Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — Over a million worshippers, including Haj pilgrims, attended Eid Al-Adha and Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Hundreds of thousands of the faithful also turned out for the prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Imams at the Two Holy Mosques called on the faithful to embrace the sublime goals and lofty ideals of the annual pilgrimage of Haj and redefine life accordingly.

Sheikh Maher Al-Muaiqali, and Sheikh Faisal Ghazzawi, imams and khateebs of the Grand Mosque, delivered the Eid Al-Adha sermon and Friday sermon respectively while in Madinah Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Qassim and Sheikh Abdul Bari Al-Thubaiti delivered the sermons and led the prayers. The imams emphasized that Eid Al-Adha is a great symbol of Allah that tends to make the faithful totally submit to God and sacrifice everything dearer to them to realize His pleasure, and they attributed the grave trials and ordeals being faced by the Islamic Ummah to the weakness of their faith in monotheism and spreading of evil in their societies. They also exhorted that Islam is a religion of peace and the Prophet (peace be upon him) is a messenger of peace and their call is to establish a House of Peace all over the world.

Sheikh Al-Muaiqali called on the Muslim Ummah to close ranks, setting aside differences and sectarianism. “Holding fast to the teachings of the Qur’an and Tradition of the Prophet (pbuh) are the only way to attain success in this life and the Hereafter.” He also urged believers to protect the rights of women and honor their freedom and dignity, recalling the words of the Prophet “The best of you are those who are the best to their wives, and I am the best of you to my wives.”

Sheikh Ghazzawi, in his Friday sermon, said that the great message of Haj is upholding the unity of the Ummah and preserving its stability and cohesion.

In their sermons, Sheikh Al-Qassim and Sheikh Al-Thubaiti emphasized that all worship in Islam, especially Haj, require total obedience and submission to God in all walks of life. They said that Islam honors the dignity of human beings and guarantees all their rights.