Iranian President to address people in Hyderabad mosque this Friday

HYDERABAD: This Friday, Hyderabad is set to witness a historic event, the first in 325 years, when the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, visits the grand Makkah Masjid here to address the weekly congregation. This is perhaps the first time that a head of state will address the Friday congregation (Jumu’ah) at the historic mosque, whose construction was completed in 1694 CE, 78 years after the foundation stone was laid by Qutub Shahi ruler Sultan Mohammad in 1616 CE.

This is also the first time that the Iranian President will arrive directly in Hyderabad instead of the national capital, New Delhi. He will arrive in the city from Tehran on February 15 and leave for Delhi on Saturday, after the Friday congregational prayers. In Delhi, Rouhani, who will be accompanied by a large Iranian delegation, is likely to sign memoranda of understanding with the government of India. He is likely to call on the President and the Prime Minister. A detailed itinerary will be known on Wednesday.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Mohammad Khatami became the first Iranian President to visit Hyderabad (January 28, 2004), but he did not participate in the Friday congregation. Though Dr Rouhani is the second Iranian President to visit Hyderabad, he is the first Iranian head of state who will address the Jumu’ah congregation.


Dr Rouhani’s visit to the Makkah Masjid, which is managed by Sunni clerics, bears a historic, religious and cultural significance. Incidentally, it was during the period of Qutub Shahi rulers Sultan Mohammad Qutub Shah VI, and his son Abdullah Qutub Shah VII that the name of the ruler (Shah) of Iran was specifically mentioned in Friday sermons in all mosques in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the Qutub Shahi kingdom. The Makkah Masjid, however, was under construction during the Qutub Shahi regime and it was completed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The Jamia Masjid, a few yards from Makkah Masjid, was the central mosque of Hyderabad during the Qutub Shahi period and the name of the Iranian ruler was recited in Friday sermons. The Jamia Masjid was built in 1594-95 CE.

Much water has flowed down the Puranapul since the Qutub Shahis, who were of Iranian descent. Though the name of the President won’t be mentioned in the Friday sermon now, Rouhani, in fact, will address people after the congregational prayers. Hyderabad, in particular, has cultural, religious and economic ties with Iran that go back five centuries. The President’s visit gai- ns significance also because Hyderabad was planned on the model of Isfahan more than 400 years ago, and the master architect of the city and Charminar was of Iranian origin.