Expansion of Masjid Al Haram

Al-Masjid Al-Haram is in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds one of Islam's holiest places, the Kaaba. Muslims face in the direction of the Kaaba while performing Salat.MAsjid Al Haram expansion project is at full peak. Purposed map is shown below  The Saudi government is taking all possible measures to facilitate the Haj and Umra pilgrims. 

The number of pilgrims is going up every year, as a result of which the performance of tawaf (circumambulations around Holy K’aba) is becoming difficult because of the limited space available for the purpose.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has approved a special project for the expansion of mataf, the area where tawaf is performed. The expansion is expected to be completed by October 2015, after which the hourly capacity of the area will increase from some 50,000 pilgrims at present to 130,000.

It will accommodate more people when the capacity in other parts of Al-Masjid Al-Haram rises to 2.5 million people following the completion of the entire expansion project.

According to the project details, bridges connecting various levels on the first floor will be parallel to the levels on the present mataf. The ground floor will be linked directly to the basement and masaa (the running space between the hillocks of Al-Safa and Al-Marwa) in the second phase of the expansion.

When the first phase of the project was launched in November 2012, construction around the mataf reduced the number of pilgrims performing tawaf to 22,000 pilgrims an hour.
The expansion is being undertaken on the basis of a study prepared by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj and Umra Studies. It focuses on using the available space and potential of the mataf to the maximum while maintaining the architectural features of Al-Masjid Al-Haram using advanced technology.

 According to the study, the mataf will be separated from prayer areas and it will be linked to different floors of the mosque and facilitate entrance to and exit from the mataf. It will also take care of the crowding at the entrances to the mataf and nearby passages and give direct access from the mataf to the masaa. The mataf on the second and third floors will have cable cars to carry aged and disabled pilgrims and there will be direct access to these floors from outside. The topmost floor of the mataf will have automated walkway revolving around the K’aba.At present, more than 4,000 workers are engaged in implementing the expansion project.

Dr Muhammad Al-Khozaim, deputy head of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, said that the capacity of the mataf will increase from 50,000 pilgrims per hour to 130,000 when the expansion is completed. The domes of the Ottoman-era hallway on eastern section of the holy mosque have been removed to make way for the expansion work.

The mataf is overcrowded these days because a good part of it has been blocked for new construction work. The congestion will be felt more seriously during the month of Ramazan when the number of Umra pilgrims is almost equal to Haj pilgrims.
The Saudi government has already reduced quota for foreign Haj pilgrims by 20 per cent and locals by 50 per cent to avoid overcrowding. The step is estimated to cause the government a loss of 50 billion Saudi Riyals. But the government is suffering this loss for the convenience of the pilgrims.

According to those working on the project, the entire complex will be gradually reconstructed over the next five to six decades.

A huge building outside the Holy K’aba housing Bin Dawood Store and a large of commercial offices will be demolished by the end of the next year and the space will be made part of the mosque. 

The Saudi mega-corporation Binladin Group (Osama bin Laden’s family business) has won the tender for the expansion project. 

The Binladin Group is an active member of the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council and plays a central role in deciding bilateral policy for the benefit of collective US-Saudi corporate-financier and corresponding geopolitical interests. 

Saudi King Abdullah has also appointed the  Imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, to be in charge of the development plan.