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#5146 [Permalink] Posted on 9th March 2015 16:15

Video of the "redness" of Prophet's Mosque Dome
raises a fuss in the "Twitter"

فيديو إحمرار قبة المسجد النبوي يثير ضجة في "تويتر"

VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPmkcQjRu6I

08/03/2015

علّق الكاتب الصحفي جمال خاشقجي، على التفسيرات التي صاحبت فيديو متداول يظهر إحمرار قبة المسجد النبوي الشريف، ووصفها بالخرافية.

وأوضح "خاشقجي" أن الرئاسة العامة لشؤون المسجد الحرام والمسجد النبوي، بصدد إعادة التقاليد القديمة في المدينة المنورة، والتي كان منها إضاءة أعلى منارة المسجد النبوي، والمسماة "الريسية" والتي تطل على القبة، بضوء أحمر وقت الإفطار ومن ثم إطفائها وقت الإمساك خلال شهر رمضان، وذلك لإعلام اهالي المدينة ببدء وانتهاء الصيام.

وأضاف عبر حسابه بموقع "تويتر"، أن الرئاسة جلبت شركة متخصصة لعمل ذلك، والتي بدروها قامت بتجريب إضاءة "لِيَد" قوية، حيث نتج هذا الضوء الأحمر، نافياً بذلك كل التفسيرات التي تم ترديدها تعليقاً على الضوء الخارج من قبة المسجد النبوي.

وكان ناشطون على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، تداولوا أول أمس الجمعة، فيديو لعدد من زوار المسجد النبوي وقد تجمعوا لمشاهدة احمرار أعلى القبة الخضراء بالمسجد، وسط تفسيرات متباينة من المعلقين على الفيديو.

http://akhbaar24.argaam.com/article/detail/205932

Google translation: commented journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the explanations that accompanied the video shows a trader redness dome of the Prophet's Mosque, calling Bakherafah.

He explained, "Khashoggi," the General Presidency for the affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, in the process of re-old traditions in Medina, which was higher than a beacon of the Prophet's Mosque lighting, and so-called "Signup Request" which overlooks the dome, with a red light breakfast time and then amortized as constipation during the month Ramadan, so as to inform the people of the city to begin and end the fast.

He said through his account location "Twitter", that the presidency has brought a specialized company to do so, and that its turn has experimenting with lighting, "Walid" strong, as a result of a red light, denying all the explanations that have been repeating Commenting on the light outside of the dome of the Prophet's Mosque.

The activists on social networking sites, the first deliberated on Friday, a video for the number of visitors to the Prophet's Mosque has gathered to watch the red-top green dome mosque, amid different interpretations of the commentators on the video.

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#5147 [Permalink] Posted on 9th March 2015 16:16

SR1.45b accord signed for Makkah Metro
Project electricity connection

Monday, 09 March 2015

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region and adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, supervised the signing of an agreement for the connection of electricity service for the Makkah Metro Project.

The SR1.45 billion agreement was signed at the governorate in Makkah on Sunday in the presence of Makkah Mayor Dr. Osama Al-Bar and CEO of Saudi Electricity Company Ziyad Al-Sheeha.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150309236292

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#5148 [Permalink] Posted on 9th March 2015 16:23

Kin of Peshawar attack victims find
solace in spiritual journey

9 March 2015

JEDDAH — Relatives of the martyred and injured students of the Army Public School, Peshawar, arrived here on Saturday to perform Umrah.

A total of 910 relatives of the students will perform Umrah in seven groups until April 11.

“The spiritual journey will help the families cope with their loss,” Pakistan Consul General Aftab Ahmed Khokher told Saudi Gazette.

Khokher quoted a parent as saying that he had no words to express the satisfaction he was feeling on way to the holy sites.

It definitely will help in the healing process of the families affected by the tragedy, the consul general added.

The parents of martyred students before departure said they would offer special prayers for peace and harmony in Pakistan.

