A mass wedding ceremony involving 1,000 young Saudi men and women will be conducted at Prince Muhammad Sports City in Madinah on Wednesday. Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed will officiate the event organized by the Charitable Society for Marriage and Family Care (Usrati).
Abdul Bari Al-Thubaity, imam and khateeb of the Prophet’s Mosque and secretary-general of Usrati, said the organization was set up about 11 years ago during a meeting of the Madinah Provincial Council. “All citizens of the Madinah province will benefit from Usrati’s activities,” Al-Thubaity said, adding that the organization’s branches had been established in Yanbu, Mahd Al-Dahab, Al-Ula and Badr.
He said the council had called for arranging permanent revenue sources for the organization. “An endowment property has been established, and its revenue will be used for the organization’s activities,” he added.
A hotel building has been constructed in the central region of Madinah at a cost of SR23.54 million, Al-Thubaity said, adding that a businessman had donated 4,000-sq m land for the purpose. Al-Thubaity said the Council of Ministers had decided to establish similar organizations in all parts of the Kingdom to help young Saudi men and women get married, adding that these societies would be registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Usrati has a 15-member board of directors, which is chaired by Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed.
He said Usrati had another endowment property in the form of a private girls school, which was established at a cost of SR13.64 million. Usrati had a humble beginning. Two years ago, it helped 500 young men and women to get married, while last year 1,000 youths.
“This year we have made arrangements for the marriage of 1,000 men and women from Madinah and surrounding towns and villages,” Al-Thubaity said.
He said Usrati was currently conducting a study on the reasons for growing divorce cases in Madinah in order to find solutions for the problem.
“We conduct another program for driving licenses for families having people of special needs,” he pointed out.
