Imams and Khateebs of Grand Mosque and Prophet's Mosque in their Friday sermons called upon Muslims to “be patient in times of affliction,” They were referring to the recent Jeddah floods which killed 117 people and rendered thousands homeless. The imams praised King Abdullah's “great stance” of ordering a probe into the catastrophe. They hoped that those responsible would be brought to book. Sheikh Dr. Osama Bin Abdullah Khaiyat, Imam of Grand Mosque, prayed to Allah to reward the King “for his generous stand and his proper treatment of this painful calamity.” “The amount of affliction is equal to that of man's faith. Some people are afflicted with losing their loved ones on whom they depend after God, like what recently happened to the people of Jeddah.” “May Allah grant them comfort, reward, and compensate them well,” the imam said. In Madina, Imam Salah Al-Budair called for patience. “Nothing will last but Allah Almighty.” “Their (Jeddah flood victims) death is a calamity, a wound and pain that will be healed only with faith and patience. To every bereaved mother and father who lost their loved ones in a car accident, to the sea, fire or floods, I ask you to have faith in Allah's pardon and mercy and His heaven and rewards.”