In the second phase, as many as 94 people are expected to leave for Umrah on March 14, while in the third phase, at least 180 people will leave on March 21.

The parents were grateful to Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif for arranging the trip.

“Although we have lost our children, we will pray for the safety of every child in Pakistan,” a father said.

Around 144 people including 136 school children were martyred and over hundred injured in a cowardly act of terrorism at Army Public School in Peshawar last December.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150309236293

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#5149 [Permalink] Posted on 9th March 2015 17:08

General statistics
of the Umrah season 1436/2014-15

Until 17 Jumada Awal 1436 - 7 March 2015

Total Number of the Mutamirs:

2,867,399
______________________________________
Number expected for the whole Umrah season
6,000,000

* Mutamir/s: is/are the one who come into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
to perform Umrah rituals and visit the Prophet's Holy Mosque.

Statistics from Ministry of Hajj

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#5150 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:52

Many Umrah firms face closure

Prophet's Mosque

Tuesday 10 March 2015

The Ministry of Haj may close down 48 companies thought to hold a monopoly on the Umrah market, according to a reliable source.

The ministry is working on a list of regulations that include opening up the religious market to new companies after a decade in which no licenses were issued to Haj transportation firms.

A source in the ministry told local media that the new UmraH regulations will be followed by a public and official announcement. But according to the source, these companies must operate within three principals: Financial liquidity, administrative ability and operational experience. The new regulations will include an increase in the bank guarantee from the current SR500,000 to SR1 million.

After the new guidelines have been issued, a committee formed by members from the Haj Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Supreme Commission will be set up to lay down the operational strategy in 60 days.

According to the source, there are two main options for the Haj Ministry to open the door for new specialized companies. The first is to shut down all existing Umrah companies and force all new firms to conform to the new regulations while the second option, the source explained, would be to allow the existing companies to continue operating while issuing licenses to new firms.

One of these Umrah company owners, who preferred to remain anonymous, said there are indicators that suggest the Haj Ministry will choose the first option and cancel all of the companies' permits, opening the market for all the firms who want to compete.

Many Umrah transportation businesses fear that this decision will create major instability in the market, since each of these companies employ about 5,000 workers.

Adding to the problem, owners claim, there are investments put in place for these companies which kept up with the developments witnessed in this Umrah season.

These businessmen called for the government to support existing Umrah companies and to open up the market to new firms because of the increasing numbers of pilgrims in the country.

They also warned about the dangers of leaving the entire sector to new and inexperienced companies, that have no training on how to handle such a large and profitable market.

http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/716201

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#5151 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:53

Austria to Makkah: man on a mission

Thair Abud, 49, is on an 8,000km journey on foot because
of a promise he made to his sister battling cancer

February 25, 2015

Dubai: Austrian Thair Abud is a man on a mission. For the last eight months, he has been walking the earth, literally, to fulfill a promise he made to his sister battling cancer.

When XPRESS caught up with the German-born earlier this week in Dubai - his fourth stop in an 8,000 kilometre journey on foot from his residence in Graz, Austria to Makkah – he recalled how it all began last summer. It was, he remembers, following a ‘short’ 2,500km trip on foot from Austria to Santigo de Compostela in Spain the previous year after his sister, Zaussen, now 50, was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer.

“When I arrived back home from Spain, she told me that when her pain was unbearable, she found comfort by following and reading up more about my trail. It is then I made an offering that if she turns healthy again, I will walk all the way from Graz to Makkah.

“The promise was made but, for the first time in my life, I was afraid of losing her. So when I decided to walk, it was as if I was secretly running away from her death,” added the qualified civil engineer who dumped a €10,000 plus (Dh42,000) job as general manager of an Austrian MNC and a BMW 730i before setting out on the journey on July 25 last year in a pair of jeans and a tee. “Here I am now on my way to fulfill my promise,” recalled Abud, 49, how his ‘life changing’ journey took shape.

