A Saudi academic of Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh recently published a document calling for the Green Dome — which covers the Hujra Sharifa, the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him — to be removed along with some sacred columns inscribed with poetry venerating the Prophet next to the sacred chamber. The academic said they attract bida (reprehensible innovation) and as a result, he sought to separate the sacred chamber from the mosque itself.
In the first week of November this year, 17th-century Ottoman-era porticos and Mamluk columns dating back 660 years were demolished. The Ottomans had marked certain historical locations, such as the house of Umm Hani where the Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him, commenced his famous night journey on Buraq (Pegasus) by night from the Sacred Mosque to Bayt Al-Maqdis in Jerusalem. The porticos had beautiful Ottoman art and names of the Prophet’s family and companions, similar to ones in Masjid Al Nabawi, that the Saudis painted over.
Numerous sites in other areas, such as Iraq, Syria and Palestine, have also been destroyed by people influenced by the example of the rulers of Saudi Arabia.
Since 2007, there have been well-founded fears for the safety of the Prophet’s (pbuh) Mosque in Madinah, which was damaged when Jannatul Baqi was des-troyed in 1925. This is where the Prophet (pbuh) himself, and the first two khalifahs, are buried. In 2007, the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs reportedly published a pamphlet proposing its destruction, which was endorsed by Abd al-‘Aziz Aal al-Shaikh, the current Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. The destruction of the Prophet’s (pbuh) grave and mosque is something beyond the imagination of most Muslims, yet it must be regarded as a very real possibility under the current rulers of the Hijaz.
Saudis succeed in their nefarious designs for the Prophet's (saws) grave in Madinah. Some ten years ago, Muqbil ibn Hadi al-Wadi'i, a student at the University of Madinah, wrote a thesis titled “About the Dome Built over the Grave of the Messenger,” sponsored by Shaykh Hammad al-Ansari. In this paper, Muqbil ibn Hadi demanded that the Prophet's grave be brought out of the Mosque. He said that its presence and the dome over it were major innovations (bidas) and that both have to be destroyed. His thesis was applauded and received high marks from the university, confirming their complete disrespect of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
In their zeal to impose their own distorted version of Islam on everyone, they have embarked on wholesale destruction of Islam's historical sites. Last year the city planning board of Madinah changed the colour of the famous green dome of the Prophet's Mosque and painted it silver. The green dome identifies and symbolizes the Prophet's grave; due to the Mosque's expansion, it has now been surrounded, yet it is a unique visual focal point. Was the purpose to pave the way for its destruction, since most Muslims might not even realize what had happened if they hear or notice that a silver dome has been destroyed in Masjid-e Nabawi? After all, a number of silver domes in the Masjid-e Nabawi have already been obliterated using the pretext of expansion and renovation. Intense protests by concerned citizens forced the board to restore the dome to its original color, but it would be wrong to conclude that the Wahhabis have realized the error of their ways.
In their zeal to “save” Muslims from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and bida‘ (innovations in the deen), the Wahhabis have been involved in the destruction of historic buildings and sites for decades. “It is not permitted to glorify buildings and historical sites,” proclaimed Sheikh Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, the kingdom's chief alim, in a much-publicized fatwa in 1994 when he was alive. He went on: “Such action would lead to shirk (polytheism). … So it is necessary to reject such acts and to warn others away from them.” But the Wahhabi zealots are not content with mere warnings. They have embarked on a plan, in conjunction with the hordes of Saudi princes, to destroy Islam's heritage. One is constrained to ask how many Muslims have become mushriks by visiting these places and what right the Wahhabis have to prevent Muslims from doing so?
Dr Irfan al-Alawi, historian, founder and former executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who is one of the most vocal opponents of the destruction of the Haramayn and their environs, says that last year the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs distributed a pamphlet in the Masjid-e Nabawi calling for the demolition of the green dome. Endorsed by Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh, the kingdom's current grand mufti, the pamphlet brazenly declared: “The green dome shall be demolished and the three graves [where the Prophet, Abu Bakr and Umar are laid to rest] flattened in the Prophet's Mosque.” The groundwork for such sacrilegious statements was prepared by another prominent Saudi scholar, the late Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen, who for 35 years delivered khutbas in the Masjid al-Haram. “We hope one day we'll be able to destroy the green dome of the Prophet Muhammed [saws],” he said, in a recording provided by Dr Alawi.
the Wahhabis expressly forbid any identification-markers on them, again under the spurious excuse that this would lead to shirk.......Destruction of Islam's historical sites facilitates the construction of hotels, restaurants and other modern structures on the pretext of providing better services for the hujjaj.
