The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, affirmed on Wednesday the grace and blessings bestowed upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in embracing the Two Holy Mosques and serving pilgrims, Umrah performers and visitors, which is the approach of this country since it was founded by late King Abdulaziz bin Abdurrahman.
This came in the speech delivered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the occasion of the 100th Hijri year anniversary of the publication of the Saudi newspaper “Umm Al-Qura.”
About 100 years ago, late King Abdulaziz established in Makkah Al-Mukarramah the first newspaper in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He named it: Umm Al-Qura newspaper, which is one of the names of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Qibla of Muslims, emphasizing the approach of this blessed country paying attention and care for the Two Holy Mosques on the one hand, and its interest in media and culture on the other.
“Umm Al-Qura has passed a century of its age to be distinct and different from other newspapers, in that it did not stop publishing during its 100 years, as most newspapers faced a crisis in the availability of paper during the Second World War, so they were stopped from publication for years, and Umm Al-Qura faced the same crisis in 1360 Hijri (1941), but King Abdulaziz ordered that the issue be addressed immediately, and paper was provided after a lot of effort,” said King Salman at the ceremony celebrating the newspaper’s centennial.
“The newspaper did not stop being published, to be the country's voice in the service of Islam, especially in the early stages of its publication,” he added.
“Umm Al-Qura witnessed the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and rose with its great renaissance that included all sectors and regions of the state, and preserved in its memory the first building blocks of the enactment of regulations and laws approved by the state, with its published decisions and regulations that formed the solid legislative, developmental and economic structure, and this newspaper has remained until our present time, the State (Official) Gazette,” clarified King Salman.
Umm Al-Qura has reported the country’s legislative decisions, regulations and laws, since it was founded about a hundred years ago, it still right now reports what the government of the Kingdom has worked and is working on in terms of decisions, legislation, reforms and developments for the state’s organs, systems, laws and evaluation criteria.
King Salman noted that Umm Al-Qura also covered the launch of the ambitious (Kingdom’s Vision 2030), before five years, under the direct supervision of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, for a prosperous country that guarantees the future of our citizens, by harnessing an integrated system of programs that raise the level of various services, thus enhancing the competitive capabilities of the national economy, improves the quality of services and raises their efficiency, so that excellence in performance and human service becomes the basis for evaluating the efficiency level of the operating agencies in the country.