Walking with a rucksack on his back, a Panama hat for shade and two Nordic sticks for support, Abud, son of an Iraqi father and a German mother, has since walked through Zagreb (Croatia), Nikšic and Podgorica (Montenegro), Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Skopje (Macedonia), Shkodër (Albania), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Istanbul, Samsun and Trabzon (Turkey) before eventually reaching Tehran and then Isfahan in Iran en route to the UAE.

After a short break in Dubai this week, he will set out on his journey’s last leg – a roughly 2,000km road trip via Salalah in Oman to Madinah and eventually to Makkah, the final destination.

“The day I reach Makkah, it will be the culmination of a word I gave to my sister after she was detected with cancer. Today she has, after several rounds of chemotherapy, beaten the killer disease and is undergoing her breast reconstruction therapy,” explained the father of three who speaks Italian and Spanish besides fluent Arabic, German and English.

Abud will be covering 8,150km across 12 countries in about 270 days walking 30km on an average per day. “The journey has changed my perception about life and the world around me. It has also made me physically resilient,” says Abud.

Facts about the way

• Countries: 12

• Languages: 10

• Kilometers to go: 8150 km

• Kilometers a day: 30

• Duration: about 270 days

• Start: 25th July 2014

• Arriving: March 2015

• Number of shoes: 6 pairs

• Weight to carry: 14 kg

• Walking speed: 4 km/h

• Steps per km: 1132

http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/...sion-1.1462846

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#5152 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:55

Hijrah Route Map

*The launch of a new photographic book by Dr. Abdallah Alkadi will take place at The Royal Geographical Society, London on Friday 27th March.

http://www.orient-east.com/

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#5153 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:56

10 000 Hajj Sacrificial Animals

distributed in Pakistan

Hajj scene

Jeddah, Jumada I 19, 1436, Mar 10, 2015, SPA

A ship carrying 10,000 Hajj frozen sacrificial slaughtered animals docked at Karachi seaport yesterday in the framework of the project of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to benefit from Hajj Sacrificial Meat's project which is managed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The ship's load will be distributed to the beneficiaries of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan under the supervision of the IDB's mission.

For his part, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali expressed, on behalf of the Commission to take advantage of Hajj Sacrificial Meat, the best thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; the Crown Prince; the Deputy Crown Prince and the wise Government, for all their unlimited support for this great charitable project, making it possible to benefit millions of the needy people in the world.

http://www.spa.gov.sa/english/print.php?id=1336604

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#5154 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:57

Pay in greenbacks, top religious body
tells Turkish Hajj pilgrims

March/10/2015

Turkey’s Directorate General for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has started to charge accommodation prices in the U.S. dollar to Turks performing the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, rather than the euro, amid the severe loss of the Turkish Lira against the former.

The average accommodation price per person has increased to $3,600 this year, from around 2,700 euros ($2,900) in 2014. Pilgrims will therefore pay a total of around 9,360 liras this year, 1,660 liras more than last year, amid the dramatic rise of U.S. dollar against all currencies.

Pilgrims will need to pay $5,000 for separate rooms in the Diyanet-run facility, according to the new pricing list, while hotel rooms in Mecca have prices ranging from between $6,900 and $9,900.

The Diyanet told Anadolu Agency that the transition to a price plan based on the U.S. dollar is not new, and the decision was made in November 2014 by the Inter-Ministerial Haj and Umrah Board.

“The board changed the currency used to charge all hajj and umrah services into the U.S. dollar in November 2014,” the Diyanet said in a written statement on March 11.

The board took the decision based on the fact that Saudi Arabia gives all pricing and renting services in the U.S. dollar, it added.

“The Diyanet offers all services without any commercial expectation,” read the statement, adding that some 55,000 Muslims are expected to go to Mecca on pilgrimage this year from Turkey.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which all able Muslims are expected to perform once in their life if they have the means to do so.

