Hajj and Umrah Facilities for Special need /Disabled

Hajj and Umrah Facilities for Special need /Disabled

An official at the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques described those with disabilities as “highly motivated people with special powers” and that services had been established to aid them, providing them with ease and comfort and avoiding complications even during peak times.

Sign language, Braille Qur’ans and electric wheelchairs are some of the new features in Makkah and Madinah to help pilgrims with disabilities to execute the religious rites of Hajj and Umrah.

Ahmed Al-Burqati, who is tasked with helping people at the presidency, told Arab News there were designated entrances to ease access to prayer areas, including the ones on the ground and first floors of the King Fahd expansion at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

• The Grand Mosque is well-equipped for the disabled. It has elevators and inclines to empower wheelchairs to move effectively starting with one level then onto the next.
• Allocated entrances to ease access to prayers. These are gates 63 and 68 specially for People with special needs. These were built during the expansion period of the late King Fahd.
• Other provisions include a pen that serves as a Qur’an reader,
• There are helpers for holding and carrying Qur’ans for people unable to hold them.
• Copies of the Qur’an in Braille along with other religious booklets are available,
• On-site specialists to help pilgrims during prayer times and guide them through the mosque sites are also available.
• There are Wheelchairs transported in golf carts to prayer areas;
• There are Designated entrances for tawaf;
• There are sign language interpreters for those with hearing or speech impairments;
• There are canes for the blind and visually impaired;
• Electric wheelchairs to perform key religious rites such as tawaf are also available .
• A device that assists in Tayyamum (dry ablution) is also available.
• Among these services are also a small talking watch for the visually impaired. These watches tell the time and prayer times via audio alerts,”
• Moreover, a fleet of 700 electric vehicles and hundreds of wheelchairs were provided by the Department of Mobility Services at the Grand Mosque to help elderly and disabled pilgrims perform Hajj 2018 .The electric vehicles are being maintained by a special team of staff, including supervisors, technicians, and administrators.

Ref : Arab News