As I was walking Ajyad street approaching the grand mosque it got more and more busy. Pretty soon I came to a full stop unable to go any further as I was just blocked by a group of people on the road. You couldn’t move forward. I checked my phone and realised that it had gone past 12 so this was now the first of the afternoon prayers.
So despite initially thinking that this was an incident or perhaps something had happened, I came to find out and realise that people had stopped in the middle of the road, blocked the road so no cars or transport could pass, in order to pray. And it wasn’t 1 or 2 people. It was literally everyone who lined up to pray together facing the grand mosque. There were still people trying to use whatever side spaces they could find to move around in order to get to a better position.
I found a small enough space on the right hand side of the road that I could use to join the prayers. I’m not a big guy so I could fit into that space. I removed my shoes and got into the prayer position to join the prayers. This was during the Azan – call to prayer – that was being blared through the Grand Mosque loudspeakers. Wherever you were in Makkah, you can hear the Azan being called at the applicable time.
After 5-10 minutes when the prayer was over, the crowds began to scatter in all directions. There was a man that was handing out Ajwa dates to worshippers which is quite typical in Makkah/Madinah. You’ll normally find a person sharing dates randomly on the streets.
Ajwa dates are smaller dates typically from Madinah. They can be a bit more dry but still nice and nutritious. My personal favourites are Medjool dates which up until 2 years ago, the most popular ones were from Palestine but these have since become quite expensive.
Medjool dates are larger, sweeter and more moist, generally perfect as a desert. As I was very close to the grand mosque, it was only a few minutes walk until I reached a clear visibility of Abdul Aziz gate and the two large minarets. It was a stunning architectural site.
Just in front of the gate and the courtyard which is an immensely large area, the floor/ground is marble as this is still technically the “mosque”. On the exit of Ajyad street coming towards the gate on the left side are the Makkah clock towers complex. These are large skyscrapers with multi floor shopping malls on the ground floors. Between them are the streets commonly containing smaller shops and street vendors otherwise referred to as Souks.
At the end of Ajyad street there is an emergency hospital. And passing around the corner to the next street I came across the first Souk or street market. There were a variety of vendors selling small items. Things for mainly consumption, not as a souvenir.
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