Numerous non-Muslims flock to Grand Mosque

Manama

A large number of families and individuals from various religions from different parts of the world visited the Grand Mosque yesterday, the first day of the two-day Eid Open House organised by the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs, along with Discover Islam Bahrain. The event is   being organised every year twice, during Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha, since 1998.

Senior Coordinator of Visitors Section, Farahat Mohammed Al Kindy said the event was held on the third and fourth days of Eid, unlike in the past, as the second day of Eid fell on a Friday. It was postponed as the mosque could not be opened to visitors for the Friday prayers, he explained. He said he expects around 2000 visitors this time.

A special stall was also opened to serve visitors tea, coffee and sweets.

The tour through the mosque include a number of sections such as Quran corner, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) corner, prayer corner, calligraphy corner, zam zam corner, henna corner for ladies, books corner, kids corner and a gifts corner.

 “This is an opportunity for the non-Muslims to enjoy Eid with us and learn about our religion and culture,” Al Kindy said.   

According to him, 80 per cent of the visitors were from Asia, while the rest 20pc were Europeans and Westerners.

Al Kindy noted, unlike earlier, visitors showed more interest in learning than in entertainment.  

Religious guide Najma Mohammed Naeem said the visitors were provided guides to reply to their questions about Islam and the Islamic traditions. A volunteer tour guide Asif Usman said he met a Christian delegation who had earlier made a similar visit to a mosque in UAE. “However, they said they could not gain much from the visit are there was no one to guide them. But here, they said they had a better learning experience,” he said. 

A number of visitors including Andres from Argentina, Micheal from England, Rose from India and Lisa from South Africa told DT News how the visit turned out to be a valuable experience in each of their lives.  

Yousaf, a US National and the guide at the Hajj corner, said he introduced visitors to the beauty of Hajj pilgrimage and cleared misconceptions about the same. 

Tour guide Ghada Khafagi elaborated about the cultural activities that were held for the visitors as part of the Open House. 

“There was a henna corner for women, children’s corner for kids and a traditional dress corner, where the visitors could try Bahraini attires and take photos,” she said. 

Today is the second and closing day of the Open House.