Funeral prayers held for Jamal Khashoggi in Mecca and Medina

Funeral prayers have been held in absentia for slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Grand Mosque in Mecca and Prophet Muhammad’s mosque in the Saudi city of Medina, two of the holiest places of Islam.

The prayer, known as “Salat al-Ghaib” or “prayer for the absent”, was offered at dawn with the participation of Salah Khashoggi, the son of murdered Washington Post columnist.

Muslims perform the prayer when the body of the deceased has not been found.

Short videos of the funeral prayer were shared widely on Twitter.

فيديو / قبل قليل تمت صلاة الجنازة على الميت الغائب (جمال خاشقجي) رحمة الله في الحرم المكي 🕋#جمال_خاشقجي#الحرم#مكة pic.twitter.com/owFBiYyYiI

— الزيادي (@AlziadiQ8) November 16, 2018

صلاة الغائب على الشهيد #جمال_خاشقجي في المسجد النبوي.

رحمك الله يا أبا صلاح💔 pic.twitter.com/6TfPuk7MKH

— تركي الشلهوب🤐 (@TurkiShalhoub) November 16, 2018

Funeral prayers were also held Friday at a mosque in the Turkish city of Istanbul and were expected to be held in London later on Friday.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) supposed reform programme, was killed when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain a document certifying his divorce.

Saudi authorities had initially stated the journalist left the consulate, before backtracking and admitting on October 20 he was killed by “rogue” operatives.

On Thursday, Saudi authorities said they were seeking the death penalty for five people accused of carrying his murder.

Turkish leaders almost immediately dismissed the announcement with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu calling it “insufficient” and insisting the killing was “premeditated”.

Turkish officials have repeatedly said it is unlikely Khashoggi could have been killed without the knowledge of MBS, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying the orders came from “the highest levels of the Saudi government.”

According to the New York Times, a member of the Saudi team that killed Khashoggi made a phone call shortly after his death, instructing someone in Saudi Arabia to “tell your boss” that the assassination had been carried out.

Source: Al Jazeera