https://www.theislamicmonthly.com/the-birth-and-imminent-death-of-a-sacred-meccan-site/

2006

The aggressive sprawl of the modern Haram has obliterated many of the city’s holy places. Even the famous well of Zamzam has been paved over.

Admittedly, the Holy Sanctuary has had to be expanded to accommodate the millions descending upon it in the 21st century. But, at the same time, one can’t help but notice that extremist elements have used rampant development as an excuse to wipe out aspects of our heritage that they consider idolatrous.

The root of this bizarre cultural effacement is found in the literalism of the Salafi- Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia that eschews any metaphoric exegesis of Qur’an and Hadith. Inspired by an 18th-century scholar, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd alWahhab, the Salafi- Wahhabis have enjoyed considerable authority in the Kingdom since 1925.

For them, the visitation of graves, houses, wells or his-torical places of pious people is shirk, or polytheism. What this means in reality is that to protect our “weak iman,” these selfimposed guardians of our souls have taken it upon themselves to destroy all historical sites, just in case we might worship them.

Such are the arguments foisted upon the pilgrims, browbeaten into believing that by honoring the memory of Islam’s heroes, they are doing something wrong. This has been going on for a long time, and my first encounter of this kind was 17 years ago in Medina.

And, of course, the library-built over the Prophet’s birth site, which was demolished by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Ibn Saud and then used as a cattle market2-has been a target of the Salafi-Wahhabis for decades. With the Haram scheduled for major expansion, the site of Prophet’s birthplace is under imminent threat of being permanently forgotten under concrete and marble.

Even the family of Sheikh ‘Abbas Kattan, who purchased the plot and constructed a library on it in 1951 to preserve it, will be unable to stop the jackhammers and bulldozers this time if the world does not wake up.

The library rests on the very foundations of the dwelling where Amina bint Wahb gave birth, and where more than 1,400 years ago, the Prophet entered the world miraculously circumcised and in the position of prostration.

This is where Amina’s midwife heard an Angel blessing the Prophet when he dropped into her hands and sneezed, and from where the sky become infused with so much light.

It is also from this spot that several other wonders took place the Monday night that the Prophet was born on the 12th of Rabi’ al-Awwal in the year of the Elephant, c. 570. The Persian palace of Khosrau shook and its balconies tumbled; the waters of Lake Tiberias in modern day Israel ebbed and the flame of Persia, which had not been put out for a thousand years, was mysteriously extinguished.

The famous English Hajji from Cape Town, Hedley Churchward,3 performed the pilgrimage in 1910 and sketched the Prophet’s birthplace before its destruction by the Salafi-Wahhabi ikhwan. His illustration indicates that a person had to go down a flight of stairs to enter a domed chamber under which the noble Prophet’s cradle had stood.

The Meccan historian, al-Azraqi, noted that it was desirable to perform a prayer in this house, and that the mother of the 8th-century ‘Abbasid Caliph, Harun alRashid, had it converted into a small mosque. The 7thcentury Qur’anic scholar, al-Naqqash, identified the birthplace of the Prophet as a place where prayers were accepted. The traveler Ibn Jubair also mentions the house in his writings, saying that it was opened to the public during the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal.

Tenth century scholars such as Imam Hajar al-Haythami, and historians such as Ibn Zahira al-Hanafi and al-Nahrawali, have all written accounts of the house being the focal point of the mawlid. Every year on the 12th of Rabi’ alAwwal, just after Maghrib, the notables of the city led by the four qadis, the judges representing the four schools of legal thought, would proceed to the Prophet’s birthplace.

A sermon eulogizing the miracles of the Prophet’s nativity would be delivered, as well as special invocations. After that the procession would wend its way to a crowded Haram through the streets of Mecca lit up by candles and lamps. In the Haram, where families would gather in their best clothes, more invocations would be made and the final evening prayer (Isha) performed.

This enduring tradition was stopped only in 1925 when the Salafi-Wahhabis marched into Mecca, beheading the city’s prominent Sunni ‘ulama on Jabal Qubais4 and vandalizing its graveyards and holy places, including the cemetery of Ma’la and the Prophet’s birthplace.

Parts of this article have been excerpted from chapter 25 of the author’s recent publication, “Notebooks from Makkah and Madinah,” Dome Publications, Cape Town, 2005.

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2012

Work on the Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, where the prophet Mohammed is buried, will reportedly start once the annual Hajj pilgrimage ends next month. When complete, the development will turn the mosque into the world’s largest building, able to take in 1.6 million worshippers.