The lira has fallen to around 12 percent against the dollar this year, and has recently been the worst-performing emerging market currency against the greenback.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pay...&NewsCatID=344

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#5155 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:58

Masjid al Haram expansion

March 2015

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#5156 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 12:59

Best Western looks to Mecca,
Muslim pilgrims in growth plans

Feb 24, 2015

Phoenix-based Best Western International is adding hotels in Saudi Arabia to cater to Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites.

The hotel chain also is looking grow its footprint in Asian markets such as Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand. Some of those Asian countries have tropical beaches as well as Buddhist shrines and temples.

"We see huge potential in Saudi Arabia, where domestic and international tourist numbers are rising sharply, especially in the religious tourism sector," said Best Western Senior Vice President Ron Pohl.

One of tenets of the Muslim faith is to visit Mecca. That leads to 2 to 3 million pilgrim visits to Saudi Arabia annually each fall.

"We currently have two properties in the kingdom, but expect this to jump to 11 hotels by 2017." Pohl said.

Best Western has a 1,380-room hotel under construction in Mecca.

"This will be the largest hotel in the Best Western system," Pohl said.

Arizona exports to the Middle East — which is seeing building booms in Persian Gulf states and Saudi Arabia despite wars in Syria and Iraq — grew to $807 million in 2014, according to the U.S. Commercial Service. That's double the number of state exports in 2010.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n....html?page=all

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#5157 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 13:00

What Does That Arrow
on a Hotel Room Ceiling Mean?

Why is there an arrow on the ceiling of this hotel room?

March 10 2015

It’s time for another international edition of What’s That Thing, Slate’s column that examines the details of the visible world that are hiding in plain sight. Send ideas for future columns, along with a photo if possible, to [email protected].

The décor of the chain hotel room is as straightforward an icon of globalization as that of a Starbucks. That, of course, is the point. Although many leisure travelers prefer to rest their heads in locally tuned bed and breakfasts or Airbnb yurts, others—particularly frazzled business travelers—will take comfort in knowing that brand-name hotels consistently offer their favorite things: Internet access, an ironing board, daily cleaning, room service, a (pricy) minibar.

This near-perfect standardization makes the occasional variation more interesting. For example: the arrows—on either a sticker or a plaque, on a desk, table, or ceiling—that appear in hotels rooms across a huge swath of the planet. What do they signify?

Such arrows are known as Qibla pointers. They indicate the direction of Islam’s holiest site: the Kaaba, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Unfamiliar cities and large hotels with complicated floor plans are inherently disorienting—as anyone who has walked out of his hotel room and been unsure of where to find the elevators can attest—so the Qibla arrows help Muslim guests easily orient themselves for prayer toward Mecca.

In a Dubai hotel room drawer, a copy of the Quran and an arrow pointing toward Mecca.

Qibla pointers are common throughout the Islamic world and occasionally beyond. I’ve seen them in hotels from West Africa all the way to Singapore—famously multicultural and next door to Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia. In my experience, the stickers are typically green—a color associated with Islam—or black. Sometimes there’s text as well, but often the arrow stands alone. In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qibla pointers are mandatory, according to Basel Talal, general manager and district director of the Rezidor Hotel Group there. Qibla pointers can also be found in airport prayer rooms and quiet areas around the world.

Before a hotel opens, staff calculate the direction to Mecca by going room by room with a compass or, increasingly, with a Qibla-finding smartphone app.

How do hotels decide where to place Qibla pointers? Deema Kingsmill-Moore, a spokeswoman for Marriott, says hotel chains account for several factors, including the nearby floor space available for prayer. Talal says a hotel shouldn’t place a Qibla pointer in a drawer or on a desk, as it could be covered by a traveler’s belongings. “A ceiling location and close by the entrance, to be easily spotted after entering the room,” he notes, is best.

A Qibla compass on the ceiling of a hotel room in Amman, Jordan.

