The Dispute

The birthplace site, like most religious heritage, cannot be understood or protected without understanding its people, and viewing the monument and the whole culture from the standpoint of those who produced it, the communities who have safeguarded it, and the modernisers that seek to destroy it. Here we examine the views and motivations of the three present-day protagonists to this feud:

Extremist members of the Mohammad Al Wahhab Movement 

2. Real estate developers

1. Extremist members of the Mohammad Al Wahhab Movement             

The Mohammad Al Wahhab Movement (MWM) is the presiding branch of Islam in Saudi Arabia. While the Saudi Royal family and moderate MWM members tend to take a balanced approach towards historical sites, the extremists followers of the MWM are publically pushing for/pressuring the authorities the demolition of all heritage sites that are prized by the various sects of Islam, in Saudi Arabia. Their stated believes are, that:

- Islamic heritage sites are objects of the past, with no relevance for either the present or the future. The sites are seen as mere materials, and the values that mainstream Muslims associate with them are not recognised by the extremists.

---Islamic heritage sites, particularly those linked to religious figures, cause visitors to perform heretical practices (‘the practices’). The extremists claim that these sites can be the scene of behaviour which, according to their interpretation of Islamic ideology, constitutes idolatry or polytheism. For this reason they advocate the destruction of all such sites. 

---Places of worship belonging to currently operating other religions, should remain banned in Saudi Arabia.

2. Real estate developers                                                                                                                                                            The philosophy of the Meccan real estate community is rooted in contemporary secular values. Property developers, keen on profiting from the some of the world’s most expensive land, have been petitioning the government to grant permission for the birthplace site’s demolition and re-development. Various schemes have been put forward including an imam’s residence, a library, and inclusion of the plot into the gm [to create more space for worshippers. They have been presented to the authorities in a manner suggesting that they have to be located on the spot of the birthplace due to the unavailability of other suitable plots available around the gm.

However, this is disingenuous. There are a number of other eminently appropriate locations around the Masjid Al Haram (Grand Mosque) and central Mecca, where these proposals could also achieve fruition. The developers have provided no compelling reasons as to why, despite the glaring alternatives, they still need to locate their ventures on this particular, birthplace plot. The lack of justification, thus provided, is in stark contrast to the strong, widely acknowledged grounds for not placing any of these projects on the birthplace plot: 

-- The absolute absurdity of demolishing the last remaining, and culturally priceless, residence of the Prophet saw of Islam to make way for a residence for one of his lowly followers seems to have escaped the developer’s consideration.

--To replace the existing historic dual-structure, functioning library (70 years old) plus the birthplace house (up to 1500 years old), with a new glass, steel and concrete library makes neither economic nor cultural sense. Firstly, there is no demand for a small new library at the site, when the adjacent Grand Mosque has recently had an extensive new library constructed in its grounds. Secondly, a country such as Saudi Arabia, seeking to boost cultural and religious tourism, and where only Muslims in certain areas are permitted to enter for such tourism, requires all the ancient Islamic sites it can locate. Even a birthplace site closed to the general public is going attract far greater appreciation and economic benefits, then a non-descript new library of interest only to a relative handful of visitors and Meccan citizens. The developer would do well to consider just how many tourists actually visit modern libraries during their travels?

--The value to the cultural diversity and ambiance of central Mecca of keeping the birthplace site – the oldest man-made site in Mecca, apart from the Grand Mosque - intact is immensely greater than the benefit of demolishing it and adding the plot to the Grand Mosque to create more space for worshippers to pray. 

At a time when urban sprawl and cookie-cutter commercial and residential developments are prolific in parts of Saudi Arabia, and result in neighbourhoods in which everything looks the same, it becomes even more important for communities, heavily dependent on revenue from their tourism industries, to hold on to their identities through historic preservation. 

Ancient structures are reminders of a city’s substance and complexity. Without historic buildings, whether they are related to something famous or not, visitors, and even long-time residents, can get a distorted idea of the character of a place.

Without the depth of its tangible history, a city can seem less substantial, less integral, and perhaps even, less reliable. And it does not necessarily require a substantial assortment of buildings from bygone eras to construct the character of a place – just two or three recognisably historic structures can serve to define a city. 

Mature, tourist-destination cities need to maintain a balance between modern and historic. Developers have disturbed that equilibrium in Mecca, and skewed it almost wholly in favour of the ‘new’. The birthplace house is a key component of what remains of Mecca’s diversity. It has been there for as long as the Grand Mosque and it is required, now more than ever before, to continue contributing to the historical context of the Grand Mosque, and to prevent Mecca becoming a ‘one-site’ city. 

