The top officials in Saudi Arabia have decided to make some changes at the Two Holy Mosques. Starting Friday, June 21, the Friday sermon and prayer will be shorter. They’ll only take 15 minutes now. This change will last until summer is over.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, who’s in charge of religious matters at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, shared some more details about the changes.
They’re also tweaking the time between the first and second calls to prayer. Now, there will be 10 minutes between them. To make this work, they’re pushing back the first call to prayer a bit.
Instead of lasting 30 to 45 minutes, they’ll now be just 10 minutes long. They’re doing this because it’s getting really hot in Mecca and Medina, and they don’t want people to struggle in the heat. It’s all about making things easier for the worshippers.
Right now, Makkah and Madinah are super crowded. This means a lot of people end up standing in the sun during the hottest part of the day, from 11 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, It gets really hot then.
Making the rituals shorter is a smart move to keep people safe from the heat. It’s especially important for older folks and anyone who’s not feeling well. This way, people won’t get too tired or sick from being out in the sun for so long.
