Muftis and religious scholars have ruled that pilgrims do not need to perform all of their prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. They say that as all Makkah is sacred, praying in any of its mosques is as good as praying in the Grand Mosque itself. The scholars met after being requested by Crown Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, to reduce overcrowding and ease the burden on the 2.5 million pilgrims. The Crown Prince said: “The Prophet (pbuh) stayed two weeks in Makkah after conquering it, mainly in Al-Abtah, and throughout his stay he entered the Grand Mosque only once.” “All Makkah is sacred, so prayers in any mosque will be rewarded in the same way as if they had been offered in the Grand Mosque. Of course my brothers the scholars know this better than I do. Worshippers should be conscious when praying in the Grand Mosque that there are others waiting outside so they should leave after praying once,” the Crown Prince said. A group of scholars including Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, President of the International Association for Muslim Scholars Dr Yousif Al-Qradawi and Board Member of Senior Ulema Sheikh Abdullah Al-Manea met to decree that it is not necessary for pilgrims to pray all mandatory prayers in the Grand Mosque. Traditionalists argued that the Prophet's Hadith says “Praying in my mosque is better than one thousand prayers in any other mosque with the exception of the Grand Mosque.” Others insisted it refers to the “Ka'ba” and that the Haram is a generalization. Sheikh Aal Al-Sheikh said that the reward for praying in all mosques within the Holy Haram is equal to the reward for praying in the Grand Mosque itself. Dr. Al-Qradawi said: “We concluded that the entire Haram is called the Holy Mosque and are trying to educate pilgrims on the jurisprudence of balances so they do not overcrowd the Grand Mosque at prayer time.” __