ACCORDING TO BAZ FATWA DIRIYAH IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE DEVELOPED.... T
Most Muslims visiting Makkah long to climb to the top of Jabal al-Nur (“the mountain of light”), to visit the Cave of Hira. It was to this cave that the Prophet (saws) used to retire in the month of Ramadan for prayer and meditation. He (saws) received the first revelations of the Qur'an while in the cave. The Wahhabi zealots want to destroy the mountain to prevent pilgrims from visiting the cave. At the foot of the hill the Wahhabis have posted a fatwa: “The Prophet Muhammed (saws) did not permit us to climb on to this hill, not to pray here, not to touch stones, and tie knots on trees...” Can the Wahhabis provide any evidence that he forbade Muslims from going there, or are their rants based on their hatred of Islam and the Muslims' attachment to and love for Allah's Beloved Messenger?
Wahhabi ulama have never issued a fatwa condemning the MUSIC CONCERTS, CINEMA, ALCOHOL but if Muslims wish to climb the Jabal al-Nur to reach the Cave of Hira and link with the history of divine revelation, the Wahhabis go berserk
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In the latest plans, Professor Abdulaziz Al-Harby from Umm Al-Qura University has proposed that the location of Maqam Ibrahim (Prophet Ibrahim’s place of standing) be shifted from the middle of the circumambulation area to its outer edges to make room for pilgrims. The place where Maqam Ibrahim lies today is the same spot where it was situated at the time of Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon them, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and it has been there for over 14 centuries. The Maqam is the last untouched structure in the Grand Mosque.
Several studies prove that Maqam Ibrahim is not an obstacle in the motion of pilgrims, nor is it the cause of overcrowding that occurs in the tawaaf (circumambulation) around the Holy Kaa’ba. There is no imperative need to reposition the Maqam. It actually serves a beneficial function — it slows down and reduces the impact of the waves created by the influx of people circulating the Kaa’ba.
In the Grand Mosque itself, a group of 500-year-old stone columns and vaults have now been demolished to make room for a vast extension. It is no coincidence, says Alawi, that the columns in the firing sights were inscribed with calligraphic poetry recounting Muhammad's journeys and associated sites of pilgrimage.
SEE THIS ARTICLE FOR PHOTOS OF OTHER SITES DEMOLISHED IN MECCA INCLUDING COLUMNS---OPEN AIR MEUSEUM
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/14/as-the-hajj-begins-the-destruction-of-meccas-heritage-continues
Encircled by a looming ring of hotels and topped by Big Ben's big brother clock-tower of the Abraj al-Bait complex, the Grand Mosque has been transformed beyond all recognition over the last decade. As reported last year, the view from the open courtyard in the centre of the mosque is now choked with cranes, jostling for position with minarets and towers;
The Kingdom of Saud rejects any history that predates it.
This systematic wanton destruction is just a continuation of the Saudi/Wahabi plan to clear all of Makkah & Madinah of any trace of the Prophet Muhammad, because they neither love him nor respect him. It is for this reason that they have classified the celebration of the Mawlid ( the birth of the Prophet) as un-Islamic. The Muslims who follow the correct Creed, do not worship the Prophet or the places that he visited, they only wish to go to these places because they love the Prophet for the blessing & benefit that has come through him, Muslims know that the Prophet cannot benefit them with what Allah has not willed for them. The wahabies on the other hand do not follow the Creed of the majority of the Muslims, their belief is corrupt
The author implies that the Saudi authorities are trying to remove all traces of Muhammad, including the various buildings supposedly connected with his life, as well as several columns with poetry pertaining to the life of the Prophet.
while destroying the spirit of piety exemplified by the Prophet Mohamed in his native village.
Incidentally, idolatry is the worship of the golden calf and other anthropomorphic statuary, not buildings. The Saudi government just spews that dogma as a way of justifying their cushy villa and hotel accommodations, establishing systemized crowd control, and reaping the profits of high-priced building contracts.
Saudi Arabia has only been around a few decades.....why does it have the right to be the self proclaimed "custodian" over a religion which predates it many times over?
It's not the custodian of Islam, but it is the custodian of two holy sites (Makkah and Madinah) since they're inside Saudi Arabia. m. WHY EWS FEEL THEY ARE CUSTODIANS OF ISLAM, WHEN THEY ARE OF JUST 2 CITIES
EXTRA
Two million Muslims have flooded into Saudi Arabia's Mina Valley from Mecca for the start of the Hajj pilgrimage this week. Dressed in simple white garments and freed from their worldly possessions, they are following in the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad. But in Islam's holiest city, there is increasingly little sign of the prophet's legacy – or the frugal life he espoused.
“The authorities are trying to destroy anything in Mecca that is associated with the prophet's life,” says Irfan al-Alawi, director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who recently returned from a trip to the city. “They have already bulldozed the house of his wife, his grandson and his companion – and now they are coming for his birthplace. And for what? Yet more seven-star hotels.”