Throughout history, the caliphs and Muslim rulers who were responsible for Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, have tried hard to guard, expand and maintain the Grand Mosque.
"The Grand Mosque is a place where Muslims around the world face their faces when they start praying, so it is an interesting focus for sultans, kings, princes, leaders and even wealthy Muslims," explained a history professor at Umm Al-University Qura, Dr. Aminah Jalal, as reported by Arab News, Thursday (30/7).
"They provide all financial support for mosque restoration and renovation. Religious sentiments motivate them to send donations throughout the Islamic period, as well as provide workers and building materials needed to care for this blessed mosque. "
In the past, leaders also ordered wells dug and paved roads to facilitate trips to the holy sites for pilgrims, he added, but in the Saudi era, their efforts have reached a new level.
"The contribution of Saudi leaders in expanding and maintaining mosques goes beyond any comparison," Jalal said.
Expansion in the Era of Khulafaur Rashidin
According to a report by the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, the Grand Mosque was surrounded by houses from the time of the Prophet Ibrahim to the reign of the second Muslim caliph, Umar bin Khattab. Umar bin Khattab bought buildings around the Kaaba so that the circulation area could be expanded. Umar bin Khattab also ordered the construction of a wall as high as nearly 2 meters around the Kaaba.
As the number of worshipers increased, more space was needed, and the mosque was expanded during the reign of Uthman ibn Affan, the third Muslim caliph, in 647. The number of people using the mosque continued to grow, and 38 years later it was expanded again by the caliph Abdullah Abdullah ibn Al Zubayr. He also rebuilt the Kaaba
after the structure was damaged.
Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates
Two further expansion projects took place during the reign of the fifth Umayyad caliph, Abdul Malik bin Marwan, and his son, Al Walid bin Abdul Malik.
According to the report of the General Presidency: "The mosque also (experienced) expansion during the Abbasid Caliphate, as the 20th Muslim caliph, Abu Jaafar Al Mansour, ordered a slight expansion to the north side. The tower on the east side of the mosque was also built."
The biggest expansion project of this era was ordered around 783 by the third Abbasid caliph, Muhammad Al Mahdi, who expanded the Grand Mosque after taking over the houses and demolishing it.
Mohammed Al Mahdi died in 785, before the project was completed, so his son and his successor as caliph, Musa, took over the supervision of the project, which increased the area of the mosque by 12,512 square meters.
Over the next 810 years, the Grand Mosque remained largely unchanged, with only restoration work being carried out.
The Ottoman Caliphate
In the early 1570s, the Ottoman emperor, Sultan Selim Khan and his son, Murad Khan, oversaw renovation and restoration work which included replacing flat wooden roofs in mosques with domes. They also installed additional columns to support the roof, and arcade rock was added. The area of the mosque increased to 28,003 square meters.
Saudi
Apart from the impressive work of rulers throughout history to expand and maintain the Grand Mosque, the extraordinary achievements of the Saudi kings brought the guardianship of the holiest site in the Islamic world to a new level.
When King Abdul Aziz united the country and established Saudi Arabia, it made the Two Holy Mosques; The Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque are top priorities and ensure they get special attention.
In 1926, King Abdul Aziz ordered a total renovation of the Grand Mosque, including directives to cover the entire floor with marble. A year later, according to the General Presidency, the king ordered tents to be erected in Mataf (the room around the Kaaba) to protect worshipers from the heat of the sun. He also ordered Masa (the area between Safa and Marwah where pilgrims performed the Sa'i ritual) to be paved with stones for the first time.
In 1928, the king ordered the establishment of the Kiswah factory to produce cloth that covered the Kaaba. The king also wants his children to expand the Grand Mosque to anticipate the increasing number of pilgrims.
When his son, King Saud became king, the Grand Mosque covered about 28,000 square meters. In 1955, a long-term expansion project was launched that continued for almost 10 years. The area area increases, and other underground and floor areas are added.
King Saud's successor, King Faisal, continued expansion and development work. The buildings that surround Maqam Ibrahim were moved to provide more space for pilgrims as they toured the Kaaba or tawaf.
After King Khalid took over in 1975, the Mataf area was expanded and the stone sidewalks of Masa were replaced with heat-resistant Greek marble so that pilgrims could perform tawaf more comfortably, especially during the daytime.
On September 14, 1988, King Fahd laid the first stone of the largest expansion of the Grand Mosque in 14 centuries. This project increased the area of the mosque to 356,000 square meters, could accommodate 1.5 million worshipers to perform the ritual comfortably. In addition, two towers were added from the seven existing towers.
The sixth Saudi leader, King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 2005, initiated another major expansion project, which included architectural, technical and security improvements. The capacity of the Mataf region has increased from around 50,000 people per hour to more than 130,000 to cope with the increasing number of pilgrims and umrah.
The total space covered by the Grand Mosque and the open area and its facilities increased to 750,000 square meters, with a total cost of more than 80 billion Riyals or around Rp 313 trillion.
In 2015, Raja Salman launched five large projects designed to enable the mosque to accommodate nearly 2 million worshipers on a 1.5 million square meter site. The surrounding buildings worth billions of dollars were bought. The projects include the expansion of the main building, the square, the pedestrian tunnel, the service center station and the first ring road.
Directives were also issued to utilize space on all floors of the mosque to accommodate more worshipers at the Grand Mosque and enable them to perform tawaf comfortably. Toilet and ablution capacity increased to 16,300.
Improvements to the Grand Mosque technology also include escalators and elevators that operate all the time, air conditioning, lighting, sound systems, video monitoring and fire control systems.
A report by the Ministry of Finance revealed that the projects in the expansion of the three most recent Holy Mosque, which began in 2008, included the development of the main building, Masa and Mataf, external rooms, bridges, terraces, service centers, service tunnels, hospital tunnels and walkers feet, transit stations and bridges, the ring road around the mosque, and infrastructure such as power plants and water reservoirs.
In August 2019, the Saudi Press Bureau (SPA) reported that the project to add more than 3,000 square meters of space near the Grand Mosque was almost complete. This project is designed to increase the capacity of the mosque and its courtyard to provide the best services for pilgrims and umrah, help control the crowd and ensure the safety of the congregation.