(MENAFN - Arab News) Prominent women visitors to Madinah praised yesterday the impact and benefits of selecting the holy city as the capital city of Islamic culture for 2013.
They also commended the efforts of the committees organizing this event.
Fatimah Zahra Hamzah, wife of Field Marshal Abd Ar-Rahman Suwar Ad-Dahab, said the invitation extended to her husband and to her to attend the opening ceremony of the event makes them proud to be in city that is revered highly by the millions of Muslims.
"I really would like to thank and commend the officials who organized these festivities, and the female organizers who arranged the women's tent, for their outstanding efforts," she said.
Khaldah Toumi, the Algerian minister of culture, commended the organization of the women's tent and the nice reception of the visitors on the day of the opening ceremony.
"I am really very happy to be in Quba Mosque, the first mosque to be established in Islam," she said. "To be in this holy place is really an experience that I will always treasure, because it arouses in me feelings of how the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated to this city to revive and establish the first Muslim state."
Sissa Shaikh, Mauritanian minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, said that the first thing she did when she arrived in the holy city was to visit the Prophet's Mosque.
"I liked very much the opening ceremony, as it included documentary information in pictures and video, and nice poems celebrating the love of Madinah," she said. "The presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman, the crown prince and deputy premier, in the ceremony is a testimony to this country's keen interest in safeguarding its cultural heritage, as the speech of high highness so eloquently shows."
Fadwa Abu Mureefah, member of the Shoura Council, said that she is honored to be in the holy city and attend the opening ceremony of the festivities.
"Madinah is the birthplace of Muslim sciences. It enjoys a very high status within the cities of the Muslim world, due to its sanctity and special place," she said.
"The Prophet's Mosque has a great history, since it was the place from which various branches of knowledge were disseminated to the world, and it contains very valuable books and manuscripts," she added.
Similar feelings were expressed by Mastourah Shammari, member of the Shoura Council, who emphasized her happiness at being in Quba Mosque, a selection that she thought the organizing committee was very successful in making.
Professor Ismat Dandash, who teaches Islamic history and civilization in Morocco, was also very pleased with the efforts and arrangements made by the organizing committee.
Nada Abu Gharbiyyeh, wife of Musa Abu Gharbiyyeh, the Palestinian deputy minister of culture, said that the selection of the holy city to be the capital city of Muslim culture is simply an extension of the great message of light and knowledge spread by the Prophet (peace be upon him).
