King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has earnestly dedicated himself to serve the causes of the 1.6-billion strong Muslim Ummah. The King gives his utmost attention to serve Muslims from all the corners of the world so that they could perform their Umrah and Haj rituals in ease and comfort. To serve the pilgrims has been a noble task for all the rulers of the Kingdom right from the days of King Abdul Aziz, founder of the modern Saudi Arabia. World Muslims look at this service with great respect as it facilitates the performance of Haj and Umrah rituals in the holy sites in and around Makkah. The Holy Haram, under the reign of King Abdullah, enters a new historical phase in terms of massive expansion involving large-scale construction process. King Abdullah on Friday is scheduled to inaugurate the largest expansion project of the Holy Haram involving northern courtyards. The project includes additional courtyards in the northern part of the Grand Mosque, pedestrian tunnels and service stations built on area of 3,000 sq. meters. Experts believe that engineers who designed this expansion have made the best use of the latest electric and mechanical engineering technology. The expansion also meets all the requirements of the basic services such as modern system and methods of disposing waste and garbage in addition to the latest security surveillance systems. The fully shaded northern courtyards, when completed, would accommodate over 1.2 million worshippers. The Mas'a area will be expanded and linked to multi–story bridges to ease the flow of pilgrims. End of pilgrims' suffering Sensing his responsibility toward millions of Muslims who come from various parts of the world to perform pilgrimage and Umrah rituals, King Abdullah himself supervises the expansion work in the Two Holy Harams. Accordingly, the King gave his directives for the creation of two independent commissions tasked with the development of Makkah, Madina and the holy sites. The expansion of the Jamarat Bridge, the biggest task in the unending development projects in and around the Holy Harams, has immensely benefited the pilgrims, who used to suffer from the unprecedented crowds in carrying out the symbolic ritual of stoning the Satan. Another giant project to be added is the Masha'er Train, which has been designed to facilitate the movement of pilgrims between the holy sites. Historical glimpses The expansion of the Holy Haram is an ongoing process for the Kingdom's leaders starting from the era of King Abdul Aziz. Despite the scarce resources, King Abdul Aziz dedicated himself to the expansion of the Two Holy Mosques. In 1334H, some maintenance work was carried out and after the passage of two years he ordered the renovation of the corridors and painting of the walls. He also ordered that the dome of the Zamzam water was repaired and after several years some sunshades were erected to protect worshippers from the scorching heat. He was the first to order the plastering of the area between Al-Safa and Al-Marwa. Apart from this, he ordered the formation of the Board of Directors of Al-Haram. The board was tasked with running the affairs of the Grand Mosque and monitoring its maintenance and services. In 1347H, King Abdul Aziz ordered the replacement of the lighting system at the Holy Mosque and also ordered the increase of lamps to total 1,000. On Safar 14, 1373H, the entire Haram was electrified. During the reign of King Faisal, the old Ottoman architectural style was preserved and some modern architectural designs were added to the structure, thus progressing toward modernity without compromising on the heritage. The maintenance and care of the Holy Mosques continued under King Fahd. It is manifested in the huge expansion he made in the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, which Muslims will continue to cherish in their memories for decades. A central air-conditioning plant was installed at Kudai for providing cool air to the Grand Mosque. Moreover, cold water is also transferred from this plant through pipes buried in a tunnel stretching from the Holy Haram to the station. Some more vital projects had been carried out in the service of the Guests of Allah including six bridges in the Mas'aa to separate the entry and exit of the worshippers to and from the Holy Haram enabling the worshippers to perform their Sa'i ritual with ease. Added to this is the fully automated Zamzam water cooling system and the project for replacing Al-Mataf tiles with special stone which remains cool despite the scorching sun. The service of the Two Holy Mosques has always been a top priority of King Abdullah. He personally follows up everything concerning the expansion of the Two Holy Mosques. This explains why he is going to lay the foundation stone for the new expansion project himself on Friday. __
