Will India get its own Prophet Muhammad museum?

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shahnawaz Hussain has proposed that a museum on the life and times of Prophet Muhammad be built in India, home to the second largest Muslim population in the world.

Hussain, during a recent official trip to Saudi Arabia, visited an exhibition-cum-museum on the life and times of the Prophet in Mecca, and invited Nasir Al-Zahrani, general supervisor of the 'Assalamu Alaika Ayyuha Annabiyyu' project to open a branch of the museum in India.

The museum, which already has a branch in Dubai, is planning to open 20 branches across the world, the Saudi Gazette reported on Monday.

"You have done a great service to the Muslim Ummah through your research on the life and times of the Prophet. I invite you to open a branch of this museum in India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia," Hussain was quoted as saying by the paper.

The leader visited Saudi Arabia as chairman of the long- term pilgrim accommodation selection committee.

Al-Zahrani, who has written a 500-volume encyclopaedia on the Prophet, said he would love to have a branch of the museum in India and pointed out that he has drawn inspiration from many Indian Muslim scholars during his seven-year research.

The museum offers a unique experience to visitors as it uses modern technology to throw light on the life and times of the Prophet.

During the visit, Hussain also met Deputy Minister of Haj Hussein Al-Sharief and requested an increase in quota for Indian pilgrims.

Over 136,000 Indians will perform Haj this year with the quota for the country remaining unchanged since last year due to the ongoing expansion work at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.