October 7, 2005

NATIONAL DAY: THE EXPANSION OF THE PROPHET'S MOSQUE IN AL MADINAH AL MUNAWARAH INCLUDES COURTYARDS AND NEW UMBRELLAS TO PROVIDE SHADE FOR THOUSANDS OF WORSHIPPERS. BILLIONS ALLOCATED FOR THE EXPANSION OF AL JAMARAT BRIDGE. A REPORT ON THE ACHIEVEMENTS IN EDUCATION. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, allocated 1.25 billion dollars (4.7 billion riyals) for the expansion of Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) Mosque in the holy city of Medina. The expansion work includes the installation of 182 umbrellas to provide shade to Muslim worshippers and the construction of the eastern courtyard to accommodate around 70,000 people. The project also includes the completion of the King Faisal Road and the construction of car parks, toilets and tunnels. King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz issued the order for the expansion work to Prince Muqrin Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Madina, who is also the chief of the Executive Committee for Developing the Central Area in Madina, and Dr Ibrahim Al Assaf, Minister of Finance, during his visit to the holy city. King Abdullah has also allocated billions for the expansion of the Jamarat bridge. Under King Fahd, Saudi Arabia spent more than 100 billion riyals (around 27 billion dollars) on expanding and renovating Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina to accommodate millions of worshippers and pilgrims. The expansion projects at the Two Holy Mosques come at the top of the projects implemented by the Saudi Government for the service of Islam and Muslims. The implementation of the expansion projects at the Two Holy Mosques aimed at enabling pilgrims, Umrah (minor Hajj) performers and visitors of the Holy Places to perform their rituals in comfort and ease. The Saudi Government has spent more than SR 70 billion on these expansion projects. The total area of the expansion project at the Holy Mosque in Makkah amounted to 76,000 square meters. Following the implementation of the expansion project at the Holy Mosque, the total area of the Haram has jumped to 356,000 square meters. Arrangements are underway to implement the important projects at Al-Haram area. As regards the expansion project at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, it was implemented on an area of 82,000 square meters. After the implementation of the expansion project, the area of the Prophet's Mosque jumped to 98,500 square meters. The Prophet's Mosque has the capacity of 730,000 worshippers, and this capacity increases to more than one million during special occasions like the blessed month of Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has ordered the completion of the remaining expansion project at the Prophet's Mosque at a total cost of SR 4.7 billion. The Holy City of Madinah is a pilgrimage city second only to the Holy City of Makkah, and is the city to which the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his followers migrated in 622 AD (the hijrah). According to Islamic tradition, when the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, made the hijrah, with the first Muslim community, his first act on arrival in the Holy City of Madinah was to locate a suitable piece of land for the enclosure that was to become his Holy Mosque. The Mosque was erected as a combined effort by all the Muslim followers of the Prophet, and its basic design is said to have survived ever since as a model for all subsequent Mosques. The Prophet's Mosque contains the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and is therefore one of Islam's most sacred shrines. (The first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, are also buried there.) The Mosque was rebuilt by the third Caliph, Uthman, in 64950 AD, using stone to replace the early wooden structure, and the site was later expanded greatly by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid in 707 AD. Much of the early structure was destroyed by the great fire of 1256 AD, however, and the oldest parts of the Mosque standing today reflect successive waves of Ottoman building work. The expansion and development plans formulated by King Fahd for the Prophet's Mosque in the Holy City of Madinah were just as ambitious as those for the Holy Mosque in Makkah. Before the expansion was implemented, although the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah received each year approximately the same number of worshippers, its area was little more than one tenth of the Holy Mosque in Makkah. King Faisal had added some areas for prayer on the western side of the Prophet's Mosque where pilgrims could pray out of the glare of the sun but these arrangements were temporary and insufficient to meet the ever-growing need. Determined to provide the Prophet's Mosque with space and facilities commensurate with its importance as of one of Islam's two holiest sites, King Fahd gave orders for what must be the greatest Mosque expansion program in the history of