Saudi Arabia’s Mawhiba reviews success of research programs at European Council for High Ability

The workshop helps outstanding students enroll at leading institutions in the US. (Twitter: @mawhiba)
The workshop helps outstanding students enroll at leading institutions in the US. (Twitter: @mawhiba)
Short Url
Updated 04 September 2022

Saudi Arabia’s Mawhiba reviews success of research programs at European Council for High Ability

The workshop helps outstanding students enroll at leading institutions in the US. (Twitter: @mawhiba)
  • The conference, held in the Netherlands, was attended by more than 800 people from 15 countries

RIYADH: The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) reviewed its successful experience in research programs at the 18th European Council for High Ability between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3.

The ECHA seeks to create communication opportunities for teachers, researchers, psychologists, and parents and enhance the exchange of information among people engaged in this field.

The conference, held in the Netherlands, was attended by more than 800 people from 15 countries.

Three Mawhiba students, Abdulrahman Al-Fheid, Rafif Hubani, and Hanin Al-Tamar, participated and exchanged ideas, expertise, and culture with people from other countries.

The director general of the Excellence Center, Khalid Al-Sharif, reviewed a paper that discussed the steps Mawhiba had adopted to increase the quality of student research and how these had helped the body win 22 awards at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and a Mawhiba student receive an award for being the best researcher in the world.

Al-Sharif went over Mawhiba’s efforts in caring for talented youth and its approach to offering research programs.

The conference saw the participation of specialists from the US, Europe, and Africa. There were scientific papers, workshops, and lectures on areas including innovative educational practices, supporting talent development, self-development, the necessity of engaging every educated person, considering student opinions, and creating new norms to invest in talent.

Recently, Mawhiba launched its second training workshop this year to prepare 200 secondary school students for admission to top US universities.

The seven-day workshop is part of Mawhiba’s Excellence Program, which helps outstanding students enroll at leading institutions in the US. The students receive career guidance, counseling, and intensive courses on academic writing.

 


Belarusian FM backs Saudi Expo 2030 bid

Belarusian FM backs Saudi Expo 2030 bid
Updated 14 sec ago

Belarusian FM backs Saudi Expo 2030 bid

Belarusian FM backs Saudi Expo 2030 bid
  • The host country for the Expo 2030 is expected to be announced in November

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Belarus met with Minsk’s top diplomat on Tuesday last week.

Abdulrahman Suleiman Al-Ahmad, who is also the Kingdom’s ambassador to Russia, spoke with Foreign Minister Sergey Aleinik about a number of issues.

Aleinik relayed to Al-Ahmad his country’s support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host Expo 2030. He added that Riyadh would stage the event to a “high standard” and that Minsk would contribute any assistance required in making it a success, a Belarusian Foreign Ministry statement said.

Also on the agenda were development of political dialogue, the prospects for expanding trade and economic cooperation and investment interaction between the Kingdom and Belarus.

The host country for the Expo 2030 is expected to be announced in November, Riyadh is competing with Rome, South Korea’s Busan and Ukraine’s Odessa.


King Salman issues royal order promoting, appointing 257 judges

King Salman issues royal order promoting, appointing 257 judges
Updated 27 March 2023

King Salman issues royal order promoting, appointing 257 judges

King Salman issues royal order promoting, appointing 257 judges

RIYADH: King Salman issued on Monday a royal order to promote and appoint 257 judges at the Ministry of Justice at various ranks, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Sheikh Dr. Walid bin Mohammed Al-Samaani, said the Royal order comes as an extension of the continuous support of the king to the judiciary.

Earlier this month, Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Yousef, head of Saudi Arabia’s Board of Grievances and chairman of the Saudi Administrative Judicial Council, noted the tangible development and rapid modernization of the judiciary during the era of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

 


Soothing and soulful voices in Grand Mosque anticipated worldwide every Ramadan

Soothing and soulful voices in Grand Mosque anticipated worldwide every Ramadan
Updated 27 March 2023

Soothing and soulful voices in Grand Mosque anticipated worldwide every Ramadan

Soothing and soulful voices in Grand Mosque anticipated worldwide every Ramadan
  • Prayers and calls have reverberated through the centuries in Makkah
  • Bilal bin Rabah made the first adhan from Kaaba rooftop in 630 (8 A.H.)

MAKKAH: They have been reverberating through the Grand Mosque in Makkah for centuries — the soulful and soothing voices of muezzins calling the believers, and imams leading prayers five times a day.

Dr. Mansour Al-Dajani, a researcher on the history of Makkah, told Arab News recently that the first call to prayer, at noon in the Grand Mosque, was delivered from the roof of the holy Kaaba by Prophet Muhammad’s companion Bilal bin Rabah. This was on the order of the prophet on the day of the conquest of Makkah in the year 630 (8 A.H.).

