Aqeel, Media Consultant to the Ministry of Culture and Information, said that the translation of prayers during Ramadan was a “great success” and “of benefit to all parts of the world”. “The ministry welcomes any projects that are of benefit to Muslims and helps in those efforts in every way possible to make them a success,” he said. Al-Aqeel's remarks follow calls for similar translations to be provided of Friday sermons at the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madina, a move backed by Bangladeshi preacher Muhammad Mubarak. “There is an urgent need now for simultaneous translations of Friday sermons at the holy mosques given the huge success of the simultaneous translations provided for Taraweeh prayers in Ramadan and broadcast over satellite television channels,” Mubarak said. “They had a great impact on information about the Islamic religion.” Mubarak described today's world as “the age of satellite television”. “We need to think about translating the Friday sermons at the Two Holy Mosques so they can reach everyone in the Islamic world, whose hearts are closely connected to those sacred places, and for the discussion of issues concerning the Ummah.” Muhammad Alim of the Islamic Center in Sweden said that the translations would “help significantly in the defense of the religion of Allah” and inform people across the world of the Islamic religion as its image has been distorted in their eyes. “If the visits abroad of imams from the Two Holy Mosques are followed with interest by the Ummah to hear their sermons and to be led in prayer by them, then simultaneous translations would be a good way of connecting Muslims with the Two Holy Mosques,” he said.
