Saudi Arabia have stopped worshippers from entering and praying at the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina in an effort to combat the spread of the Coronavirus.
For the first time in Islam’s 1,400 year history, the Mecca Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina – the religion’s two most holiest sites – will be closed to the general public during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The daily and weekly friday prayers inside and outside the the walls of the two mosques will no longer hold.
Prayers from inside the mosque have been limited to mosque staff, including clerics, security personnel and cleaners.
Prayers on the first evening of Ramadan, which comes before the first day of Ramadan, were televised live on Thursday evening.
Saudi Arabia announced Friday as the first day of fasting.
Worshippers were asked to use the time during Ramadan praying for an end to the coronavirus pandemic that has crippled the world.
