MAKKAH: More than one million people offered Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah yesterday.
In his Friday sermon Sheikh Saud Al-Shoraim, imam at the Grand Mosque, urged the believers to devote more time in reciting the Holy Qu’ran that can give them respite from the worldly tensions and chaos.
“The Book of God gives light and guidance. The Qur’an is the remedy for the illness of heart and the best companion for a person living in darkness. It makes a person firm against turbulent events,” Al-Shoraim said in his speech before the prayers.
The Makkah imam said that many people recite the Qur’an in Ramadan without learning anything from it.
A Muslim, he said, should contemplate and try to understand and follow the teachings of the holy book so that he can distinguish between vice and virtue. “He should learn from the stories of old civilizations such as Aad, Thamud and Pharaohs who were destroyed because they rejected the truth, the imam said.
Hussein Al-Asheikh, imam at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, said fasting makes a believer disciplined and teaches him restraint. He is trained how to control his greed and lust and thus protect himself from being tempted to commit unlawful deeds. Al-Asheikh urged people to try to overcome the feelings of hatred, envy, contempt and arrogance. He also stressed the need to become kind to fellow human beings particularly in the month of Ramadan.
“The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the most generous of all people and in the month of Ramadan he was more generous and charitable than unrestrained wind,” Al-Asheikh said.
The Saudi Press Agency reported from Makkah that all the floors and courtyards of the Grand Mosque were overflowing with worshippers. Lack of space made them line up on roads under the sweltering heat. People were flocking to the mosque since early morning to ensure that they do not miss the first Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque.
The authorities have supplied one million copies of the Holy Qur'an in various languages at the Grand Mosque. They include translations in Urdu, French, Indonesian, Turkish, Chinese, Malayalam, Spanish, Albanian and Hausa besides the Braille script meant for people with vision impairment.
In another development, Sheikh Adel Al-Kilbani was appointed an imam to lead prayers at the Grand Mosque. The sheikh had been officiating as the imam and khatib at the King Khaled Mosque in Riyadh over the past 20 years.
Arrangements had been made at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah to accommodate about 500,000 visitors and pilgrims. Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed had ordered all related government departments to beef up their efforts to help the people coming for Friday prayers.
