Believers Flood Mosques in Turkey to Celebrate Birthday of Prophet (PBUH)
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was born in Mecca, Arabia, in the year 570 A.D. Sunni Muslims around the world celebrate his birth each year on the 12th day of Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar while Shia Muslims mark the occasion on the 17th day of the month.
On this sacred night, believers say their prayers and read the Holy Quran in their homes and mosques. Various religious programs were organized at mosques throughout Turkey, the Daily Sabah reported.
Marking the start of Mawlid celebrations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that the bonds of the ummah (community) of Muslims worldwide are too strong to break.
"What makes us worry about the problems of people who are thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away from our country is Islam as a common denominator, and the consciousness of being an Ummah," Erdogan said at a ceremony in Istanbul.