-Keeping Mecca’s structures for those who have chosen to make Mecca their long term or permanent home, and for whom these structures mean Mecca, should be a highly desirable objective for Mecca’s authorities. Buildings are part of what defines the sense and feel of a place, whether we are talking about a street, a city, or a nation. For New Yorkers, the Upper West Side of Manhattan "feels" different from Queens. Paris "feels" different from Los Angeles. The architectures of these places are very different from each other and so are their respective cultures. Residents often come to identify with these places, and the architecture enables such self-identification. Place, including its structures, contributes to a person's sense of self. Even in a highly mobile society, it means something to a person that he lives in Sale, Manchester, rather than London, and it means something to him that he lives in this neighbourhood rather than that. Architecture plays an important role in creating this sense of meaning. 

In many cities and communities, particular places and particular buildings embody the essence of such communities. These buildings are part and parcel of the cultural or religious life of these communities such that the ability of these communities to continue thriving as they are quite literally requires the preservation of those buildings.

Have the extremists ascertained the views of the tens of thousands of people who live in the vicinity of the bp, or work in the commercial sector near it, or travel past the bp every day to the attend prayers in the neighbouring grand mosque, or who visit the bp for ,

It is an iconic landmark that we associate with American freedom and liberty. 

As for the notion of using the birthplace plot for extra prayer space, this too has little merit. The plot is small and may only provide space for a few hundred people at best. Considering that the Grand Mosque is the largest place of worship in the world, with a capacity to house 4 million worshippers at one time, the presence or absence of prayer space from the birthplace site is likely to have negligible effect on the operation of the Grand Mosque. Moreover, the only time that all 4 million existing spaces are likely to be needed simultaneously is during the peak hours of the 4-week annual Hajj pilgrimage season. For virtually the whole of the remaining eleven months, the mosque operates at a fraction of capacity. Should the authorities require additional prayer space, then rather than destroying the birthplace plot, they can procure the land from larger plots of other, religiously insignificant, land [immediately adjacent to] the Grand Mosque, and surrounding the birthplace site. See pic.

Similarly, the birthplace plot is unlikely to be needed for specific Umrah or hajj rituals. The birthplace is situated adjacent to the eastern boundary of the gm. The locations for the performance of the main pilgrimage rituals and ancillary practices are concentrated in the centre of the Grand Mosque: the Kaba, the Maqam of Abraham, the hills of Safa and Marwah and the well of Zamzam well, are all able to be performed at, or near the … The area for circumambulation around the Kaaba, the ???, has been increased to accommodate the needs of 4 million hajj pilgrims requiring its use on the same day. However, despite this expansion, the area also remains confined to the middle of the Grand Mosque plot. It is highly improbable that this area would ever be expanded to such an extent that it reaches and overtakes the birthplace plot, for then the radii of the circumambulation would be so large, that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for people on the outer rim to walk the several miles to complete their Tawaf.

There is added suspicion that if a developer were allowed to destroy the birthplace on the basis of pursuing one of the aforementioned proposals, they may take the principle of redevelopment thus established, and seek through incremental amendments, to build something wholly different to their original plan. The result would be, it is feared, a development far more controversial than those already proposed, and substantially more profitable for the developer – i.e. commercial premises to take advantage of the millions of pilgrims passing the birthplace site en-route to the Grand Mosque; or residential rental property to gain a slice of central Mecca’s highly lucrative temporary accommodation sector. Undeniably, such proposals would be more out of place, sited next to the Grand Mosque, then the already-disliked original ones.

3. Mainstream Muslims

Msm view religious heritage in a similar fashion to the/in the same way that Christians, jews, hindus and Buddhists view their herirage

For mainstream Muslims, conservation of Islamic heritage sites is affected by and related to, issues of faith and religion. Three aspects of religious heritage are considered paramount

--Intangible heritage. Conventionally, a heritage site is defined in a tangible heritage context and valued for possessing qualities such as architectural, artistic, aesthetic, historic, or cultural attributes or characteristics. These qualities bring benefits such as history documentation, edifying illustration, educating exhibition or enjoyable perception of beauty.

However, a closer analysis of such sites demonstrates that an allegedly tangible heritage site, particularly a religious one, cannot be reduced to the values attributed to its physical substance. There is more to such heritage then meets the eye and only those can really value it who know what it signifies. Each piece of heritage is a multi-dimensional concept with “outer” aesthetic values, which can be equally valued by everybody regardless of his religious beliefs or cultural knowledge, and “inner” expressions and representations of cultural identities and their underlying value constructions, which can only be understood by individuals who understand the world constructed by this cultural identity and its particular knowledge. 

Thus, to truly understand a historical building, for example, one has to go beyond seeing it as just a physical place, and instead consider also the complex interactions between it and the society it has served: the age of the stones and the name of the founder might help to understand the historical setting of the physical structure, but of equal importance is the relationship between the building and its history, traditions, and how it has affected, and been viewed and valued by, the communities that have been associated with it.

Religious heritage, per se, includes not only tangible items, but also covers, in a wider and deeper sense, the intangible reality from which the buildings, artefacts and the whole religious culture issue. This last is often termed the ‘Intangible Religious Reality’ and it is the powerful

force that lives in a religious person, gives meaning to his life, signifies his place in the universe, and defines the relationship of the universal element to him and to another in accordance with divine law.