But there are fears that the redevelopment of the Masjid an-Nabawi is "part of a wider drive to shift focus away from the place where Mohammed is buried," the newspaper says. "The spot that marks the Prophet’s tomb is covered by a famous green dome and forms the centerpiece of the current mosque. But under the new plans, it will become the east wing of a building eight times its current size with a new pulpit."

according to the British Independent. The house of Mohammed's first wife, Khadijah, has already been replaced with a public toilet block, it reports.

Historic sections of Mecca and Medina have been bulldozed to make way for gleaming shopping malls, luxury hotels and enormous skyscrapers. The Independent quotes the Washington-based Gulf Institute, which estimates that "95 per cent of the 1,000-year-old buildings in the two cities have been destroyed in the past 20 years."

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https://www.jafariyanews.com/2k6_news/april/28shame_on_saudhouse.htm



https://www.jafariyanews.com/2k6_news/april/28shame_on_saudhouse.htm

2006

Shame of the House of Saud: Gasoline on Prophet’s Mother (s) grave, toilets built on Sayyedah Khadijah (s) house

LONDON, Britain: British daily Independent published a report by Daniel Howden in which it revealed extent of destruction caused to Islam's diverse heritage in the holy cities of Makkah and Medinah …A car Park on the birth place of the Prophet (saw), Bulldozed and Gasoline poured on the grave of the mother of the Prophet (saw), Lavatories built on the house of Sayyedah Khadijah (sa).

The paper said there is a growing shadow being cast over Islam's holiest site. Only a few metres from the walls of the Grand Mosque in Makkah skyscrapers are reaching further into the sky, slowly blocking out the light. These enormous and garish newcomers now dwarf the elegant black granite of the Kaaba, the focal point of the four million Muslims' annual Haj pilgrimage.

The tower blocks are the latest and largest evidence of the destruction of Islamic heritage that has wiped almost all of the historic city from the physical landscape. As revealed in The Independent last August, the historic cities of Makkah and Medinah are under an unprecedented assault from religious zealots and their commercial backers.

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document the demolition of key archaeological sites and their replacement with skyscrapers.

The report further said Saudi religious authorities have overseen a decades-long demolition campaign that has cleared the way for developers to embark on a building spree of multi-storey hotels, restaurants, shopping centres and luxury apartment blocks on a scale unseen outside Dubai. The driving force behind this historical demolition is Wahhabism the austere state faith that the House of Saud brought with it when Ibn Saud conquered the Arabian peninsula in the 1920s.

Birthplace photo 281 House Under Mosque6    is the room of the Prophet saw with Sayyedah Khadijah (sa).

The Wahhabis live in fanatical fear that places of historical or religious interest could give rise to alternative forms of pilgrimage or worship. Their obsession with combating idolatry has seen them flatten all evidence of a past that does not agree with their interpretation of Islam.

Irfan Ahmed al-Alawi, the chairman of the Islamic Heritage Foundation, set up to help protect the holy sites, says the case of the grave of Amina bint Wahb (as), the mother of the Prophet (saw), found in 1998, is typical of what has happened. "It was bulldozed in Abwa and gasoline was poured on it. Even though thousands of petitions throughout the Muslim world were sent, nothing could stop this action."

Today there are fewer than 20 structures remaining in Makkah that date back to the time of the Prophet (saw) 1,400 years ago. The litany of this lost history includes the house of Khadijah (sa), the wife of the Prophet (saw), demolished to make way for public lavatories; the house of Abu Bakr, the Prophet's companion, now the site of the local Hilton hotel; the house of Ali-Oraid, the grandson of the Prophet, and the Mosque of abu-Qubais, now the location of the King's palace in Makkah.

The House of Saud has been bound to Wahhabism since the 18th century religious reformer Mohamed Ibn Abdul-Wahab signed a pact with Mohammed bin Saud in 1744. Wahab's warrior zealots helped to conquer a kingdom for the tribal chieftains. The House of Saud got its wealth and power, and the clerics got the vehicle of state they needed to spread their fundamentalist ideology around the world. The ruler of this fledgling kingdom needed the legitimacy afforded by declaring himself “custodian of the two holy places".

But that legitimacy has come at an enormous price for the diversity of Muslims who look to Makkah for guidance. Once in charge, the Wahhabists wasted little time in censoring the Haj.#

Instead, the homogenisation of Islam's holiest sites was allowed to accelerate into a demolition campaign that now threatens the birthplace of the Prophet itself. The site survived the early reign of Ibn Saud 50 years ago when the architect for the planned library persuaded the absolute ruler to allow him to preserve the remains under the new structure. Saudi authorities now plan to "update" the site with a car park that would mean concreting over the remains.

