Cairo: As many as 3,700 religious lectures are given annually in different languages in the Prophet’s Mosque, Islam’s second holiest place in the Saudi city of Medina, a Saudi official has said.
“The number of lessons in the Prophet’s Mosque exceeds 3,700 annually, i.e. nearly 10 lessons daily divided between men and women. They are given in several languages,” Mohammed Al Khudairy, the deputy head of religious af-fairs in the mosque told Saudi TV Al Ekhbariya.
The mosque houses Al Rawda Al Sharifa, where the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) is located.
The guidance service in the mosque is available in 15 languages including English, French, Urdu, Persian, Russian, Chinese, Hausa, Bengali, Turkish and Hindi.
Male and female interpreters also provide guidance about the prayer timings, lectures, sermons, visit schedules for annexed museums and exhibitions as well as information about the services available in the mosque.
After undertaking Umrah or minor pilgrimage in 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.
The new season of Umrah got underway in Saudi Arabia last month after the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage that around 1.8 million Muslims from across the globe attended.
Some 1.3 million pilgrims visited the Prophet’s Mosque during the recent Hajj pilgrimage season.
The mosque received 74.5 million worshippers in the first quarter of this year.
The cited period covered the holy Islamic month of Ramadan when Umrah usually peaks in Saudi Arabia.
More than 280 million Muslims prayed in the Prophet’s Mosque in 2023, according to official Saudi figures.