A religious heritage building is, then, created and shaped by the intangible religious reality and retains elements of that force as an invisible component to the tangible structure that is visible. This invisible side of religious heritage buildings is also known as ‘intangible heritage’ and it is essentially the survival of the original values of the heritage - the ideas, knowledge, morals, ethics, principles, and beliefs of the creators – which are embedded in these sites. These qualities have been passed down to the present generation, with their original meanings still intact and linked to their associated communities.

Each site possesses a unique combination of the qualities that comprise its intangible heritage. These properties serve to convey the concepts of the religion, and also play a number of roles that benefit adherents: 

--As an assistant, facilitator or transmitter for the performance of religious duties;                                                                               

--As an aid or enabler in the search for proximity to the divine;                                                                                                       

--As an anchor or reference point for the identity formation of followers; a site is often an icon of community self-identity.                                                                                                                      --As a social platform for the enabling of social exchange, social encounters or social practices;             

--As a facilitator for the development of identity bonds between visitors, and between visitors and the site.

The evaluation of large numbers of sites has shown that the variety of identity constructions, value attribution, and knowledge concepts identified at each site, necessitates the need to approach every piece of heritage by means of an individual, non-standardised analysis.

--Livingness. Heritage links humankind to its past by enabling the past to “live in the present”. This ‘livingness’ has the concealed meanings of conservation and continuity.  

--Visitation rights. Heritage belongs to the present, and the present generation has the right to use it. They are the first owners of their cultures, and symbolically also, of their heritage sites. The fulfilment of their wish to have available, and to engage with, heritage should not be undermined or undervalued. Equally, the current generation has the obligation to care for the heritage bequeathed to them.

1. Extremist members of the Mohammad Al Wahhab Movement (MWM)

                                                                                                    The Mohammad Al Wahhab Movement (MWM) is the presiding branch of Islam in Saudi Arabia. While the Saudi Royal family and moderate MWM members tend to take a balanced approach towards historical sites, the extremists followers of the MWM are publically pushing for/pressuring the authorities the demolition of all heritage sites that are prized by the various sects of Islam, in Saudi Arabia. Their stated believes are, that:

-- Islamic heritage sites are objects of the past, with no relevance for either the present or the future. The sites are seen as mere materials, and the values that mainstream Muslims associate with them are not recognised by the extremists.

---Islamic heritage sites, particularly those linked to religious figures, cause visitors to perform heretical practices (‘the practices’). The extremists claim that these sites can be the scene of behaviour which, according to their interpretation of Islamic ideology, constitutes idolatry or polytheism. For this reason they advocate the destruction of all such sites.                                                 

---Places of worship belonging to currently operating other religions, should remain banned in Saudi Arabia.

The majority of their deliberate attacks target Islamic heritage deemed as bidaa (innovative/heretical) and shirk (idolatrous/polytheistic). Their attacks on pre-Islamic heritage stem from their belief that they must destroy anything deemed shirk. They are fond of citing passages of the Koran that describe Abraham’s destruction of idols to legitimise their actions.” An account of the destruction of Nimrud

2. Real estate developers                                                                                                                                                                                The philosophy of the Meccan real estate community is rooted in contemporary secular values. Property developers, keen on profiting from the some of the world’s most expensive land, have been petitioning the government to grant permission for the birthplace site’s demolition and re-development. Various schemes have been put forward including an imam’s residence, a library, and inclusion of the plot into the gm [to create more space for worshippers. They have been presented to the authorities in a manner suggesting that they have to be located on the spot of the birthplace due to the unavailability of other suitable plots available around the gm.

However, this is disingenuous. There are a number of other eminently appropriate locations around the Masjid Al Haram (Grand Mosque) and central Mecca, where these proposals could also achieve fruition. The developers have provided no compelling reasons as to why, despite the glaring alternatives, they still need to locate their ventures on this particular, birthplace plot. The lack of justification, thus provided, is in stark contrast to the strong, widely acknowledged grounds for not placing any of these projects on the birthplace plot: 

-- The absolute absurdity of demolishing the last remaining, and culturally priceless, residence of the Prophet saw of Islam to make way for a residence for one of his lowly followers seems to have escaped the developer’s consideration.

--To replace the existing historic dual-structure, functioning library (70 years old) plus the birthplace house (up to 1500 years old), with a new glass, steel and concrete library makes neither economic nor cultural sense. Firstly, there is no demand for a small new library at the site, when the adjacent Grand Mosque has recently had an extensive new library constructed in its grounds. Secondly, a country such as Saudi Arabia, seeking to boost cultural and religious tourism, and where only Muslims in certain areas are permitted to enter for such tourism, requires all the ancient Islamic sites it can locate. Even a birthplace site closed to the general public is going attract far greater appreciation and economic benefits, then a non-descript new library of interest only to a relative handful of visitors and Meccan citizens. The developer would do well to consider just how many tourists actually visit modern libraries during their travels?

