Chairman of the King Abdullah International Foundation for Charity and Humanitarian Deeds Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah, National Guard Minister Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) Prince Sultan Bin Salman and Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal Bin Majed officiated the ceremony to reopen Al Shafi'i mosque, which was built in the 13th century. — SG photo Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — The oldest mosque in Jeddah reopened on Tuesday following the completion of restoration work. Chairman of the King Abdullah International Foundation for Charity and Humanitarian Deeds Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah, National Guard Minister Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) Prince Sultan Bin Salman and Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal Bin Majed officiated in the ceremony to reopen Al Shafi'i mosque, which was built in the 13th century. Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdulaziz Al-Asheikh, Mayor of Jeddah Hani Abu Ras and a large number of Jeddah figures and businessmen also attended the ceremony. Speaking at the reopening, Prince Sultan Bin Salman said: “I believe that our cooperation in rebuilding this historic mosque is a part of the ‘National Program for Caring for Ancient Mosques' launched by the Heritage Foundation under the supervision of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance. “Our agreement with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs is to renovate historical mosques. We have already restored so many but still more needs to be renovated.” He briefly described the process of project implementation and thanked the late King Abdullah for his support to restore Al Shafi'i and Al-Memar mosques. “The late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered the renovation of the two oldest mosques in Jeddah — Al-Shafi'i and Al-Memar mosques — and a budget of SR7 million was approved for this purpose,” he said. He announced the approval of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to renovate on his expense the historical Al-Hanafi Mosque where the country's founder King Abdul Aziz used to pray, meet and listen to the citizens. The prince also announced that he would personally renovate Uthman Bin Affan Mosque for his mother Princess Sultanah Al-Sudairy. Prince Sultan disclosed plans to develop 40 mosques in Jeddah's historical area. He noted the first stage of the program saw the restoration of more than 60 mosques of historical value in different parts of the Kingdom. In his speech, Prince Miteb said: “Our late father King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz always stressed the importance of preserving the old mosques all over the Kingdom and today we are very happy to witness the completion of the Al-Shafi'i restoration which he ordered.” Al-Shafi'i Mosque, which is located in Al-Mazloum District, is believed to have been built in 1250 during the era of King Sulaiman Bin Saaduddeen Shahenshah II and was renovated in 1533 by an Indian merchant known as Al-Khawajah Mohammad Ali.