Makkah's skyline

Giant cranes and half-constructed skyscrapers tower over the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Six new property developments, including the Bin Laden group's Zam Zam Tower, are transforming the character of Islam's holiest city

The Prophet's wife's grave

The ruins in the foreground are the remains of the grave of the Prophet's wife, Al Baqi, destroyed in the 1950s. The mutawi religious police are present night and day to prevent anyone placing flowers on the site, or even praying in the proximity of the graves

Al Oraid Mosque

The 1,200-year-old mosque, site of the grave of the Prophet's grandson al-Oraid, is seen here being dynamited. Gathered around the site are Saudi religious police with their distinctive red scarves, who appear to be celebrating

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SEE FOLLOWING FOR LONG ARTICLE AND PHOTOS OF THE House Under Mosque6 WHICH IS THE HOUSE OF  Sayyedah Khadijah (sa).

https://www.islamiclandmarks.com/makkah-haram-sharief/house-of-khadija-ra

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https://time.com/3584585/saudi-arabia-bulldozes-over-its-heritage/

Saudi Arabia Bulldozes Over Its Heritage

2014

But activists charge that the recent destructions are part of a much wider government campaign to rub out historical and religious sites across the Kingdom.

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Though the Saudi rulers have a long history of destroying historical sites, activists say the pace and range of destruction has recently increased. A few months ago, the house of Hamza, the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle, was flattened to make way for a Meccan hotel, according to Irfan Al Alawi, executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. #

A 61-page report, published recently in Saudi Arabia’s Journal of the Royal Presidency, suggested separating the Prophet’s tomb from Medina’s mosque, a task “that would amount to its destruction,” Alawi says. “You can’t move it without destroying it.” Moreover, he alleges, plans for a new palace for King Abdullah threaten the library atop the site traditionally identified as the birthplace of Muhammad. Even now, signs in four languages warn visitors that there is no proof that the Prophet Muhammad was born there, “so it is forbidden to make this place specific for praying, supplicating or get [sic] blessing.”

Wahhabism, the prevailing Saudi strain of Islam, frowns on visits to shrines, tombs or religio-historical sites, on grounds that they might lead to Islam’s gravest sin: worshipping anyone other than God. In recent years, the twin forks of Wahhabi doctrine and urban development have speared most physical reminders of Islamic history in the heart of Mecca. The house of the Prophet’s first wife, Khadijah has made way for public toilets. A Hilton hotel stands on the site of the house of Islam’s first caliph, Abu Bakr. Famously, the Kaaba now stands in the shade of one of the world’s tallest buildings, the Mecca Royal Clock Tower, part of a complex built by the Bin Laden Group, boasting a 5-story shopping mall, luxury hotels and a parking garage.

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Six small mosques in Medina where Muhammad is believed to have prayed have been locked. The seventh, belonging to Islam’s first caliph Abu Bakr, has been razed to make way for an ATM. 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/features/saudi-cultural-vandalism-muslim-heritage-continues

2015

Sites associated with the life of prophet Muhammad have been close to the hearts of all Muslims for almost one and a half millennia. Over the centuries, rule over these sites has passed through numerous hands, including the Ummayads, Abassids and Ottomans. They are currently under the control of the Saudi royal family, under the self-appointed title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”. This is not just an honorific title but one of substantive authority. It is the Saudis who control which of the 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide are permitted or denied entry for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj.

Despite this title as custodians, the estimated 3.7 mn internationals that flock to Arabia each year for the annual Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj may be hard pressed to find clear evidence of what is traditionally thought of as guardianship. Instead of preserving and protecting holy sites, which the Saudi authorities themselves call a “sacred trust”, critics say they are guilty of “cultural vandalism” there.

The Washington based Institute for Gulf Affairs estimates that 95% of Mecca's millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades. The one-time desert region now has a skyline, not lit by stars, but by gaudy luxury hotels and flashy shopping malls hosting the likes of McDonalds, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, and several Paris Hilton boutiques.

Pilgrims who have scrimped and saved for a once in a lifetime spiritual journey to the heartland of Islamic history and want, for example, to visit the site of the home of Muhammad’s first wife Khadijah will now find a block of 1,400 public toilets in the place where her home once stood. In place of the mosque of Abu Bakr – the first Caliph of Islam - they will now find a cash point. Cemeteries dating back over 1,000 years have been razed. Mountains have been crushed just to make way for car parks.

#

He said, “Speaking on behalf of the Turkish State and Nation, after such destruction, it seems difficult to consider Saudi Arabia in a friendly light. This is not only disrespect to history, but is also a move to eliminate Turkish culture from their world and history.” However, while it may be the case that there is some sort of nationalistic element behind removing evidence of other cultures from their land, there is certainly much more to it than that.

