French President Francois Hollande and Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah will open a Haj exhibition in Paris on Tuesday
A PEEK INTO THE PAST: A photo taken by Muhammad Helmi in 1947 shows Maqam Ibrahim inside the Haram Mosque. (SPA)
Source: The Arab News, April 21, 2014
King Abdul Aziz Library and the Paris-based Institute of Arab World are jointly organizing the event, which will run for three months. Faisal bin Muammar, adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and supervisor of the library, thanked the French president for finding time to open the exhibition. “The Paris show reflects the warmth of Saudi-French relations,” Muammar said, while commending France’s support for King Abdullah’s interfaith dialogue initiative.
French President Francois Hollande
Muammar also stressed the important role being played by Prince Abdul Aziz for the development of King Abdul Aziz Library and for facilitating the efforts to organize the exhibition in Paris. He highlighted the importance of Haj pilgrimage being the fifth pillar of Islam and the largest gathering of Muslims around the world. He said the exhibition would showcase rare artifacts that have been collected from various international museums. “Haj reflects the unity and equality of Muslims and this will be an important message to be conveyed by the exhibition to the French and European communities,” he added. Speaking about the exhibition, he said it would give visitors an idea about the history of Haj, the routes followed by pilgrims to reach the holy sites in Makkah in ancient times, the various rituals of Haj and the development witnessed by Makkah during the Saudi era. Reference
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Saudi Arabia