JEDDAH, 15 December — More than 1.5 million Muslims converged on the Grand Mosque in Makkah yesterday, the last Friday of this Ramadan, to offer Juma prayers and perform Umrah. It was the largest crowd of worshipers witnessed by the Haram Mosque since the beginning of Ramadan.
An equally large number of devotees thronged the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah as well to attend the Friday congregation.
More than two million faithful had attended Taraweeh prayers on Thursday night at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah to join the special supplication on the occasion of "Khatm Al-Qur’an" (the completion of the recitation of the holy book). Many of them stayed on to attend the Friday prayers. Since early morning yesterday, hundreds of thousands of others started pouring in.
In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, the Imam of the Grand Mosque, denounced "Zionist state terrorism".
He called for "a halt to the state terrorism practiced by international Zionism in full view of the whole world," Saudi Press Agency reported.
Sudais urged Muslims to wake up from their slumber and take decisive steps to liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque, their first Qiblah (direction of prayer), which is being trampled by Zionist aggressors.
He also decried "hostile media campaigns against Islam" and urged Muslims to "take serious measures to end the spilling of Muslim blood in Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir."
He called on Afghan factions to overcome their differences in order to safeguard their country’s security and their people’s safety.
"Will the Afghan factions bury their hatchets and close their ranks under a ruler who will rule them on the basis of the Book of God and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him)? Only this can end their ordeal and bring peace and prosperity to their country," Sudais said in his speech telecast live.
The Haram imam urged Muslims to pursue worship and righteous deeds even after Ramadan. He called upon Muslim leaders to exert more efforts to spread the teachings of Islam and help Muslims all over the world.
Sudais emphasized that Muslims could solve their problems and change their present pathetic situation only by their return to the teachings of Islam.
In his speech at the Prophet’s Mosque, Sheikh Abdul Bari Al-Thubaity, advised Muslims to be pious.
The imam pointed out that Ramadan is the month of love and mercy and warned the people against losing the spiritual purity and loftiness achieved in the holy month once it draws to a close.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have come from abroad to perform Umrah and were joined by as many others from different parts of the Kingdom. According to a Saying of the Prophet, an Umrah in Ramadan equals Haj in reward.
Hotels and furnished apartments in both holy cities were charging prices 200 to 300 percent higher than usual during the last days of Ramadan due to unprecedented demand. Charges for an ordinary furnished apartment ranged from SR8,000 to SR18,000 for 10 days depending on its proximity to the mosque.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, who has been spending the last days of the holy month in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque, and Crown Prince Abdullah, second deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, overlooked the services offered to visitors of the holy city. The Crown Prince returned to Riyadh on Wednesday.
Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed supervised the field plan for crowd control and traffic movement in Makkah. He directed concerned government agencies to deploy all their men and machinery for the operation.
