MADINAH: Pilgrims and visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque are eager to communicate with relatives through social media during their presence in Madinah or Makkah, and social media is the easiest way to do so.
Many visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque were seen making calls from the yards of the mosque to relatives, and conveying the scenes of the great Islamic gathering. The calls carry deep emotional feelings where relatives ask Allah Almighty, to facilitate Hajj rituals for the pilgrims, accept their Hajj, and return them to their countries with their sins forgiven.
Rudwan Abdullah, a Sudanese pilgrim, said the call of a pilgrim to his family is an important matter. He was able to perform his rituals comfortably after calls to his mother, wife and children. He said he wanted to make calls to his family continuously throughout the day, adding that hearing his mother’s prayer by phone has a special impact on his heart.
Likewise, Mohammed Asad Al-Bakri, a Sudanese, said social media has provided easy and direct means of communication with relatives. On his arrival in Madinah, he was eager to get an Internet-access phone chip to communicate with his wife, children and brothers through voice and images via the Snap Chat application. In addition to normal phone calls, media applications document wonderful scenes from Madinah to become part of the memories in a pilgrim’s life, he said.
For his part, Mohammed Naim, an Indonesian pilgrim, said Hajj is a major step in the life of a Muslim, adding that it is a natural thing that a traveler, be it a pilgrim or visitor, wants to be in communication with his family, relatives or friends to let them know about his condition.
Murad Mahmoud, an Egyptian pilgrim who came with his wife to perform Hajj, said the phone has become a necessity for a pilgrim to keep in direct contact with relatives, and at the least cost, adding that he was in constant communication with his family via the WhatsApp application.
Social media communicates Hajj pilgrims’ feelings from holy sites to relatives around the world
Social media communicates Hajj pilgrims’ feelings from holy sites to relatives around the world
Saudi scientific organization celebrates 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Omar Yaghi
- King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology honors him with a reception at its headquarters in Riyadh
- Yaghi, the first Saudi recipient of a Nobel Prize, shared the Nobel Prize with 2 other scientists for their pioneering work in molecular chemistry
LONDON: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh honored Omar Yaghi, the Saudi scientist and recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with a reception at its headquarters in Riyadh on Thursday.
Yaghi is the first Saudi scientist awarded a Nobel Prize. He received it in December, alongside two other scientists, for their pioneering work in the field of molecular chemistry, and for contributions to energy, the environment and advanced materials.
He is also supervisor of the Center of Excellence for Nanomaterials for Clean Energy Applications, a collaboration between KACST and the University of California, Berkeley.
Munir Eldesouki, the president of KACST, said that the Kingdom is keen to recognize its scientific talents, in keeping with Saudi Vision 2030 and its goals relating to the fostering of scientific research.
Yaghi said he appreciated the support he had received from Saudi leaders during his career, and praised them for creating an enabling environment in which scientists are able to pursue world-class research, development and innovation.
Investment in national talent has created a research ecosystem that positions Saudi Arabia among the leading scientific nations, he added.
Thursday’s event, attended by the organization’s staff and students, also honored the winning teams from the recent “GenAI for Materials Discovery Hackathon,” which KACST organized in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, and Academy 32, a nonprofit Saudi organization dedicated to research, development and innovation.
The celebration concluded with an interactive discussion session during which Yaghi talked with students and researchers, reflected on key milestones in his scientific journey, and shared insights into the factors that helped shape his career, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
