Today is 5 Ramadan 1445 AH in Saudi Arabia, March 1, 2024. Today is the first Friday of the month of Ramadan 1445 AH. Two renowned scholars and qari will lead Friday prayers today at the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.

Masjid al-Haram
Shaykh Dr. Bandar Balilah will lead Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque today. He has been working as the Imam of the Grand Mosque for almost a decade.

Shaykh Balilah was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1975. He graduated in Islamic law from Umm al-Qura University in Mecca and did his Masters in Islamic Fiqh. In 2008, he earned his PhD from the University of Medina.

In 2013, Shaykh Bandar Balilah was appointed Imam of the Grand Mosque. He has previously served as Imam in some other mosques in Mecca.

Masjid-e-Nabawi

Shaykh Hussain ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Shaykh will lead the Friday prayer at Masjid-e-Nabawi today. He was born in Bani Tamim, Saudi Arabia, and is a descendant of Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab. His family is particularly well-known and influential in the establishment of Islamic law and the practice of Islamic knowledge in Saudi Arabia.

He took lessons in fiqh and hadith from many famous scholars such as Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jibreen and Sheikh Abdul Aziz Dawood. In 1411 AH, he was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Najran, Saudi Arabia. The following year, he was transferred to the High Court in the capital, Riyadh. After serving there for six years, he was appointed as a judge of the Grand Court of Medina. At the same time, he was appointed as the Imam of the Prophet's Mosque.

Source: Inside the Haramain