MAKKAH: More than two million Muslims yesterday took part in special prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah to mark the completion of the recitation of the Holy Qur’an during the nighttime Taraweeh prayers this Ramadan.
The huge mosque complex as well as its terrace and surrounding courtyards were filled with worshippers. Thousands were seen standing in streets leading to the mosque to join prayers.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, imam and khateeb of the mosque, recited the Khatm Al-Qur’an prayers at the end of the Taraweeh prayer, in which he invoked Allah to strengthen Muslim unity and solidarity.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was present in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque to attend the prayers and supervise the services being rendered by public and private agencies to pilgrims and visitors.
Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar said the number of workers deployed for cleaning the city has been increased to 5,600. “We have also appointed several teams, supported with necessary equipment to spray insecticides.”
Col. Jameel Arbaeen, director of Civil Defense in Makkah, said his department had set out a complete plan for fighting possible fires and rescuing victims of fires and other accidents.
Thousands of Muslims from different parts of the world have come to perform Umrah and attend special prayers at the Grand Mosque. They also came to join special prayers at Lailat Al-Qadr or the Night of Power and Khatm Al-Qur’an.
Abdul Shukoor Mohammed, who works for UAE Exchange in Kuwait, said the marvelous spiritual atmosphere of Makkah overwhelmed him. “I was extremely happy when my company granted me leave to perform Umrah and spend the last 10 days of Ramadan in the Grand Mosque. It was one of my dreams,” said Mohammed, who came by bus with a 52-member group.
He said it was amazing to see this large ocean of people performing their religious duties, making use of available facilities in the mosque without creating any problem for one another.
“Also we see hundreds of thousands of people take part in iftar at the Grand Mosque and Saudi philanthropists compete with one another to provide them with different foodstuffs. This is a great blessing from Allah,” he said. “I have seen here the unity of Muslims in its true form.”
Taxi drivers exploited the rush of the faithful to attend Khatm Al-Qur’an prayers as they charged exorbitant prices. Those transporting individual pilgrims on their motorbikes charged SR20 for a journey of not more than 15 minutes. Limousines and minibuses were charging SR80 to SR100.
Hassan Lutfi, who resides in Nuzha district of Makkah, said he had to wait more than half an hour to get a taxi to the Grand Mosque in order to attend Taraweeh prayers, adding that all taxi drivers were asking high prices. “I had to pay SR50 to reach the mosque. In normal days I used to pay SR10.”
Saud Hasin, another Saudi, urged the Traffic Department to take action against public and private taxis charging exorbitant prices. Hussein Khayyat said many taxis were using outdated vehicles to transport worshippers while some others were carrying pilgrims on top of buses.
Drivers of taxis and motorbikes said they work overtime during Ramadan to make the most money.
