A decade since it was built with funds from a generous benefactor, worshippers at a mosque in Hada' Al-Shamaliya have discovered that they have been praying in the wrong direction. “For ten years everyone had been praying toward the mihrab in the mosque, which points northeast, whereas it should point to the southeast,” said local resident Abdul Rahman Faraj. “Then we discovered the mistake so we changed the position of the carpets.” The people of the village, which lies 20 km to the west of Makkah, are also concerned at the dilapidated state of the building. “The mosque is falling down,” said Jaber Abdul Rahman. “The water fittings are old and the building as a whole needs repair work. Bits of the ceiling occasionally fall on worshippers.” According to Zuhair Al-Ansari, the regional head of the endowments office, the nameless mosque is not on the authority's records. “We need to find a benefactor to look after it,” he said. “It needs to be officially registered on our records so that it can benefit from the budget and given a name.”