The Saudis claim that the multi-billion dollar expansion projects they are working on (including at least $6 bn to expand the Prophet’s mosque in Medina, $21 bn to expand the mosque in Mecca as well as $16.5 bn to modernise the transport system in Mecca) are necessary to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims who flock to the region every year, and there is certainly some validity to that point. In terms of health and safety alone it is significant that more than two thousand people have been killed in stampedes due to overcrowding in the last couple of decades. Modernisation is clearly called for.

Not even Saudi’s staunchest detractors deny that expansion and development is needed but the expansion could easily be done in a way that also accommodates the preservation of ancient sites. Dr Irfan Al-Alawi, the Executive Director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, a centre dedicated to the preservation of historical sites in Saudi, says “We do not deny that expansion is needed but there are ways they could expand while still preserving the historic sites. They could even move some of the buildings, hotels and so on just a mile further away into the desert area.”

There also seems to be a religious agenda behind the façade of modernity and development. Experts like Dr Al-Alawi directly blames the austere brand of “wahabism” that many Saudis adhere to as the motivating factor behind the destruction of historic sites. He argues that it is their fear of people committing shirk - associating anything or anyone with God – that is the driving force behind the destruction. While all Muslims consider shirk a sin, it seems the Saudis are taking their interpretation so far that they are trying to wipe out any place of historical significance that people might potentially attribute holy status to beyond those clearly set out in the Quran.

A prime example is the site where prophet Muhammad is believed to have possibly been born. At one point it was turned into a cattle market, then a library in the 1950s, and the Saudis are now on course to tear that library down, excavate the site and build part of the expanded palace, or Imam’s residence in its place. In fact, almost as if to pre-empt and quell any outrage in advance they have put up a sign at the location stating: “There is no proof that Prophet Muhammad was born in this place, so it is forbidden to make this place specific for praying, supplicating or get blessing.”

Islamic historians like Dr Irfan Al-Alawi emphasise that international pressure is an important way to halt further destruction. According to him, several times in the past the municipality have changed their plans to demolish one historic structure or another as a result of negative international publicity. He called for people to keep up the momentum of complaining when Islamic heritage sites are at risk.

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2006

The authorities plan to demolish the house of Mawlid, where the Prophet was born. About 60 years ago, this house, which used to have a dome over it, was turned into a cattle market. Some people then worked together to transform it into a library, which it is today. It is lined with shelves of books about Mecca, most of them written by Meccans. But the library is under threat again because of the new Jabal �Umar project, one of the largest real estate development projects near the Grand Mosque. The birthplace of the Prophet is to make way for a car park and hotels.

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https://www.islamicity.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3568&title=the-destruction-of-holy-sites-in-mecca

The House of Sayyida Khadija

ISLAMICA publishes here exclusive images of the house of Sayyida Khadija and explains how it was found, excavated and then buried.

 
EDITOR'S NOTE: Images available in the print edition. Subscribe to Islamica today. 

The House of Sayyida Khadija was rediscovered during the Haram extensions in 1989, then hurriedly covered over so as to obliterate any trace. This was the house where the Prophet Muhammad received some of his first revelations and it is also where his children Umm Kulthum, Ruqqaya, Fatima, Zaynab, Qasim and �Abdullah were born. ISLAMICA publishes here exclusive images of the house of Sayyida Khadija and how it was found, excavated, studied and then buried. The House of Sayyida Khadija was located just outside Safa and Marwa and which now falls under the paved area. Above it, the Wahhabi hardliners have built public toilets.

In the late 1980s plans were drawn up to flatten the area immediately outside Safa and Marwa in the Haram in Mecca and make way for a paved area. Those behind the proposed plan were well aware that the area around Safa and Marwa had a number of sites of historical and religious importance�with many dating back to Abbasid and pre- Abbasid times�and that it would be threatened by any major development initiative for the area. The plan, however, was approved by the then king and it was undertaken by the Bin Ladin construction company.

The work began in 1989 and over 60 old houses were demolished to make way for the paved area (see image 1). However, after demolishing one of the buildings, the Bin Ladin company found remains of a house under the foundations of the building. This turned out to be the House of Sayyida Khadija and of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him.

