Nearly 6m perform prayers at Prophet’s Mosque in 1 week
Over 280m pilgrims flocked to the holy site in 2023
Cairo: The Prophet’s Mosque, Islam’s second holiest site, received 5.9 million worshippers last week getting access to a seamless network of services, a Saudi state agency said.
The mosque in the Saudi city of Medina houses Al Rawda Al Sharifa, where the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is located.
The General Authority for Care and Management of the Prophet’s Mosque added in a report that the figure comprised a total of 254,209 worshippers who performed prayers at Al Rawda Al Sharifa in line with regulations for crowd management and separate schedules for men and women.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly stressed that visitors to Al Rawda Al Sharifa have to make prior reservations before arriving at the revered site, and to show up according to the fixed appointment.
During that week, some 157,464 visitors from different nationalities benefitted from the multilingual communication services available to non-speaking worshippers, the agency said in its report. In addition, more than 180,880 bottles of the blessed Zamzam water as well as 226,193 fast-ending meals were distributed to the faithful in designated Iftar places at the mosque, the Saudi news agency SPA reported.
After undertaking rites of Umrah or minor pilgrimage at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, many pilgrims would flock to the Prophet’s Mosque to pray and visit Al Rawda Al Sharifa.
Saudi Arabia has set the Islamic month of Dhul Qadah 29 corresponding to June 6 as the final day for Umrah pilgrims to leave the kingdom, as part of preparations for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage season due later in June.
More than 280 million Muslims prayed at the Prophet’s Mosque in 2023, according to official figures.