Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have thronged the Prophet's City after the successful conclusion of all Haj rituals in Makkah and in the holy sites. The journey to the Prophet's Mosque in Madina – Islam's second holiest mosque after Grand Mosque in Makkah – is not an essential part of the Haj, but the pilgrims are encouraged to do it and have been promised rich rewards by Allah. Of the nearly 2.5 million pilgrims who performed the weeklong Haj this year, many took the extra trip to Madina, 275 miles (440 km) north of Makkah in western Saudi Arabia, to pray at the Prophet's Mosque. Muchlis Yusuf burst into tears as he saw the green dome of the mosque where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) lies buried. Overcome with emotion, the 40-year-old pilgrim from Indonesia said this was “the best moment” in his life as he lifted his hands toward the sky in prayer. “You cannot just come to perform Haj and not visit the honorable Prophet's grave,” Fatimah Mahmoudi, a 34-year old woman from Iran, explained her reasons for coming to Madina. The huge mosque can accommodate more than 700,000 worshippers at a time. Construction work over the past 50 years has made the mosque several times bigger, accomplished at an estimated cost of SR3.75 billion. For many, the visit to Medina has special significance. “Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a human being. True. But he was God's Messenger,” said Javad Ali, 28, from Bahrain. “It is unifying to see people from all races, colors and geographical locations standing to pray here together. This is the force of Islam's message that Muhammad (pbuh) brought.”
