SAUDI ARABIA: A giant clock on a skyscraper in Islam's holiest city Mecca has started ticking amid hopes by Saudi Arabia it will become the Muslim world's official timekeeper

Record ID: 783421

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: A giant clock on a skyscraper in Islam's holiest city Mecca has started ticking amid hopes by Saudi Arabia it will become the Muslim world's official timekeeper
  • Date: 9th September 2010
  • Summary: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA (SEPTEMBER 05, 2010) (REUTERS) WORKER STANDING ON CLOCK TOWER BUILDING OVERLOOKING MECCA VARIOUS OF OVERVIEWS OF MECCA CITY FROM CLOCK TOWER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ENGINEER OSAMA ABY ZEID, SUPERVISOR OF BIN LADEN GROUP PROJECTS, SAYING: "In this picture, you can see the final form of the clock and the word Allahu Akbar (God is Great). The tower holds a crescent that is 601 metres high." VARIOUS OF MECCA CLOCK TOWER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ADEL BANI YOUNES, JORDANIAN VISITOR, SAYING: "God blessed us with the tower and the clock. Whereever we are in Mecca, we can see the clock and know the time of prayer and direction of the qiblah." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAAD AL ZAHRANI, MECCA RESIDENT, SAYING: "The clock helped us a lot. When you look at it, it has a rare beauty that you hardly see in other clocks. The word Allahu Akbar (God is Great) remiminds you of the lord each time you look at it."
  • Embargoed: 24th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA2HLMS8RSEBL7QHJQ3CR1MC9MR
  • Story Text: A giant clock on a skyscraper in Islam's holiest city Mecca has started ticking amid hopes by Saudi Arabia it will become the Muslim world's official timekeeper.
    This is the massive clock that millions of Muslims visiting the holy city of Mecca have started to look up to find out the prayer time during the month of Ramadan.
    The world's biggest clock -- with a diameter of 40 metres -- is decorated with 98 million mosaic pieces and lit with 21,000 lamps sending bright green and white light, calling for people within 30 kilometres (24 miles) to pray.
    The clock sits 400 meters up what will be the world's second-tallest skyscraper and largest hotel, overlooking the city's Holy Grand Mosque, which Muslims around the world turn to five times a day for prayer.
    The clock has four faces, each bearing a large inscription of the words "Allahu Akbar" -- or "God is Great".
    The clock tower is the landmark feature of the seven-tower King Abdulaziz Endowment hotel complex, being built by the private Saudi Binladen Group, which will have the largest floor area of any building in the world when it is complete.
    "By an order from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, may God preserve him, the Mecca clock that is located on the middle tower of the (seven-tower) King Abdulaziz Endowment (hotel complex), it had a trial run at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. The work will continue on studies and stages of development and implementation for three years. The King was following that step by step. He has assigned it to the executive company of the King Abdul Aziz Endowment to implement the work," said engineer Osama Aby Zeid, supervisor of Bin Laden Group Projects.
    The clock is positioned on a 601-meter tower, which will become the second tallest inhabited building in the world when it is completed in three months' time.
    "The clock is moved by huge engines, each weighing 21 tons. It is considered the largest ever manufactured for such a purpose. The four engines are linked to each other and co-ordinated according to one time -- that is the Mecca time," Aby Zeid said.
    The project is part of efforts to modernise the old city and make it more capable of catering to pilgrims. Around two million Muslims visit the city each year for the annual Haj pilgrimage, and 3.5 million pilgrims visit Mecca at other times of the year.
    Visitors now rely on the clock to know the prayer time and the direction in which to pray.
    "God blessed us with the tower and the clock. Whereever we are in Mecca, we can see the clock and know the time of prayer and direction of the qiblah," said Adel Bani Younes, a visitor from Jordan.
    "The clock helped us a lot. When you look at it, it has a rare beauty that you hardly see in other clocks. The word Allahu Akbar (God is Great) remiminds you of the lord each time you look at it," said Saad Al Zahrani, a Mecca resident.
    Visitors will able to access a balcony below the clock, which will have an Islamic museum and an observatory.
    The clock tower will have 76 elevators, including one that will be the world's largest.
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