--The value to the cultural diversity and ambiance of central Mecca of keeping the birthplace site – the oldest man-made site in Mecca, apart from the Grand Mosque - intact is immensely greater than the benefit of demolishing it and adding the plot to the Grand Mosque to create more space for worshippers to pray. 

At a time when urban sprawl and cookie-cutter commercial and residential developments are prolific in parts of Saudi Arabia, and result in neighbourhoods in which everything looks the same, it becomes even more important for communities, heavily dependent on revenue from their tourism industries, to hold on to their identities through historic preservation. 

Ancient structures are reminders of a city’s substance and complexity. Without historic buildings, whether they are related to something famous or not, visitors, and even long-time residents, can get a distorted idea of the character of a place. Without the depth of its tangible history, a city can seem less substantial, less integral, and perhaps even, less reliable. And it does not necessarily require a substantial assortment of buildings from bygone eras to construct the character of a place – just two or three recognisably historic structures can serve to define a city. 

Mature, tourist-destination cities need to maintain a balance between modern and historic. Developers have disturbed that equilibrium in Mecca, and skewed it almost wholly in favour of the ‘new’. The birthplace house is a key component of what remains of Mecca’s diversity. It has been there for as long as the Grand Mosque and it is required, now more than ever before, to continue contributing to the historical context of the Grand Mosque, and to prevent Mecca becoming a ‘one-site’ city. 

--Keeping Mecca’s structures for those who have chosen to make Mecca their long term or permanent home, and for whom these structures mean Mecca, should be a highly desirable objective for Mecca’s authorities. Buildings are part of what defines the sense and feel of a place, whether we are talking about a street, a city, or a nation. For New Yorkers, the Upper West Side of Manhattan "feels" different from Queens. Paris "feels" different from Los Angeles. The architectures of these places are very different from each other and so are their respective cultures. Residents often come to identify with these places, and the architecture enables such self-identification. Place, including its structures, contributes to a person's sense of self. Even in a highly mobile society, it means something to a person that he lives in Sale, Manchester, rather than London, and it means something to him that he lives in this neighbourhood rather than that. Architecture plays an important role in creating this sense of meaning.

In many cities and communities, particular places and particular buildings embody the essence of such communities. These buildings are part and parcel of the cultural or religious life of these communities such that the ability of these communities to continue thriving as they are quite literally requires the preservation of those buildings.

Have the extremists ascertained the views of the tens of thousands of people who live in the vicinity of the bp, or work in the commercial sector near it, or travel past the bp every day to the attend prayers in the neighbouring grand mosque, or who visit the bp for ,

It is an iconic landmark that we associate with Muslim/Saudi freedom and liberty. 

As for the notion of using the birthplace plot for extra prayer space, this too has little merit. The plot is small and may only provide space for a few hundred people at best. Considering that the Grand Mosque is the largest place of worship in the world, with a capacity to house 4 million worshippers at one time, the presence or absence of prayer space from the birthplace site is likely to have negligible effect on the operation of the Grand Mosque. Moreover, the only time that all 4 million existing spaces are likely to be needed simultaneously is during the peak hours of the 4-week annual Hajj pilgrimage season. For virtually the whole of the remaining eleven months, the mosque operates at a fraction of capacity. Should the authorities require additional prayer space, then rather than destroying the birthplace plot, they can procure the land from larger plots of other, religiously insignificant, land [immediately adjacent to] the Grand Mosque, and surrounding the birthplace site. See pic.

Similarly, the birthplace plot is unlikely to be needed for specific Umrah or hajj rituals. The birthplace is situated adjacent to the eastern boundary of the gm. The locations for the performance of the main pilgrimage rituals and ancillary practices are concentrated in the centre of the Grand Mosque: the Kaba, the Maqam of Abraham, the hills of Safa and Marwah and the well of Zamzam well, are all able to be performed at, or near the … The area for circumambulation around the Kaaba, the ???, has been increased to accommodate the needs of 4 million hajj pilgrims requiring its use on the same day. However, despite this expansion, the area also remains confined to the middle of the Grand Mosque plot. It is highly improbable that this area would ever be expanded to such an extent that it reaches and overtakes the birthplace plot, for then the radii of the circumambulation would be so large, that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for people on the outer rim to walk the several miles to complete their Tawaf.

There is added suspicion that if a developer were allowed to destroy the birthplace on the basis of pursuing one of the aforementioned proposals, they may take the principle of redevelopment thus established, and seek through incremental amendments, to build something wholly different to their original plan. The result would be, it is feared, a development far more controversial than those already proposed, and substantially more profitable for the developer – i.e. commercial premises to take advantage of the millions of pilgrims passing the birthplace site en-route to the Grand Mosque; or residential rental property to gain a slice of central Mecca’s highly lucrative temporary accommodation sector. Undeniably, such proposals would be more out of place, sited next to the Grand Mosque, then the already-disliked original ones.