Islam. The project was launched by King Fahd in 1985. Before the expansion could begin, it was necessary to prepare the area on which the extensions were to be built. This operation alone involved a Herculean effort. Almost 400 buildings had to be demolished. Because the site was holy and the engineers were determined to avoid any possibility of damage to the existing Mosque, explosives were not employed. Instead, the supporting posts of each building were weakened and then ripped out by bulldozers. The resultant rubble, estimated to have been 654,000 cubic yards [500,000 cu m], was used to landfill areas on the outskirts of Madinah in preparation for further expansion of the city. The land designated for the expansion of the Prophet's Mosque, even when cleared, was far from ideal and, before building could commence, it was necessary to pile-drive some 8,500 steel-encased stakes to a depth of between 100 and 160 feet [3050 m] into the ground down to the bedrock in order to ensure the extensions would be able to withstand any eventuality and would be strong enough to support an additional floor if, at a later date, such a further development is deemed necessary. By the middle of 1990, the main building had been finished and, by April 1994 the entire project had been completed. The total area, including the ground around the Mosque, now stood at 478,803 square yards [400,327 sq m], of which King Fahd's expansion accounted for 460,000 square yards [384,000 sq m]. The area could now accommodate in excess of one million worshippers at the busiest times. A unique feature of the expansion project was the development of the twenty-seven main plazas. Each plaza is now capped by a state-of-the-art sliding dome, which can be rapidly opened or closed according to the weather and can be used in unison or separately as required. Elaborately carved stone friezes decorate the domes, and the plazas have been paved in decorative geometrically patterned marble tiles. The project also necessitated the building of six additional minarets, the most powerful visual sign of the Mosque, each 354-foot [105 m] construction crowned with a 4-ton gold-plated crescent. The development of the surrounding open areas and the seven newly constructed entrances ensure the smooth passage of pilgrims into the Prophet's Mosque. Indeed, the designers of the entire project have masterfully considered every eventuality of the existing and future capacity of the Mosque, and all this within the strictures of the existing architectural pattern. The building extensions have therefore been fitted out with a suitable number of staircases and escalators. The designers have added an extension to the roof area for praying purposes, whilst also allowing for the possibility of adding another floor to accommodate worshippers in the future. Like the splendidly redeveloped Holy Mosque in the Holy City of Makkah, the Prophet's Mosque is now fully air-conditioned. The comfort of worshippers has been further enhanced, however, by an ingenious method of natural ventilation. A series of domes, 27 in number, have been installed. These domes can be opened or closed, according to weather conditions. In the inner courtyard, twelve enormous mechanically operated teflon umbrellas, six in each court of the Mosque, have been developed by King Fahd's architects to protect from and withstand the high temperatures. The Prophet's Mosque project also includes provision of extensive car parking facilities and the construction of a new dual carriageway, the Bab Alsalam Road, linking Madinat Alhujaj on the western side of the Holy City of Madinah to the site of the Mosque. A series of service tunnels, drainage systems and supply networks now also criss-crosses the area. In fact, the magnitude of support services made it necessary to construct a vast basement complex in which to accommodate the service equipment and wiring needs, as well as various other maintenance works. The reconstructed main gate leading into the Mosque site, the new King Fahd Entrance, is situated on the northern side, and is topped with a profusion of domes and minarets on both sides. The exquisite decorations and architectural touches here and elsewhere are in complete harmony with earlier building work on the site, and they feature wonderfully crafted golden grilles, cornices, pillars, brass doors and marble works, as well as special ornately carved pigeonholes for the Holy Quran. Further enhancements include a public address system operational throughout the Mosque and surrounding areas; a closed circuit television system as part of the safety measures; an advanced fire-warning and fire-fighting system; a cold water drinking system; the provision of adequate washing facilities; a backup electrical system to be used in the event of any problem with the main electrical system; and extensive free parking facilities. The renovated Prophet's Mosque in the Holy City of Madinah inspires awe in all who visit. As King Fahd himself so eloquently expressed