Makkah Grand Mosque marks 100 years of Salah under one Imam
Masjid al Haram, The Grand Mosque in Makkah, on Tuesday October 27, 2026 marked 100 years of offering Salah, daily obligatory prayers, under one Imam.
[Sheikh Abdul Rahman ibn Abdul Aziz al-Sudais - the Chief Imam of the Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and the President of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, is leading Isha Prayers. (File image)]
Makkah al Mukarramah: Masjid al Haram, The Grand Mosque in Makkah, on Tuesday October 27, 2026 marked 100 years of offering Salah, daily obligatory prayers, under one Imam.
Till October 27, 1926, four prayer stations stood around the Holy Kaʿbah, one for each Sunni madhhab or school.
04 Prayer Stations
A file image from Makkah archives shared online by Madain Project, gives the details of the four prayer stations.
[File image from Makkah archives shared by the Madain Project shows the four stations of prayers in The Grand Mosque in Makkah till October 1926.]
- Left, Maqām Ḥanafī: North of the Holy Kaʿbah, facing the Ḥijr Ismāʿīl (Hajr e Aswad). It was the largest of the four and the only free-standing one with two storeys.
- Bottom Centre, Maqām Mālikī: West of the Holy Kaʿbah, between the Yemeni and western corners.
- Top Right, Maqām Shāfiʿī: East of the Holy Kaʿbah, on the upper level of the Zamzam well building. The chief muezzin also called the adhān from here.
- Right, Maqām Ḥanbalī: On the south side of the Holy Kaʿbah.
04 Imams in Masjid e al Haram
As per the practice till October 1926, each school's Imam led his own Jamāʿah, usually one after another.
Ibn Jubayr رحمه الله, an eyewitness in Ramaḍān 579 AH / 1183–84 CE, recorded that the Shāfiʿī prayed first while the rest stood in waiting. The order of the others varied over the centuries and isn't consistently recorded.
This meant the same prayer was repeated several times in a day.
This unfortunate practice began in the 4th–5th century AH (10th–11th century CE). The Ḥanbalī maqām is mentioned as early as 529 AH / 1134–35 CE.
King Abdulaziz's Ruling
After the Hejaz came under his rule, King Abdulaziz held a meeting with scholars from the Hejaz and Najd. The matter was discussed and it was agreed to bring everyone together under one single Imam on October 27, 1926.
Since then only one congregation is held for each prayer. No repeated groups and no separate sections remain in the Haram.
This matches the way the Prophet ﷺ and his companions prayed. All worshippers stand together behind one Imam as one body.
The same system has continued without change for a full 100 years. Today millions of worshippers from around the world still pray as one united congregation in Masjid al Haram.
The unification remains one of the key reforms introduced during the early Saudi administration of the Holy Mosque.
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