Saudi Arabia’s Kaaba adorned with new cover as annual Haj commences

Mecca, SA: Saudi Arabia’s holy Kaaba in Mecca was adorned on Wednesday, July 29 with a new cover, also known as ‘Kiswah’, marking the beginning of the annual Haj amid tight restrictions and reduced pilgrim numbers due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Normally costing almost 24 million Saudi riyals ($6.4 million), the cover is externally made of 675 kilogrammes of pure black silk, and green silk internally. Tens of kilogrammes of gold and silver-plated threads are used to stitch verses of the holy Quran on the cloth. Muslim worshippers started the annual haj pilgrimage on Wednesday (July 29), which has been dramatically scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time in the modern era, amidst efforts to curb COVID-19, Muslims from abroad will be unable to attend the pilgrimage. This year's event has been limited to about 1,000 people from within Saudi Arabia, 70% of whom will be foreign residents of the kingdom. The remaining 30% will be drawn from Saudi healthcare workers and security personnel who have recovered from the coronavirus, as a gesture of thanks for their sacrifice.

Some 2.5 million Muslims typically visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long pilgrimage. A once-in-a-lifetime duty for able-bodied Muslims who can afford the cost, it is usually extremely crowded.

Eid: Sales of sacrificial cattle at Pakistan markets fall as worshippers go online

Karachi, Pakistan: Business isn't as robust as usual for cattle traders in Pakistan as people who usually buy sacrificial animals ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha are going online, rather than to the dusty markets to make their purchases amid coronavirus concerns.

The government has imposed social distancing restrictions including a half-day closure of the markets to discourage crowds that gather at the markets. This too has led to a drop in customers set up on the outskirts of urban centres ahead of one of Islam's most important festivals., told Reuters his customers had almost halved.

"We are very worried. Customers don't turn up during the day because it is hot. In the night they (government) have disallowed the customers," said trader Allah Ditta, who travelled over 700 kilometres from the city of Muzzafargarh to sell his stock.

Authorities are advising people to make their purchases of sacrificial animals virtually, or at least wear masks when visiting cattle markets as they fear preparations for the holidays could reverse a recent decline in the country's COVID-19 infection number. Most visitors flouted a requirement to wear masks, and many were accompanied by children who this year are barred at the main cattle market of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city at the weekend.

While market visitors have fallen, more people are paying charities to slaughter cattle on their behalf and deliver their cut to them or donate it to the needy. "Due to the pandemic and lockdown, people's interest in online bookings (for collective sacrifice) have increased. In just 30 days we are almost fully booked, this used to take two months in previous years," said Shakil Dehelvi, joint secretary-general of Alamgir Welfare Trust whose charity has received its target booking number twice as quickly as last year.

Pakistan has reported over 270,000 COVID-19 cases with almost 6,000 deaths. Daily cases of new infection numbered just under 1,200 on Sunday versus a peak last month nearing 7,000 around another festival, Eid al-Fitr.

Greek church bells toll for Hagia Sofia as Greeks protest mosque conversion

Athens, Greece: Church bells across Greece tolled in mourning on Friday, July 24 as the first Islamic prayers in nine decades were held at Hagia Sophia in Turkey, marking the monument's conversion into a mosque.

Most Greeks consider the site, built in 537 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, as central to their Orthodox Christian religion.

Greek criticism of the conversion has been scathing, underscoring often tense relations between Greece and Turkey. "What is unfolding in Constantinople today is not a demonstration of strength, but proof of weakness," said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a televised address, referring to Istanbul by the old name of the city used by Greeks.

Several hundred Greeks gathered in central Athens, some carrying Greek flags, to stage a demonstration in protest at the conversion.

Greece and Turkey disagree on a range of issues from airspace to maritime zones and ethnically split Cyprus. Tensions upped a notch this week with verbal jousting over the delimitation of their continental shelves in the eastern Mediterranean, an area thought to be rich in natural resources.

Turkey: Hagia Sophia mosque open to all religions - Erdogan

Istanbul, Turkey: Hagia Sophia will be open to the believers of all religions, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, July 24 after attending the first Muslim prayers in the historic building.

Following the prayers, Erdogan visited the tomb of Mehmed the Conqueror', the Ottoman Sultan who conquered Istanbul from Byzantium and converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque. During his 17-year rule, Erdogan has championed Islam and religious observance and backed efforts to restore Hagia Sophia's mosque status. He said Muslims should be able to pray there again and raised the issue - popular with many pious supporters - during local elections last year.

Erdogan has reshaped Turkey's modern republic, established nearly a century ago by the staunchly secularist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, lifting a ban on Muslim headscarves in state institutions, promoting religious education and taming Turkey's powerful military, once a bastion of Ataturk's secular values.

Turkey: Imams recite Quran at Hagia Sophia as thousands gather for first Friday namaz

Istanbul, Turkey: Thousands of Turks gathered near Hagia Sophia early on Friday, July 24 as imams recited Quran verses inside the historic building ahead of the first prayers there after President Tayyip Erdogan declared it as a mosque.

Crowds formed at checkpoints surrounding the historic heart of Istanbul, where thousands of police maintained security. On entering the secured area the worshippers, wearing face masks, sat spaced out on prayer mats in the city's Sultanahmet Square. A top Turkish court announced this month it annulled Hagia Sophia's status as a museum. Erdogan immediately turned back into a mosque a building which was a Christian Byzantine cathedral for 900 years before being seized by Ottoman conquerors and serving as a mosque until 1934.

The president was scheduled to attend Friday prayers shortly after 1 pm (1000 GMT) along with several hundred invitees for the ceremony in the sixth-century building. During his 17-year rule, Erdogan has championed Islam and religious observance and backed efforts to restore Hagia Sophia's mosque status. He said Muslims should be able to pray there again and raised the issue - popular with many pious AKP-voting Turks - during local elections last year.

The conversion triggered fierce criticism from church leaders, who said the conversion to exclusively Muslim worship risked deepening religious divisions. Turkey says the site will remain open for visitors and its Christian artworks protected.

Erdogan has reshaped Turkey's modern republic, established nearly a century ago by the staunchly secularist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, lifting a ban on Muslim headscarves in public, promoting religious education and taming Turkey's powerful military, once a bastion of Ataturk's secular values.

In Hagia Sophia, the Christian frescoes and the glittering mosaics adorning the cavernous dome and central hall will be concealed by curtains during Muslim prayer times, but remain on display for the rest of the time.

Turkey: Erdogan unveils 'mosque' sign at Hagia Sophia entrance

Istanbul, Turkey: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan unveiled the new sign for "The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque" on Thursday, July 23, a day before the first Muslim prayers are held in Istanbul's controversial landmark.

Hagia Sophia served as a Christian Byzantine cathedral for 900 years before it was seized by Ottoman conquerors and converted to a mosque. Muslims prayed there until 1934 when it became a museum. But a Turkish court recently annulled the decree that turned it into a museum, opening the way for the sixth-century building to be converted back into a mosque, a move backed by Erdogan.

The decision unleashed a torrent of criticism from church leaders, who said the conversion to exclusively Muslim worship risked deepening religious divisions. Turkey says the site will remain open for visitors and its Christian artworks protected.

Christian frescoes and the glittering mosaics adorning the cavernous dome and central hall will be concealed by curtains during Muslim prayer times, but remain on display for the rest of the time.