3. Mainstream Muslims

Msm view religious heritage in a similar fashion to the/in the same way that Christians, jews, hindus and Buddhists view their herirage

For mainstream Muslims, conservation of Islamic heritage sites is affected by and related to, issues of faith and religion. Three aspects of religious heritage are considered paramount

--Intangible heritage. Conventionally, a heritage site is defined in a tangible heritage context and valued for possessing qualities such as architectural, artistic, aesthetic, historic, or cultural attributes or characteristics. These qualities bring benefits such as history documentation, edifying illustration, educating exhibition or enjoyable perception of beauty.

However, a closer analysis of such sites demonstrates that an allegedly tangible heritage site, particularly a religious one, cannot be reduced to the values attributed to its physical substance. There is more to such heritage then meets the eye and only those can really value it who know what it signifies. Each piece of heritage is a multi-dimensional concept with “outer” aesthetic values, which can be equally valued by everybody regardless of his religious beliefs or cultural knowledge, and “inner” expressions and representations of cultural identities and their underlying value constructions, which can only be understood by individuals who understand the world constructed by this cultural identity and its particular knowledge. 

Thus, to truly understand a historical building, for example, one has to go beyond seeing it as just a physical place, and instead consider also the complex interactions between it and the society it has served: the age of the stones and the name of the founder might help to understand the historical setting of the physical structure, but of equal importance is the relationship between the building and its history, traditions, and how it has affected, and been viewed and valued by, the communities that have been associated with it.

Religious heritage, per se, includes not only tangible items, but also covers, in a wider and deeper sense, the intangible reality from which the buildings, artefacts and the whole religious culture issue. This last is often termed the ‘Intangible Religious Reality’ and it is the powerful force that lives in a religious person, gives meaning to his life, signifies his place in the universe, and defines the relationship of the universal element to him and to another in accordance with divine law. 

A religious heritage building is, then, created and shaped by the intangible religious reality and retains elements of that force as an invisible component to the tangible structure that is visible. This invisible side of religious heritage buildings is also known as ‘intangible heritage’ and it is essentially the survival of the original values of the heritage - the ideas, knowledge, morals, ethics, principles, and beliefs of the creators – which are embedded in these sites. These qualities have been passed down to the present generation, with their original meanings still intact and linked to their associated communities.

Each site possesses a unique combination of the qualities that comprise its intangible heritage. These properties serve to convey the concepts of the religion, and also play a number of roles that benefit adherents: 

--As an assistant, facilitator or transmitter for the performance of religious duties;                                                                               

--As an aid or enabler in the search for proximity to the divine;                                                                                                       

--As an anchor or reference point for the identity formation of followers; a site is often an icon of community self-identity.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           --As a social platform for the enabling of social exchange, social encounters or social practices;             

--As a facilitator for the development of identity bonds between visitors, and between visitors and the site.

The evaluation of large numbers of sites has shown that the variety of identity constructions, value attribution, and knowledge concepts identified at each site, necessitates the need to approach every piece of heritage by means of an individual, non-standardised analysis.

--Livingness. Heritage links humankind to its past by enabling the past to “live in the present”. This ‘livingness’ has the concealed meanings of conservation and continuity.  

--Visitation rights. Heritage belongs to the present, and the present generation has the right to use it. They are the first owners of their cultures, and symbolically also, of their heritage sites. The fulfilment of their wish to have available, and to engage with, heritage should not be undermined or undervalued. Equally, the current generation has the obligation to care for the heritage bequeathed to them.

The birthplace performs a number of roles in the Islamic world

Mainstream Islam treasures several qualities of the birthplace which are deeply rooted in the past; these characteristics or roles played by the birthplace are cherished, not in a way that romanticizes this past, but in a way that sees them as of immense relevance to modern times, and offering solutions to challenges currently being faced. These functions include:

LIST ALL DISCUSSED ROLES AND REASONS TO SAVE

Sign of God  basic essentials expression of faith Proof of Islam Proof for Propagation Saudi Heritage       World Heritage Saudi Government  Mecca’s Economy booster  Final link to the early Muslims                            Supports primary sites  Oldest Mosque     User Value    Tribute to King AZZIZ

A major reference point for Muslims –

from which to derive their identity from.

Religions have various methods to articulate and demonstrate the essence of their faith and their identity. Religious heritage, particularly, represents the identity of a community, and this memory comes from the past, it lives today and is transmitted to present and future generations. This means that every category of religious heritage has something in common: there has to be an identity component that represents the religion of any community.

In the case of Islam, perhaps the most prominent outward expression of the Muslim faith and identity is religious heritage sites – they are inseparably tied up with the religion of the majority of Muslims worldwide. Islamic architecture has been admired for centuries for its aesthetic qualities, and as a medium for communicating the values of Islam.  

