The Largest Mosque in the World
The Grand Mosque in Mecca is considered the largest mosque in the world in terms of area and cost. The area of the Grand Mosque exceeds one million square meters, and expansions are ongoing year after year, with expectations for its area to increase.
The Doors and Minarets
The number of doors of the Grand Mosque is 176, along with 13 minarets. This number increases with each expansion of the Grand Mosque, as the first minaret was built 1300 years ago by the Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja'far Al-Mansur. In the Saudi era, eight new minarets were added, bringing the total number of minarets of the Grand Mosque to 13, and it continues to grow.
Services for Pilgrims and Umrah Performers
The Grand Mosque provides various services for pilgrims and Umrah performers, including the Quranic reading services available around the clock, personal belongings safes, and cooling units to provide cold water.
Services for People with Disabilities
The Grand Mosque offers special services for people with disabilities, including free electric and manual wheelchairs, translation of the Friday sermon into 5 different languages, and translated Qurans in 52 languages according to the Saudi Press Agency. The Sa'i and Tawaf areas are designed to allow people with disabilities to perform the rituals of Hajj and Umrah with ease.
The Future and Upcoming Expansions of the Grand Mosque
As part of Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi government plans to further expand and develop the Grand Mosque; aiming to enhance the experience of pilgrims and Umrah performers by providing more space and modern services. The plan includes increasing the number of worshippers who can pray in the Grand Mosque to over 2.5 million people at once, and improving the surrounding infrastructure to facilitate access. Future expansions will also involve the use of advanced technology to improve crowd management, cleanliness, and cooling within the mosque, with smart systems to monitor and guide pilgrims and Umrah performers, and to provide advanced digital services to facilitate the performance of rituals and provide necessary information to visitors. In mentioning the honorable Grand Mosque, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "Travel is not to be undertaken except to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, the Mosque of the Messenger ﷺ, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). So if you are able and determined, trust in Allah and set out for the Sacred Mosque.