The doors to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah are among the most spectacular landmarks of this mosque, the second holiest in Islam.
The highly artistic design of the doors has become iconic, and confers identity to the place, projecting sanctity and tranquillity, and being up to its special status.
Undersecretary of Security, Safety and Emergency Nabeel Al-Mseihli told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that “there are 100 doors to the Prophet’s Mosque, distributed in full symmetry around the four directions of the place, at expansions and roofs, and they are served by 280 employees who work day and night during the holy month of Ramadan”.
Seven entrances have been built to the mosque under the King Fahd Expansion Project, three facing north and four facing east and west, he said, adding that each entrance has seven doors, each three metres wide and six metres high.
“The doors of the Prophet’s Mosque are manufactured by more than 1,600 cubic meters of saj wood; each door is engraved with more than 1,500 gold pieces circular in shape and containing the name of the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him),” he said.
He also said that before installing them in the Prophet’s Mosque, the doors had travelled around the world: in France, where they were mixed with gold copper, in America the saj wood was collected, and then they were sent to Spain to be dried in special ovens for five months. The wooden doors were then cut by laser and were manufactured using highly sensitive technologies.
Source: Saudi Press Agency