The Makkah police on Friday arrested a man who charged the pulpit from where the Imam was delivering his sermon during the Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque (Masjid al- Haram).
In the incident, captured on video, the man, seen wearing an ihram (the traditional attire of pilgrims visiting the Grand Mosque) can be seen running towards the pulpit. Security guards tackled him and apprehended him. Legal procedures will be made against him, the spokesperson of the Makkah police said.
— Haramain Sharifain (@hsharifain) May 21, 2021
According to reports, Imam Sheikh Bandar Al Baleelah was delivering his sermon when the man attempted to rush the pulpit, while brandishing a stick.
The Friday prayer, Jumu'ah, acquires significance as it takes place on what is considered to be the holiest day of the week.
Congregational prayers at the mosque underwent a 7-month hiatus in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed in October. In the first ten days of Ramadan in 2021, 1,5 million people visited the mosque. The mosque recently installed the world’s largest cooling plant to purify the air around it and protect pilgrims, according to the Saudi Gazette.
