JEDDAH, 7 March 2007 — Samba Financial Group led a group of banks including five international banks in arranging loans worth SR2.975 billion to carry out the new expansion project for the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, the bank said in a statement. The loan deal is considered one of the largest Islamic financing operations carried out in the Kingdom.
The Samba-led group of banks signed a loan agreement with Saudi Binladin Group, which has won the SR4 billion-project ordered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
The project includes construction of sunshades around the mosque, expansion of the mosque’s eastern courtyard and establishment of a new transport station and parking areas.
The project, according to informed sources, will be carried out within 48 months after receiving the clearance to start work. The banks taking part in financing the project include United National Bank in Dubai, Mashreq Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and International Commercial Bank.
The deal for the loan was signed last week by Omar Binladin, deputy chairman of the Saudi Binladin Group, Anees Mumina, Samba’s regional manager in the Western Region, Khaled Muhammad Faqeeh, assistant regional general manager of Samba in the Western region, Baha Al-Sharief, finance manager at Binladin group, Muhammad Al-Khateeb of Binladin Group and a representative of other commercial banks.
The move to expand the Prophet’s Mosque was one of the first decisions taken by King Abdullah after taking over power in August 2005.
The project is aimed at creating more prayer space at the mosque and improving facilities for the comfort of pilgrims and worshippers visiting the mosque.
King Abdullah has already approved the expansion plan. The expansion of the eastern courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque and the setting up of 182 large umbrellas to provide shade around the mosque will create additional prayer area for some 270,000 worshippers. Madinah Governor Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Majed said the project would cost SR4.7 billion.
It follows the largest expansion on the mosque carried out by King Fahd. It can now accommodate over a million worshippers at the height of the Haj and other peak seasons. One of the extraordinary features of King Fahd’s expansion project was the creation of the 27 main plazas, each equipped with a state-of-the-art sliding dome, which can be rapidly opened or closed according to the weather. Each of these sliding domes can be operated in unison or individually.
The Prophet’s Mosque has also benefited from the building of six further minarets, each soaring 105 meters and crowned with a gold-plated crescent, each weighing no less than four tons. The area around the Prophet’s Mosque has also been developed and seven specially designated new entrances have been installed, to ensure the smooth passage of pilgrims in and out of the building. This requirement has been given the highest priority in the design so that all extensions have been equipped with an adequate number of staircases and escalators.
King Abdullah launched the Knowledge Economic City in Madinah on June 18, 2006.
“The King’s vision for an economic city based on KBI is a forward-looking step. The project will boost the region’s chances of attracting investments in order to overhaul services in Madinah,” Amr Dabbagh, governor of SAGIA, said.
Given Madinah’s historic position as the launch pad of Islamic culture by Prophet Muhammad more than 14 centuries ago, the KEC project is a renaissance of sorts, as Madinah will be used to launch the knowledge-based industries,” he added.
