President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to perform the Umrah.
In his visit to Mecca, the Muslim holy land, the Head of State was accompanied by elders from the country's provinces, the official Turkmen medai reports.
Addressing the delegation, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov wished their pilgrimage to be accepted by the Almighty. From Jeddah International Airport, the Turkmen President Headed to the holy city of Mecca, the spiritual capital of the Muslim world.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov accompanied by special religious representatives of Saudi Arabia visited the Al-Haram Mosque. The Head of State and the members of the official delegation accompanying him performed the midday prayers (Mültezem) at the religious site, after which they began the Umrah rituals.
A special religious representative of Saudi Arabia informed the Turkmen pilgrims about the peculiarities of the ritual.
After the ritual, the Turkmen President and his entourage prayed two rakaat nafil namaz.
On the night of June 1-2, during the Head of State's pilgrimage to the holy land, the cover of the holy Kaaba – the House of Allah – was moved aside and its doors were opened, thus providing a special opportunity to perform namaz inside the holy site.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov bowed first, kissing the sacred Black Stone. In Kaaba, the Head of Turkmenistan performed namaz in three places – at the place where the Prophet Muhammad read namaz, near the inner wall of the Kaaba, and in the sacred corner inside the Black Stone.
In May 2016, during the pilgrimage to the holy Kaaba, the Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty chamber of Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was presented with a teperik as a sign of great reverence.
