Kingdom’s cities are drawing to a close. Every year new cities jump onto the festival bandwagon with the aim of drawing more visitors to those cities and, in turn, boosting the economy of their region. Another advantage of the festivals is that people get an opportunity to learn more about Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh and Makkah are the only two major cities that have resisted "festival fever." The Holy City of Makkah does not need any festival of discount sales and stunt shows to attract millions. Muslims, the world over, always cherish a visit to this city more than a visit to any other place on Earth. It is the same case with Madinah. Muslims do not need any festival to flock to the abode of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. However, I appreciate the efforts made by the authorities every year for the Madinah festival. The Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah centuries ago to make people love Madinah as much as they loved Makkah. How meritorious it would be if people visited Madinah exclusively to greet our dearest Prophet, who is lying there, even though commercial motives are allowed.
The theme of the current Madinah festival is "to worship and benefit." The ones who benefit most from the festival are its official guests and the children, who are offered plenty of amusement opportunities. It is also a boon to those who are denied the opportunity to travel abroad or to other cities in the Kingdom during the summer. I heard that the number of participants attending various women’s seminars has been falling noticeably because of the beginning of the vacation season when many families travel out of the country.
There is nothing unusual about the hotel and market discounts in off-seasons. In Makkah and Madinah the rent rates rise to the maximum in the Haj season and Ramadan, gradually becoming more moderate in the months of Rajab, Shaaban and Rabi Al-Awwal. The rates fall even further in other months when foreign pilgrims are few. The increasing number of hotels and furnished flats in Madinah is another factor leading to the fall in the rent rates in off-seasons.
Summer discount sales are a universal phenomenon and not an innovation of our summer festivals. Fascinating amusements for children such as the dolphin show and circus, among others, add to the festive atmosphere. Our cities, particularly Makkah and Madinah, should have large zoological parks. People of all ages love to visit zoos. They also offer the children an opportunity to learn about the animal world in addition to instilling in them the idea of the greatness of the Creator.
The theme of the Madinah festival in the past several years has been "to worship and benefit." The worship, of course, means greeting the Prophet (pbuh), and praying at his mosque, which is one of the three mosques where pilgrimage is allowed. The Prophet’s Mosque is next to the Grand Mosque in Makkah in importance. Most Haj and Umrah pilgrims visit the mosque to greet the Prophet (pbuh). Both the obligatory and non-obligatory prayers performed there deserve the rewards promised by the Most Merciful Allah. The most rewarding among the non-obligatory prayers is the Qiyam Al-Layl (night prayers). Although the non-obligatory night prayers can be performed soon after the Isha prayers (obligatory night prayers), the merit and reward of the Qiyam Al-Layl increase as the night advances until the predawn hours.
Several people, including myself, have written about the need to make necessary arrangements at the Prophet’s Mosque for this prayer later in the night, particularly during the Haj and Umrah seasons. This could be done by leaving some of the gates of the mosque open throughout the night. We would have made the appeal to leave the gates open round the year if the authorities would listen to it. Last Ramadan a door adjacent to the Ziyarat and Roudah area was open until late night hours, but only for men. Exclusion of women from the opportunity to pray and keep vigil in the mosque at the most auspicious hours of the night amounted to a clear prejudice against women. This is an injustice, particularly to women from distant parts of the world who spend all their life’s savings to make the visit to the mosque, in most cases the first and last chance in their life.
We had hoped the mosque would remain open till midnight at the least during a festival, which flaunted the theme "worship and benefit." But it is a sad matter that barely 15 minutes after the end of the Isha prayers, the female guards at the mosque start warning worshipers that it is time to close the doors. In a few minutes they start putting out the lights. Thus all the doors of the women’s section are closed by 9.30 p.m.
I also observed while passing along the Al-Baqee square after the Isha prayers on one of the days early in the festival, that most of the electric lights which illuminated the area around the mosque had been extinguished. It was only 9.45 p.m.! Isn’t it disrespectful to the Prophet’s Mosque to put out the lights around it immediately after the Isha prayers? I have been writing about the need for the area to be illuminated at night as a mark of the glorious position of the mosque in our religion.
Is it proper to keep the second most important mosque in the Muslim world and its surrounding area in darkness while flooding all the other streets in the city with colorful lights to mark a festival? Some traders near the walls of the Baqee said the lights go out before 10 p.m. on weekdays and at 10:30 p.m. on Thursdays. On the other hand the lights on the streets away from the mosque are not turned off until 11 p.m.
The festival’s logo is the Prophet’s Mosque accompanied by the welcome song "the full moon has risen in the horizon," commemorating the arrival of the Prophet on Hijrah (flight) from Makkah. It is true that he is the light and he needs no other light to supplement his light, which floods the inner eye. Unfortunately, our efforts are only half-hearted.
Commending the move to attach small litter boxes to every electric pole around the mosque to ensure the cleanliness of the area, I would suggest that the boxes be placed in such a way that even small children and short people can throw litter into them. In this way we can develop a habit in the younger generation of keeping public places clean.