Access to the interior of the Ka’bah is highly restricted and is not part of the ordinary experience of Muslims performing Umrah or Hajj. Entry is reserved for specially authorised visits, making the opportunity an uncommon privilege.
President Bola Tinubu has been granted rare access to the Ka’bah, Islam’s holiest structure, to offer prayers during his visit to Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Tinubu, who travelled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 29, performed the lesser Hajj, known as Umrah, at the Grand Mosque on Friday, October 30.
The Ka’bah, located at the centre of the Grand Mosque, is the direction towards which Muslims around the world face during their five daily prayers.
The development comes as Tinubu and members of his delegation undertake the pilgrimage, with the President also using the occasion to pray for Nigeria’s peace, unity and prosperity.
At a dinner with members of his delegation in Makkah on Sunday, Tinubu prayed that Nigeria’s ethnic, religious and cultural diversity would become a source of national strength and economic prosperity rather than division.
“May god bless Nigeria, convert our diversity into prosperity as a country,” he said.
The President also called on Nigerians from different religious and cultural backgrounds to embrace mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.
Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, who attended the dinner, expressed appreciation to Tinubu for providing members of the delegation with the opportunity to undertake the pilgrimage and enter the Ka’bah for prayers.
Rabiu also pledged continued support for the President and his administration.
The delegation included governors Babagana Zulum of Borno, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto, Mohammed Namadi of Jigawa and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State.