Saudi Arabia: Over 60,000 join Quran sessions in Prophet’s Mosque

Cairo: Sessions of Holy Quran memorisation in the Prophet’s Mosque in the Saudi city of Medina have drawn more than 60,000 male and female students this year.

Participants ranged in age from four to 91 years, the Saudi newspaper Al Watan reported. They benefited from 1,900 in-person sessions and 900 remote courses.

During the same year, the number of Quran reciters teaching the participants how to properly read and memorise the sacred book reached five per day.

Students from more than 160 countries speaking 16 languages benefited from these courses, the report said.

The memorisation sessions in the Prophet’s Mosque, Islam’s second holiest, utilise modern technology in teaching the recitation of the Quran. They aim to provide an opportunity to those unable to regularly attend such courses and help Muslims around the world to properly recite the sacred book in a hassle-free environment.

More than 280 million Muslims prayed in the Prophet’s Mosque in 2023. The mosque houses Al Rawda Al Sherifa where the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is located.

After performing the Umrah or minor pilgrimage in the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest in Mecca, many pilgrims would head to Medina to perform prayers in the Prophet’s Mosque.

More than 10 million Muslims visited and prayed at Al Rawda Al Sharifa this year, according to Saudi figures announced in October. The figure marked a 26 per cent increase against last year.