The birthplace serves as a symbol and profound expression of the Muslims’ distinctiveness as not just believers in, but also physical worshippers of, one God. The birthplace embodies a greater range of attributes that elucidate the Islamic faith and Muslim identity than virtually all other heritage sites. It is:

A House Of A Prophet Of God saw. The preservation of the birthplace site – along with sites associated with other Prophets of God - demonstrates the distinguishing Muslim concept of displaying the same level of respect towards ancient, divine emissaries after their death, as would be given were they alive today.

A House Of The Prophet Of Islam - the principal figure in the formation of the religion and the genesis of the Muslim identity. This birthplace site stands as a powerful reminder of his saw belief that Muslims must maintain their God-given identity, and not allow it to be altered by either the forces of secularism nor extremism. 

A House Of God (Mosque) – a primary centre of worship and dissemination of the religion. The birthplace house was consecrated as a mosque in ???. The site, thus, highlights another unique feature of Muslims: as not just believers in, but also ‘full-body’ worshippers of, one God.

The Residence Of The ‘Model’ Muslim. The birthplace house represents the Prophet’s saw – and thereby his followers – worldview of the ideal home….standard-of-living for Muslims:   with local conditions, offering privacy, comfort, and cleanliness, and exhibiting neither extravagance nor thriftiness.

The Library – the placing of a library atop the birthplace structure, is both a fitting tribute to a Prophet who throughout his saw mission extolled the virtues of education and seeking knowledge, and a symbol of achievement of the successful, all-important preservation of the two documents bought by the Prophet saw  – the Quran and the Hadith.

Both texts have to be shared with the world and both have to remain completely intact and unaltered. Each text has been protected from adulteration since being revealed, by physical protective measures such as preserving the earliest copies of the Quran and cross-checking with all later editions, the employment of complex procedures to verify Hadith authenticity, the systematic committal to memory - since revelation - of the Quran (by Hafiz’s) and the Hadith (by????????), and the adoption of precise ‘rules’ for the correct and consistent pronunciation of Quranic verses (Tajwid). These practices are exclusive to Islam, and a part of the Muslim identity. 

The Focal Point of The Annual Prophet’s saw Birthday Celebrations. 95% of the Muslim world today celebrate the Prophet’s saw birthday. Until extremists took control of the Islamic heritage sites in Mecca in 17??, the Birthplace was the world’s focal point for celebrating the Prophet’s saw birthday (Milad Un Nabi). Leaders of Mecca carried out ceremonies and devotions in the birthplace and around Mecca to

The celebration is just one manifestation of the uniquely high degree of respect shown by Muslims to the founder of their religion, with the preservation of his sayings, the imitation of his precise way of life, and the sending of peace to him, whenever his name is mentioned, being just a few of the ways that that respect is manifested.

Particular places and particular buildings sometimes acquire iconic status and embody the life of a city and are essential to its continuing ability to thrive. Such buildings are part and parcel of the religious-cultural life of these thriving cities such that the ability of these cities to offer the enriching experience required by visitors quite literally requires the preservation of those buildings. What, for example, would Central London be like if the medieval Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were demolished and replaced by a modern glass, concrete and metal parliament. It is hard to imagine that it would remain the same rich, vibrant area. Historic preservation exists as a matter of a community's knowledge and understanding about its own self-identity.

Maintaining historic religious structures gives a community a sense of permanency, identity, and heritage that it can pass onto the next generation.

-Religious heritage helps to build and maintain a community’s or faith groups identity. …… community's self-identity 

- This history is important because it connects us to specific times, places and events that were significant milestones in our collective past. The ability to revisit these preserved elements from time to time provides us with a sense of place, and maintains continuity between our past and our present by preserving a trail of how we arrived at where, and who we are today. 

On a macro level, religious heritage buildings provide an identity for a city. Cities such as Mecca, Madina, the Vatican, Jerusalem, Amritsar, and Nepal are associated with particular faiths and therefore thrive on religious pilgrimages and religious heritage tourism.

On a micro level, historic structures nurture personal identity: they contribute to the ability of people to discover their place in the stories of their families, communities, and nation. They learn the stories of the individuals and groups that have come before them and shaped the world in which they live. These accounts of freedom and equality, injustice and struggle, loss and achievement, and courage and triumph shape people’s personal values that guide their approach to life and relationships with others

An English Heritage quote states that

‘Historic buildings are a precious and finite asset and a powerful reminder to us of the work and way of life of earlier generations. The richness of the country’s architectural heritage plays an influential part in our sense of national identity’.

PUT QIOTES FROM GOVS OF DDIFFERENT COUNTRIES AT START OF PAGE TO SAY HOW OTHER GOVS VALUE.

