Friday Prayer Sermons at Mecca, Medina Holy Mosques to Be Translated into Chinese

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Chinese has been added to the list of languages into which Friday prayer sermons in the Grand Mosque in Mecca and Prophet’s Mosque in Media are translated.

The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques announced this, according to Mecca News website.

It noted that since years ago, a plan has been implemented in which the Friday prayer sermons as well as the Arafah Sermon during the Hajj pilgrimage are translated in different languages.

With the inclusion of Chinese, the number of those languages has reached 14, the general presidency said.

English, French, Malay, Urdu, Persian, Russian, Bengali, Turkish, Hausa, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil and Hindi are the other languages.

The general presidency also noted that it has invested in the fields of artificial intelligence and digital developments, providing the opportunity to use robots to offer translations to worshippers and pilgrims.

It said that some 200 million people in different parts of the world listened to the Sermon of Arafah in 14 languages last year, using the translation services of the general presidency.

The addition of Chinese to the list of the languages of the two holy mosques comes following a visit to Saudi Arabia by Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this week.

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