“The Grand Mosque was as large as the Mataf (area of circumambulation around Makkah’s Kaaba) at that time and had no wall surrounding it, nor a minaret. Minarets appeared for the first time in the year 754 (137 A.H.) during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jafar Al-Mansour, who built the first minaret, known as Bab Al-Umrah, in the western corner from the northern side of the Grand Mosque.”

The minaret was a tall tower attached or adjacent to the mosque. It was an integral part of the mosque and designed so the call to prayer could be heard loud and clear throughout the city.

He explained: “This minaret and the ones that were built after it were used to recite the call to prayer in the Grand Mosque. The chief muezzin would start the call to prayer from the minaret of Bab Al-Umrah, then all the muezzins would follow him on the other minarets. After that, the Bab Al-Salam minaret became the chief muezzin’s platform for the call to prayer, and in the 16th century (10th century A.H.), the chief muezzin used the dome of Zamzam to deliver the call to prayer.”

Loudspeakers in the Grand Mosque were introduced for the first time in 1947 during the reign of King Abdulaziz.

The late Makkan historian and writer Prof. Ahmed Ali Asad Allah Al-Kazemi stated in his memoirs “The Daily Events in Makkah” that in 1947 Sheikh Abd Al-Zahir Abu Al-Samh, the imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque, asked Minister of Finance Abdullah bin Suleiman Al-Hamdan to provide loudspeakers and a microphone.

He wrote that in that year the speakers in the Grand Mosque were used for the Friday and Eid sermons, which fell on the same day. The sermon was usually delivered by Sheikh Abu Al-Samh’s son, Abdul Rahman, with only a few worshippers in the mosque able to hear. However, on Friday Oct. 31, 1947, Sheikh Abu Al-Samh delivered the Friday sermon with a microphone heard by thousands of worshippers in the Grand Mosque.

In 1957, the speaker’s location was changed when the first expansion of the Mataf in the Grand Mosque took place. In 1963, the speakers were placed in a separate, private building, called Almukbariya, from which the call to prayer is performed, and where the muezzin chants or repeats in response to the imam’s prayers.

Recently further changes were made in the Almukbariya building by the Projects and Engineering Studies Agency at the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, to ensure operational efficiency for Ramadan 2023.

Eng. Mohammed Al-Waqdani, undersecretary of the agency, said the Almukbariya in its new form took into account the architectural changes in the Grand Mosque in terms of color and style.

It allows for greater sound clarity, to amplify the voices of the muezzins. There are also sound and television control rooms and studios, special waiting offices for muezzins and alternates, and rooms for public services. The Mataf and Kaaba can be seen from the southern part of the Almukbariya.

Al-Waqdani added that the Almukbariya plays an important role, in coordination with the Radio and Television Authority, in the live broadcast of  “of all rituals and religious events that are held in the Grand Mosque throughout the year, especially during the blessed Ramadan and Hajj season.”


Environmental volunteering initiative to launch in Qassim

Environmental volunteering initiative to launch in Qassim
Updated 27 March 2023

Environmental volunteering initiative to launch in Qassim

Environmental volunteering initiative to launch in Qassim
  • MoU signed to improve vegetation in national parks and Qassim University facilities

RIYADH: Qassim’s Gov. Prince Faisal bin Mishaal witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between Qassim University, the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, and the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification to implement the One Million Environmental Volunteer Hours initiative over three years.

Setting a target of volunteer hours at Qassim University, the MoU aims to improve vegetation in national parks and campus facilities,  promote seeding, educational and cleaning campaigns, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Faisal praised the objectives of the initiative, which help to promote environmental preservation and increase the proportion of vegetation in the region. He added that the partnership is in line with the goals of Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green initiative.

 


Ramadan meet, greet initiative launched for Makkah pilgrims, umrah visitors

Ramadan meet, greet initiative launched for Makkah pilgrims, umrah visitors
Updated 27 March 2023

Ramadan meet, greet initiative launched for Makkah pilgrims, umrah visitors

Ramadan meet, greet initiative launched for Makkah pilgrims, umrah visitors
  • Greeting points will be set up at Haramain train station and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah
  • Nada Al-Malki: The pilgrims are warmly welcomed, and a set of gifts are presented to help them perform their rituals with ease

RIYADH: The Grand Mosque in Makkah has launched a welcome initiative for pilgrims and umrah visitors arriving in Saudi Arabia.

The scheme has been initiated by the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques represented by its media affairs, public relations, and women’s exhibitions agency.

Greeting points will be set up at Haramain train station and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Agency official Nada Al-Malki said: “The pilgrims are warmly welcomed at the designated train station, and a set of gifts are presented to help them perform their rituals with ease.”

The initiative was started last year at the railway station with senior management greeting pilgrims and distributing information on digital services, and gift packages including a prayer rug, umbrella, and Zamzam water.

On Sunday, the presidency, represented by the agency responsible for libraries and cultural affairs, launched its Ramadan program in the Grand Mosque library which will include scientific and cultural meetings and seminars.

The first evening session looked at various aspects of the life of the Prophet Muhammad.