Art

The bp is a major part of the tableau of memory that the Prophet saw left behind. Even simply in terms of what a dwelling says about its occupier, an individual’s dwelling, particularly that of a divine messenger tasked with setting an example, is not dissimilar to art. In fact, as with many heritage sites, it has been appreciated as, and termed as ‘art’, or more precisely, ‘Public Art’ for its aesthetic value, its contribution to the spirituality of the area, and its overall enrichment of the cultural fund of Mecca.

Many Muslims have viewed the bp as public art. From the establishment of Islam in Mecca in the first century of Islam, the bp was intended to be made available to the public, through highly public uses: firstly as a mosque; then as a mosque and the Muslim world’s centre of the Prophet saw’s annual Birthday celebrations; then as a library. One hundred administrations over 15oo years preserved, embellished, and promoted the public display and use of the birthplace, and it was only when extremist elements of the MWM gained control over Mecca’s heritage sites, between 17??-???, and ???? to the present…

The interpretation of the bp as art, as widespread and as deserved as it is amongst the Muslim community, brings forth two dilemmas, that, not surprisingly, can only be resolved by the preservation of the birthplace:

(i) As a piece of art, the birthplace is quite literally the artist’s (occupier’s) expression with the outside world, his means of speaking to others. The bp constitutes a statement, it is all self-definition and self-expression, and, in fact, it constitutes a very deep expression of the Prophet saw.

Autonomy, if it is to have any robust meaning, must mean that a person, can control what he expresses and, equally important, what he does not express. Authorities cannot curtail a person’s dialogue with the world and still claim to support his rights as an autonomous agent. If this principal applies to ordinary individuals, then it most assuredly applies to a prophet conveying divine guidance.

Suppression of the Prophet’s saw voice also inflicts serious damage upon the vital capability of visitors and citizens of Mecca to decide for themselves what the birthplace stands for, just as they are permitted to do so by Saudi authorities when they visit any other cultural, religious, and secular site, sculpture, and piece of heritage throughout Saudi Arabia. Denying visitors this basic right means the capability to determine, which a manifestation of the more basic capability of self-definition, will have been seriously undermined.

In their attempt to censor the dialogue between the Prophet saw and the public, the extremists have simply highlighted the immense gulf between themselves and modern secular thought, as well as traditional orthodox Islam.

(ii) Art, like writing, can also express – or be associated with - ideas that are wider than the artist and his/her ‘personal sphere’. Some of these ideas – highlighted on this site - have become available to the Muslim community such that their removal or denial of their availability to the community will weaken the community's essential public culture.

The relationship between iconic structures and a community's self-identity and its cultural life, is often strong. As an art form, the bp is the leading Islamic site of this type - one that greatly contributes to the kind of culture that is necessary for the Muslim community to flourish, and the type of culture within which each person is able to experience life-defining freedom and to create his or her own personal identity. 

However, the very publicness of this art, as well as the widespread acceptance of its substantial promotion of the religious-cultural life upon which members of the Muslim community depend for their development as genuinely free and self-defining moral agents, means that there are serious concerns of members of the community of damage to their way of life and the setting of a precedent that may be applied to other such sites resulting in a further erosion of that life, were the art destroyed.

The bp is a key part of the infrastructure that support the special sort of culture in which peaceful Muslims live and thrive, the type of culture within which each person is able to experience life-defining freedom and to create his or her own personal identity.

There is a very legitimate public interest – both Muslim and non-Muslim - in the aspects of the Prophet’s pbuh life connected with his role upon the world stage. Such interest demands full access to all relevant information about the Prophet pbuh. Much would be lost if we were deprived of the bp, and a particularly serious damage/ harm would be the undermining of the public's strong interest in knowing as much as possible about a figure who played such a prominent and enduring role in human history, and who continues to affect them, whether directly or indirectly..

Each of us has an obligation to protect the Prophet’s relics, such as the bp, which, quite apart from anything else, provide a robust reminder of the peaceful Islam that the Prophet saw wanted and a robust rebuttal to the kind of dry, isolatory, and violent Islam that the extremists are trying to deceptively force onto Muslim communities. The type of Islam which makes human flourishing possible, one within which each person is able to experience life-defining freedom and to create his or her own personal identity; and an Islam that: encourages a humane social environment, views non-Muslims as priceless, to-be-loved creations of their own God, and “love all, hate none” .

BP WAS EXPRESSION OF BUILDER HUMBLENESS,

Proof of Islam                                                                                                                                                                                                  Most societies today are being confronted by strong external pressures to modernize, and even secularize. One of the means by which secularists are attempting to weaken the bonds between a religion and its followers is to cast doubt on the authenticity of the claims made by the religious establishment. In the Judeo-Christian world, secularists have begun to question whether the Jesus of Christianity, and the Moses of Judaism, actually ever existed. The contention is that both were mythical figures. Doubt has also been cast on the claims made for the content, sources, and history of the Bible and Torah. Rather than viewing both as unadulterated divine manuscripts, they are maligned/ branded as nothing more than an amalgamation of the beliefs of different communities over thousands of years - Christian, pagan, and others - and authored by large numbers of unknown human writers, who caused the texts to be continually interpolated and corrupted.

