250 Sierra Leoneans Join 3 Million Worshippers in Saudi Arabia

Over 250 Sierra Leoneans resident in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and from Sierra Leone joined nearly three million Muslims in today’s Friday congregational prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophets Mosque in Madinah, a Sierra Leonean graduate of the University of Medina said.

Sheik Ramadan said the custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and senior Cabinet members also took part in the prayers as well as to supervise the services being rendered to the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who have come from different parts of the world.

Today, which marks the last Friday of this year’s Ramadan was overflowing with worshippers as they came to perform Umrah, attend the Juma prayers and take part in special night-time prayers of “Taraweeh” and ”Tahajjud” that are held during Ramadan.

While delivering his Friday sermon, Sheikh Osama Khayyat, the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, urged the faithful to follow the teachings of Islam in all walks of life. He prayed to God to accept the fasting, prayers, and other good deeds done by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan and forgive their sins.

Those who fail to win the forgiveness of God during Ramadan are big losers, Khayyat said, quoting a “Hadith” of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). He urged the faithful to work hard to get maximum reward from God during the remaining days of the holy month.

Muslims will mark the end of the fasting month by celebrating Eid Al-Fitr, which is likely to be early next week. The Supreme Judiciary Council has called upon Muslims to look for the Shawwal crescent from tomorrow evening and inform the nearest Shariah court if they see the new moon in order to register their witnesses.

Saudi National TV reported that more than 4,000 police officers were deployed to maintain law and order in the city.  Despite the huge crowd of worshippers, the national TV announced, the traffic in Makkah was smooth and no major accidents have been reported. Special security officers were also deployed to arrest pickpockets and other criminals.

At the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, a large number of faithful including expatriate workers and foreign visitors had occupied their seats since early hours of the day.

Alhaji Jalloh, Information Attaché, Sierra Leone Embassy, Saudi Arabia

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