JEDDAH – Holy month of Ramadan is set to start on March 11, 2024 in Saudi Arabia and the period attracts a huge number of passengers in the Kingdom as Muslims engage in additional prayers to seek forgiveness for past sins, and to draw closer to Allah Almighty.
Ahead of the holy month, Saudi Arabian authorities rolled out new guidelines for iftar providers at Makkah’s Grand Mosque.
For the year 2024, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs opened applications for Iftar meal service providers at the Grand Mosque in the Holy City of Makkah during the upcoming month.
Under the new guidelines, the Kingdom restricted serving iftar banquets inside mosques across the country during Ramadan while Imam are no longer allowed to collect donations to serve iftar to worshippers during the upcoming holy month.
The new guidelines aimed to keep mosques clean and directed that banquets should be held at a designated place in courtyards.
Furthermore, Saudi also tightened rules about usage of cameras inside mosques to film the imam during prayers or the worshippers while transmitting and broadcasting prayers via different media is also banned.
Imams were encouraged to keep Taraweeh prayers concise and focus on delivering sermons that are beneficial to worshippers, particularly those that emphasize the rules of fasting and the virtues of the holy month of Ramadan.
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