Similar suspicion has been directed towards Islam. Attempts have been made to question and undermine Muslim beliefs concerning divine design and oversight of the Prophet’s saw mission, the Quran, and the Hadith. The Prophet saw is seen as a …, the Quran as an edited Arabic version of an already discredited Bible, and the hadiths as invented sayings of the Prophet saw written by unscrupulous writers hundreds of years after the demise of the Prophet saw.

Not surprisingly, the religious establishment views secular trends as hugely damaging to society and requiring counteraction /need to be counteracted by efforts to / by strengthen the conservation of religion. This last, naturally includes the preservation of religious heritage and its promotion as evidence of the genuineness of the religion.

The birthplace provides stronger testimony to the existence of the Prophet saw, than virtually all other heritage sites in Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world. The site is direct proof that the Prophet saw existed. Together with Prophet’s saw burial site in Medina, they/the bp demolish the secular allegation that the Prophet saw was a myth. The confirmation of the Prophet’s saw existence, in turn, gives great credence to the Muslim claim that Islam originated in the 6^th century. The birthplace is, then, a source of tremendous reassurance to Muslims facing the daily barrage of secular efforts to convert them to a worldly, irreligious way of life. 

Aid to Propagation

The birthplace site is crucial also for propagation of the message of Islam to the 5 billion non-Muslims in the world. As with Christianity, Muslims also have a fundamental obligation to convey the message of Islam to non-believers. The Quran explicitly states that the Prophet saw was sent to benefit not only Muslims, but all human beings: “And we have not sent you save as a mercy for all the worlds”. Modern missionary work is a continuance of the evangelical evangelizing campaigns of the early Muslims to communicate the message of salvation salvatory  to non-believers.

The secular onslaught is also targeting the phenomenon of religious conversions. As described above, it condemns religions which cannot substantiate their claims with tangible evidence, as manmade constructs built around mythical figures. By projecting the faith as a manufactured movement, devoid of divine involvement, irrational, and out-dated, secularists hope to reduce the attraction for potential converts to want to join it. As this drive continues to grow, it will become increasingly necessary, for some non-believers at least, to be provided with material proof of the existence, background, and history of the man claimed by Muslims to have been sent to save them too, and whose faith they are being asked to accept. The birthplace will play a significant role in supplying this substantiation. It is the hard archaeological evidence that secularists had/have been demanding – but hoped did not exist. 

Along with the Prophet’s saw burial site, the birthplace provides verification of the existence of the Prophet saw, to a far higher degree of certitude than that offered for many other historical figures, whose existences are universally accepted on the basis of considerably less proof - such as works attributed to them or mentions in the narrations of ancient historians. The Prophet saw, too, has been extensively discussed in the chronicles of historians of his saw period as well as of successive eras - both friend and foe. But the presence of his saw relics, especially the birthplace, elevates the certainty of the tenure of the Prophet saw to a degree unsurpassed by most other figures emanating from his saw time. This heritage contributes to the missionaries’ ability to overcome the obstacles being placed between them and potential converts, by secularists, and create a level playing field on which to present their faith.

If Muslim missionaries don’t depend on the bp to substantiate their ideology, they soon will..

A religious heritage building is, then, created and shaped by the intangible religious reality and retains elements of that force as an invisible component to the tangible structure that is visible. This invisible side of religious heritage buildings is also known as ‘intangible heritage’ and it is essentially the survival of the original values of the heritage - the ideas, knowledge, morals, ethics, principles, and beliefs of the creators – which are embedded in these sites. These qualities have been passed down to the present generation, with their original meanings still intact and linked to their associated communities.

Each site possesses a unique combination of the qualities that comprise its intangible heritage. These properties serve to convey the concepts of the religion, and also play a number of roles that benefit adherents: 

--As an assistant, facilitator or transmitter for the performance of religious duties;                                                                               

--As an aid or enabler in the search for proximity to the divine;                                                                                                       

--As an anchor or reference point for the identity formation of followers; a site is often an icon of community self-identity.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           --As a social platform for the enabling of social exchange, social encounters or social practices;             

--As a facilitator for the development of identity bonds between visitors, and between visitors and the site.

The evaluation of large numbers of sites has shown that the variety of identity constructions, value attribution, and knowledge concepts identified at each site, necessitates the need to approach every piece of heritage by means of an individual, non-standardised analysis.

--Livingness. Heritage links humankind to its past by enabling the past to “live in the present”. This ‘livingness’ has the concealed meanings of conservation and continuity.  

--Visitation rights. Heritage belongs to the present, and the present generation has the right to use it. They are the first owners of their cultures, and symbolically also, of their heritage sites. The fulfilment of their wish to have available, and to engage with, heritage should not be undermined or undervalued. Equally, the current generation has the obligation to care for the heritage bequeathed to them.