Makkah News and Updates

King to lay foundation stone for biggest
expansion of Prophet’s Mosque

24 September 2012 - 08 Thul-Qedah 1433 H

MADINAH — King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the biggest expansion project for the Prophet’s Mosque, apart from more than 10 mega-development projects, during his visit to Madinah, Monday.

Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Majed, Emir of Madinah Region, said that King Abdullah’s visit was in line with the monarch’s concern for the conditions of the citizens and his desire to see to their needs, as well as his keenness to develop Madinah and complete the mega-development projects in different fields.

This expansion is considered to be the biggest following King Fahd's expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque. The project will accommodate huge numbers of visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque, besides worshipers at peak hours during the Haj and Umrah seasons. The expansion is designed to help the huge number of worshipers to perform their prayers with ease, comfort and peace of mind.

The expansion project is set to commence immediately after the Haj season this year. The demolitions will start after the contractor cuts off all the services to the buildings to be demolished. This will be done after all financial entitlements are handed over for expropriation of properties.

The number of properties to be demolished has reached 100, distributed in the eastern and western sides. The total compensation for an area estimated at 12.5 hectares has reached SR25 billion.

King Abdul Aziz Library will be the most prominent structure to be demolished west of the Prophet’s Mosque, apart from the new Haram markets and several well-known hotels.

The project will be carried out in three stages. The first stage will have a sufficient area for 800,000 worshipers, while in the second and third stages, the eastern and western courtyards of the Haram will be expanded so as to accommodate 800,000 more worshipers. The Central Area in the vicinity of the Prophet’s Mosque will be redeveloped almost fully. It will be provided with new services supporting the Prophet’s Mosque.

A comprehensive plan has been laid down toward reducing the increasing pressure by raising the current capacity of 550,000 worshipers to a future capacity of 780,000 worshipers. This will be done through the expansion of the Haram’s eastern and western courtyards, taking into consideration the flow of pedestrians that requires further expansions.

According to the project plan, the general and social courtyards surrounding the Prophet’s Mosque will be improved. The hotels included in the expansion can continue to operate until the site is readied for the expansion projects. The hotels will then be demolished due to the need for 12.5 hectares of land for facilitating the northern expansion.

The canopies project of the Prophet’s Mosque is one of the mega-projects that King Abdullah has issued directives for. The number of canopies has reached 182, and 68 more canopies will be added in the eastern courtyards. These will cover an area of 143,000 square meters surrounding the Prophet’s Mosque from all four directions. About 800 worshipers can pray under each canopy.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20120924137344

Jzk for the updates sister. much apprecaited.

Am I the only one worried....

عن محجن بن الأدرع:
أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خطب الناس و قال: يوم الخلاص وما يوم الخلاص, يوم الخلاص وما يوم الخلاص, يوم الخلاص وما يوم الخلاص ثلاثا فقيل له وما يوم الخلاص؟ قال: يجيء الدجال فيصعد أحدا فينطر المدينة فيقول لأصحابه أترون هذا القصر الأبيض هذا مسجد أحمد ثم يأتي المدينة فيجد بكل نقب منها ملكا مصلتا فيأتي سبخة الجرف فيضرب رواقه ثم ترجف المدينة ثلاث رجفات فلا يبقى منافق ولا منافقة ولا فاسق ولا فاسقة إلا خرج إليه فذلك يوم الخلاص.

“Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) addressed the people asking three times, ‘Yaum al-khalas, and what is yaum al-khalas. Yaum al-khalas, and what is yaum al-khalas.’ Somebody asked, ‘What is this yaum al-khalas?’ The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, ‘Dajjal will come and climb Mount Uhud. Then he will say to his friends, ‘Do you see that white palace (qasre abyad)? That is Ahmed’s masjid.’ Then he will come towards Madina Munawwara but on every path he takes he will encounter an angel with an unsheathed sword. Then he will go towards Sabghatul Jarf and will strike his camp and Madina Munawwara will be jolted thrice as a result of which every munafiq (hypocrite) man and woman and fasiq (habitually sinning) man and woman will leave Madina and go with him. In this way Madina will be purified of sinners and this is yaum al-khalas (the day of relief).’” [Mustadrak]

Masjid an-Nabawi Expansion Project





The red box shows the size of the current building
of the Prophet's Mosque before enlargement


4 new Minarets


Actuel size of the highest minaret is 104 m
The new minarets size will be about 500-600 m

Photoshoped picture showing the 2 minaret sizes

Kuwait Haj quota remains at 8,000

Riyadh apologises to 40 countries
for not accommodating more pilgrims


Grand Mosque, Kuwait

This is largest offical mosque in this country .Its area spans 45,000 square metres (480,000 sq ft), out of which
the building itself covers 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft).The main prayer hall is 72 metres (236 ft) wide on all sides,
has 21 teakwood doors, and has lighting provided by 144 windows.Total capicity in this mosque is 11000.

September 24, 2012

Manama A Kuwaiti official has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has apologised to more than 40 countries for ruling out their requests to increase their Haj (pilgrimage) quota for this year.

“Kuwait is among the countries that have been officially told that the ongoing expansion projects in both Makkah and Madinah make it impossible to increase the Haj quotas,” the endowment and Islamic affairs ministry official told Kuwaiti Arabic daily Al Watan.

Kuwait in April made a request to the Saudi Haj ministry to increase its quota from 8,000 to 18,000, the official said.

An initial accord boosted Kuwait’s quota to 14,000 applicants – 10,000 Kuwaitis and 4,000 expatriates living in Kuwait. The agreement also stipulated that 1,250 stateless Arabs would be allowed to go to Makkah for Haj, the fifth pillar of Islam that must be performed at least once by all physically and financially capable Muslims.

However, Kuwait later received an apology from the Saudi authorities that the quota could not be increased and that last year’s figures would remain.

Kuwait officials are still working on securing an increase in the quota to enable the highest number of people to go to Haj, the official said.

A Haj quota was introduced in 1987 following an agreement by all member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that the number of pilgrims allowed by each country would be 0.1 per cent of its population.

Officials said that the quota was introduced to ensure that the sacred grounds could accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims from across the world.

Unlike foreigners, Kuwaiti nationals do not need visas to enter Saudi Arabia under an agreement between the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — to waive restrictions on travel within the bloc for nationals. However, the GCC nationals need to register with a Haj agency to be able to enter Makkah during the Haj season.

Under Saudi Arabia’s laws, no Haj applicant can enter the country if he or she is not registered with a tour operator.

The rule is in place to ensure there are no clandestine operations or the smuggling of people into the country on the pretext of performing Haj, Saudi officials said.

Riyadh has also often reported that several Haj applicants overstay their pilgrimage visas and seek to settle in Saudi Arabia without proper documents.

Around three million people performed Haj last year.

Haj, based on the lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, is expected to start on October 24-29 this year.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait...-000-1.1080675