JEDDAH – King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, congratulated the Saudi people on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan – the month that all hearts and souls longed for so as to seek Allah's reward and mercy. In a speech to the people of the Kingdom delivered on their behalf by Dr. Abdulaziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, the King and the Crown Prince said Muslims should recall the overwhelming happiness when the Holy Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on a blessed night, a night better than one thousand months. They said: “There are many lessons to learn from the month of forgiveness and to reinvigorate relations with Almighty Allah by devoting more time to worship and following the right path. During the nights and days of this holy month, the old is kind to the young and the rich to the poor. The whole society is full of compassion, love and empathy.” The King and the Crown Prince prayed to Allah Almighty to unify the Ummah according to the teachings of religion and make the advent of this holy month an opportunity to build our nations and societies on the basis of compassion and brotherhood. Earlier Thursday evening, the Supreme Court, which held a meeting at its summer headquarters in Taif, declared Friday (July 20, 2012) as the first day of the holy month of Ramadan according to information it received from regional courts based on several witnesses who sighted the Ramadan crescent. Meanwhile, King Abdullah has issued directives to make partial use of the King Abdullah Project for Expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah from Friday, the first of Ramadan. The ground floor of the expansion building and a large part of the new courtyards will be used to accommodate over 200,000 worshippers. – SPA
