Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque attracted nearly 1.9 million worshippers and visitors during Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr.
Among them, 594,236 worshippers performed prayers – including 193,435 for isha and taraweeh and 195,987 for tahajjud, according to state news agency Wam. During the same period, the mosque received 391,011 visitors. In addition, 6,130 used the site’s jogging track and 898,767 visited to break their fast during the holy month.
On the 27th night of Ramadan 72,533 worshippers gathered, while 26,025 performed Eid Al Fitr prayers. Over Ramadan specifically, the number of guests increased by over 10 per cent compared to last Ramadan.
The mosque welcomed 11,240 visitors daily during Ramadan. A total of 289 guided tours were conducted, attended by 4,270 visitors. Tourist companies made 6,774 bookings, covering 128,361 visitors, while 75 official delegation bookings included 1,126 visitors.
A time for charity
More than 2.6 million iftar meals were distributed throughout the holy month, distributed as part of the “Our Fasting Guests” initiative – co-ordinated by the Zayed Humanitarian Legacy Foundation in partnership with Erth Hotel.
Of these, 898,288 meals were distributed at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi; 442,345 at the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Grand Mosque in Al Ain; 1.16 million in workers' accommodation; and 105,935 in other areas of the emirate.
The centre distributed 19,000 suhoor meals during the last 10 nights of Ramadan to worshippers observing the night prayer at the mosque.
A time for learning
The centre hosted four Ramadan lectures at the Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis within the mosque. There were also 18 lectures by scholars, selected as guests of President Sheikh Mohamed in collaboration with the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments and Zakat Fund.
There were 13 episodes of the “Jusoor” (Bridges) programme, involving more than 1,200 participants representing 13 embassies, various institutions and mosque staff.
The mosque also hosted a blood donation campaign, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Blood Bank, and distributed audio Qurans featuring recitations by the mosque's imams, Idris Abkar and Yahya Aishan, to worshippers, to commemorate Zayed Humanitarian Day.
There were services at Sheikh Khalifa Grand Mosque in Al Ain, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Fujairah and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Grand Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah.
There were 290,331 worshippers at Sheikh Khalifa Grand Mosque in Al Ain during the holy month, including 99,746 for isha and taraweeh prayers, 76,491 for tahajjud prayers and 32,030 for Eid Al Fitr prayers. The mosque also distributed 442,345 iftar meals throughout Ramadan.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Fujairah welcomed 122,347 worshippers, with 61,084 attending isha and taraweeh, 27,662 attending tahajjud and 30,268 performing Eid prayers.
At Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Grand Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah, 39,783 worshippers gathered, including 19,577 for isha and taraweeh, 10,399 for tahajjud and 3,430 for Eid Al Fitr prayers.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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ELIO
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