Almost 50,000 worshippers gather for prayer at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The Muslims attended taraweeh and night prayers on Ramadan 27 — widely believed to be the night the Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed
June 2, 2019
Almost 50,000 worshippers gathered at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque on Saturday for night prayers.
The 46,860 Muslims packed the UAE's largest mosque, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to pray taraweeh, special Ramadan nightly prayers, and tahajud, a voluntary night prayer that Muslims typically perform in the final 10 days of the holy month.
Saturday night was Ramadan 27 — a date widely believed to be Laylat Al Qadr, the night the Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed. On this night, acts of goodness and night prayers are better than those carried out over 83 years. The exact day of Laylat Al Qadr is not known but Prophet Mohammed said it falls on an odd-numbered night.
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On Saturday, the mosque's prayer halls and yard was filled to capacity with 35,762 worshippers who performed tahajud prayers led by Imam Idrees Abkar. Taraweeh prayers were performed by 11,043 worshippers, a few hours after iftar meals were served to 35,900 people at the mosque. Free buses were also provided to transport the worshippers to and from the mosque.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque attracted almost a million visitors during the first three weeks of Ramadan.
It welcomed a total of 918,221 guests during the opening 20 days of the holy month, with 180,017 of them being worshippers.
At the Al Farooq Omar bin Al Khattab Mosque and Centre in Dubai, more than 10,000 worshippers prayed tahajud on Saturday, led by Sheikh Faris Al Mustafa, the mosque's Religious and Cultural Affairs Advisor.
Throughout the month, the mosque hosted more than 100,000 worshippers and non-Muslims including diplomats, tourists and residents. Some 40,000 iftars were served this month, representing almost 20 per cent of the 220,000 meals the mosque has served in the past five Ramadans.
In Fujariah, 1,304 worshippers performed taraweeh and 5,103 prayed tahajud at Sheikh Zayed Mosque.
Updated: June 2, 2019 01:23 PM