it: "With the help of God, the Government and people of Saudi Arabia have been able to turn dreams into reality. Who could have believed that the expansion of the Prophet's Mosque would equal the area of the city of Madinah in ancient times and that we would accommodate such huge numbers of worshippers and visitors?" On the other hand and on the occasion of the National Day a report on education was published. The report states that Saudi officials have been giving great attention to the progress of the educational sector in view of its vital importance for the country. Thanks to this wise policy, schools are now spread in the four corners of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the academic year 1424-1425 AH, the number of students at the stage of the general education amounted to 2,322,536, who are pursuing their studies in 13, 893 schools under the direct supervision and guidance of more than 187,420 teachers. The number of schools has remarkably increased at the primary, intermediate and secondary stages, while the number of students of adult education declined from 27, 496 in 1423-1424 AH to 26, 343 in 1424-1425 AH. The number of students at the primary stage reached in 1424-1425 AH to about 1,241,840 students, while the number of teachers amounted to 98, 813. At the intermediate stage, the number of schools increased to 3, 719 with more than 574, 000 students and 48, 678 teachers. At the secondary stage the number of schools jumped to 2006 in 1424-1425 AH with 465, 822 students and 36249 teachers. As regards girls education, in 1424-1425 AH, the number of female students amounted to 2,235,000 at 15, 840 educational institutions and more than 219,000 female teachers and more than 14,900 administrators. As regards the vocational secondary institutes and vocational training centers their number amounted to 77 in 1424-1425AH with 5, 738 students, while the number of the schools of special education amounted to 92 with 4, 808 students. The Education Ministry has also been giving a great attention to the schools for the Holy Quran memorization. Their number amounted to 721 in 1424-1425 AH with 83,165 students and 7, 563 teachers. The girls Holy Quran memorization schools amounted in 1424-1425 AH to 769 with 89, 976 female students and 9, 170 female teachers . Meanwhile, the number of the schools of adult education which were linked with the Education Ministry , amounted in 1424-1425 AH to 1069 schools with more than 26, 360, while the number of schools of adult education which are linked with other authorities amounted in the same academic year to 2, 552 with 54, 200 students. Eleven Universities are engaged in helping 572,000 students to pursue graduation and more than 224, 854 post-graduation studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1424-1425 AH, the number of colleges offering bachelor degree and are attached to these universities, amounted to 314 with a teaching staff of 25,167 members. The number of faculties at the universities amounted to 118, which are assisted by 12, 149 teachers. The number of teachers' colleges working under the Ministry of Higher Education amounted to 18 with 33, 300 students, while the number of the students of the colleges of technical education and vocational training reached 39, 500. Meanwhile, the number of girls colleges amounted to 102 with 351,000 female students. As regards the students of the health colleges and institutes, the number of their students amounted to 8, 155. The Makkah-based Ummal Qura university was established in 1369 AH, while the Madinah-based Islamic University was established in 1381 AH. Nearly 85 percent of the students of the Islamic University of Madinah are reserved for non-Saudi students, who come from 105 nationalities and Muslim minorities. The Riyadh-based Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University was established in 1373 AH. As regards the Riyadh-based King Saud University, it was established in 1377 AH and the number of its students exceeds 53,000. The Jeddah includes King Abdul Aziz University which was established in 1384 AH as a non-governmental university, but in 1391 AH it became a governmental university. The university includes about 53,000 students. The Dhahran-based King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals began as a college in 1383 AH, but it was developed into a university in 1395 AH. The university includes ten colleges with more than 10,000 students. On 11/3/1419 AH, a Royal decree was issued to establish King Khaled University in Abha. In 1424 AH, a Royal approval was issued for the establishment of three universities, namely: Qassim University, Taif University and Taiba University. The Saudi universities have been positively contributing to the development of scientific research, and they have been active at the scientific conferences. Meanwhile, an approval was issued for the establishment of non-profitable private colleges in some regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.