The pointers also have symbolic value. Even for non-Muslims, there’s a certain poetry to the idea of so many arrows scattered so far across the world, all turned toward a city with a name so famous that it’s become a synonym for any dreamed-of destination. And as Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told me, Qibla pointers can help indicate that Muslims “are accepted and welcomed” in hotel rooms far from home. For that reason, they’ll likely survive in an age when travelers can turn to their smartphones to find the direction of Mecca—and everything else.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2...on_symbol.html

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#5158 [Permalink] Posted on 12th March 2015 13:08

Health Ministry prepares services for Haj pilgrims

Thursday 12 March 2015

Health Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb has urged his officials to provide the best health services to the guests of Allah who will be performing Haj during the forthcoming season.

The minister made the comment while briefing key officials of his ministry on Monday during the first meeting of the Haj Preparatory Committee held at his office in Riyadh. The Ministry of Health deploys more than 20,000 officials who are stationed within the two holy cities for its health services for Haj pilgrims.

Al-Khateeb insisted that health and safety of all Haj pilgrims should be the foremost concern of the health officials, who will be monitoring the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The minister made special mention of cardiac patients, diabetics and pilgrims, who may need emergency surgeries and should therefore be well taken care of.

Following Al-Khateeb's comments, the floor was taken by Deputy Minister of Health for Planning and Development Dr. Mohammed bin Hamza Khoshaim, who reviewed the past services rendered by the officials, in order to plan out the future projects for the upcoming Haj.

http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/717166

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#5159 [Permalink] Posted on 15th March 2015 18:27

Mataf expansion updates

5 March 2015

via Tawhid Travel

via @to0o0o0ot5

via @m.a.alamr

via@allouchi__

Insta Video: https://instagram.com/p/z9g8WGyTIT/

Insta Video: https://instagram.com/p/z6TWS4QTUZ/

Insta Video: https://instagram.com/p/z2Lp38k5Ms/

via Sait Kavgaci

Domes will soon be taking this shape.

via @gulsumunet

via @elmesselhy

via @makkah_hotel

via @amaniat

via @samroon2014

via @ahmad_o_boresli

Insta Video: https://instagram.com/p/0GZ34Fr78l/

Insta Video: https://instagram.com/p/0GZ_X9r783/

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#5160 [Permalink] Posted on 15th March 2015 18:28

Emir: Saudize transport projects in Makkah region

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

JEDDAH — Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region and adviser to the King, has issued directives to Saudize jobs in the manufacturing sector related to the public transport system in Makkah, Jeddah and Taif.

Prince Khaled, who is also the chairman of the ministerial committee supervising public transport in the province, instructed the authorities concerned to incorporate a provision to Saudize jobs while drafting deals for implementing public transport projects in these cities, expected to be awarded in the near future.

According to the provision, international firms involved in the implementation of the projects have to provide jobs for Saudis in all the manufacturing sectors related to the metro and public transport systems, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

Addressing a meeting of members of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) at his office here on Sunday, Prince Khaled said it will be mandatory for the project implementing companies to establish spare parts plants in the region with Saudi workforce.

The SAGIA members said that about 2,500 Saudis can benefit through Saudization of the manufacturing sector related to the public transport system in the three major cities in the region.

Earlier, Prince Khaled underlined the need to ensure the active participation of Saudi youths while implementing the massive public transport system in Makkah and Jeddah. “Saudi youths should be provided with training to enable them to manage these projects in future. There must be participation of Saudis even in the phases of carrying out studies and design work,” he said.

The Council of Ministers approved in 1434 Hijri two public transport systems for Makkah and Jeddah at a total cost of SR107 billion and formed a ministerial committee to supervise the projects.

In 2013, the contract to provide consultative services for the management of the public transport system in Makkah was awarded to the British project management giant Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The SR 62 billion Makkah public transport system, including a metro with four lines and 88 stations and a fast bus service network, will bring about dramatic improvement in the transportation of pilgrims and citizens in the city.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150311236553

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