SAUDI ARABIA-MUSEUM/ISLAM Museum in Mecca showcases life during Prophet Mohammad's time

Record ID: 138195

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA-MUSEUM/ISLAM Museum in Mecca showcases life during Prophet Mohammad's time
  • Date: 24th September 2015
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF ANIMATION OF RINGS ON BIG SCREEN
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6TZ4PUOXXEA19D1YWQUASOV6A
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As the world's largest annual gathering of people takes place in the holy city of Mecca for the Islamic pilgrimage, a museum hopes to highlight the gentleness of Islam that focuses on culture and education instead of war.
    "Peace Be Upon You, Prophet" is a museum in Mecca documenting life during the time of the Prophet Mohammad and features nearly 1,500 artefacts from the ancient days as well as a model of the city.
    The museum director, Dr. Nasser Al-Zahrani, says he wants to paint a realistic picture of everyday life during the Prophet's lifetime to convey the message that Islam is really more about peace than war.
    "The project 'Peace be upon you, O Prophet' began as an idea to write a book on the biography of the Prophet, to change people's perception that it was only about battles. This is not correct because there is only a part of the biography that is related to Jihad, and it is enough to know that during thirteen years of the Prophet's life not a stick was raised, not to mention swords or other things. Islam and religion has come to preserve -- not kill -- the lives of people. Prophet Mohammad was not instructed by God to kill or make worse with bombings. He was instructed "to read". It's a religion of education, religion of revival, religion of promotion and culture," he said.
    Large touchscreens and colourful animations play a big role in constructing a vivid image of life in ancient Mecca.
    "From the start I aspired to use technology. Anything that is modern we will use. The thing that lets people know the times, the information and the location is modern technology. The museum can send a message silently that will deliver more information than any other means," said Al-Zahrani.
    With the rise of radical groups such as Islamic State in recent years, some people have come to associate Islam with violence - and this is something Al-Zahrani wants to change. The main goal of the museum is to present the various aspects of Islam to people with distorted views of the religion.
    "Amongst the important information that we have proved is that non muslims have more than 60 rights and this is one of the most important scholarly projects. Even the scholars who have come from US and Europe and all over the world have asked for the quick translation to show the reality of Islam that is a religion of love and harmony and that it does not accept injustice and that it does accept any harm to human beings or violations of rights and dignity and does not accept taking away the money of people," he said.
    "We have began to translate into many different languages, and to export to Europe and America and hopefully the project will have branches in the world. More than 20 countries will have branches soon," Al-Zahrani added.
    The haj pilgrimage is one of Islam's so-called five pillars and a religious duty for all Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime if they are capable of it.
    Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and its ruling monarchy derives much of its legitimacy from its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites. Saudi Arabia's king is formally titled Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
    The city of Mecca, however, has been the scene of deadly disasters in the past, including stampedes, tent fires and riots.
    On Thursday (September 24) at least 310 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at Mina, outside of Mecca, where some two million people are performing the annual haj pilgrimage, Saudi authorities said.
    At least 631 others were injured in the crush, which occurred when two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads on Street 204 at the camp city at Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, the Saudi civil defence said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Video restrictions: parts of this video may require additional clearances. Please see ‘Business Notes’ for more information.
Register