JEDDAH (Web Desk) – An interesting discussion has popped up on social media after a photo of an electric bulb believed to be used in 1325H at the Holy Mosque in Madinah surfaced online.
Engravings on the bulb confirm that its date of installation was the same when Arabian Peninsula got electrified, some 112 years ago.
According to the Madinah Municipality website, “Oil lamps were in use at the time when mosque’s construction and expansion started during the stint of Ottoman ruler Sultan Abdul Majid who then introduced electricity and the electric bulb was lit inside the Holy Mosque of Madinah for the first time on Shaban 25, 1326H.”
Afterwards, the number of lamps increased to 2,427 and a special power station was also erected for their management.
Mohammad Al-Sayyid Al-Wakeel wrote in his book, “The Holy Mosque of Madinah,” that the mosque was originally lit by palm fronds but When Tameem Al-Dari came from Palestine in 9H, he changed them to oil lamps. This was also confirmed by Abu Hurairah.
Historians also claim that Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab first lit oil lamps in the mosque.