There are numerous references to the House of Sayyida Khadija in historical documents giving minute details as to its location and layout. In fact, a British explorer, Eldon Rutter, saw the house when he visited Mecca in 1925 and describes the house in his book (see E. Rutter, The Holy Sites of Arabia, vol.1, London, 1928). The house was an important site for pilgrimage and it remained preserved in people�s memories for many generations to come. However, by the early 20th century and with the rise of the Wahhabi movement in the Arabian Peninsula, the house suffered neglect and in order to preserve it Sheikh �Abbas Qattan obtained permission from King �Abd al-�Aziz to open a Qur�an school as it was the site of some of the first revelations of the Qur�an and the place where the Prophet lived until he migrated to Medina. Over time this school too became derelict, with the various political upheavals and the declining fortunes of traditional Islam. The school was eventually replaced by housing and gradually the existence of the remains of the House of Sayyida Khadija were little known among the general population of Mecca�apart from a few.

Image 2 on the right shows the remains of the house that were found when the present residential block was demolished. It had several rooms and matched the historical accounts exactly in terms of its distance from the Haram and the layout of the house.

Image 3 shows the early stage of escavation and also the proximity of the house to the Haram with Safa and Marwa in the background. News spread among the citizens of Mecca that the House where the Prophet once lived had been found, even though local newspapers remained on the whole quiet and did not give it much importance, in keeping with Wahhabi sentiments. However, some did show interest, as image 4 shows Saudis lining up in the background to catch a glimpse of the house.

Image 5 shows a bird�s-eye view of the house. Area A was the room of Sayyida Khadija where she has two mihrabs, or prayer niches. Area B shows the prayer room of the Prophet with its own mihrab. A more detailed image of the mihrab is seen in image 7 once excavation was complete. A small green-colored geometric design was found on the stone floor where the Prophet would have put his noble head in prayer. This was, of course, a later addition but shows the efforts taken by succeeding generations of Muslims to exalt the sanctity of the site. The Prophet�s children were born in this house; Fatima, for example, is said by traditional accounts to have been born in the room shown on image 6.

Image 8 shows the corridor of the house as seen from inside the room of Sayyida Khadija. The authorities, although aware of what they had unearthed, buried unceremoniously the whole house in soft clean sand.

Image 9 shows the site completely covered. And to add insult to injury, the Wahhabi authorities then went on to build public toilets above the site (see image 10 and inset). Circled in orange in image 10 is the old library built on the site of the Prophet�s birthplace and which is now threatened by a new development project (see next article by Shafiq Morton).

Replacing Mother of believers house of Khadija riDiaLLahu and birth place ofbeloved daughter of Prophet (saw)

Fatima riDiaLLahu ‘anha House with Latrines or Toilets

WAHHABI HAVE DESTROYED THE HOUSE OF MOTHER OF ALL BELIEVERS WIFE OF THE PROPHET (S) Khadija riDiaLLahu AND THE BIRTH PLACE OF BELOVED DAUGHTER OF PROPHET MUHMMAD (S) Fatima riDiaLLahu ‘anha

IS THIS NOT THIS NOT THAT SAME FATIMA (R) ?ABOUT WHOM PROPHET MUHAMMAD SAW SAID

the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Fatimah is a part of me, and whoever angers her, angers me.”(Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3437; Muslim, 4483)

BY ALLAH PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) IS SURELY ANGRY WITH THESE WAHHABIS FOR DESTROYING THE BIRTH PLACE

OF HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER AND MAKING TOILETS OVER IT

IS THIS NOT THE SAME KHADIJAH(R) ABOUT WHOM ALLAH SAYS SHE IS THE MOTHER OF ALL THE BELIEVERS

The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers. QURAN Sarah 33.6 Al-Ahab

ALLAH IS SURELY ANGRY WITH THESE WAHHABIS FOR DESTROYING THE HOUSE OF PROPHET (SAW)  AND HIS BELOVED WIFE KHADIJAH (R) AND MAKING TOILETS OVER IT

HOW WOULD HAVE PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SAW) REACTED WHEN THESE WAHHABIS WOULD HAVE DESTROYED HIS WIFES HOUSE AND MADE TOILETS ON THE BIRTH PLACE OF HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER IN HIS TIME BY PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE MUSLIMS AND HIS FOLLOWERS

HOW WOULD THE COMPANIONS (SALAF) OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) WOULD HAVE REACTED WHEN THESE SO CALLED WAHHABIS  DESTROYED THEIR PROPHET(SAW) WIFES HOUSE AND MADE TOILETS ON THE BIRTH PLACE OF HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER IN THEIR TIME BY PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE MUSLIMS AND HIS FOLLOWERS 

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If we cannot visit the home where Mohammed had his first revelations or pray in an ancient mosque where the earliest Muslims prayed, then Muslims would have truly lost a part of the vital connection with their prophet who brought the message of God. At least, profane cartoons can be ripped up, destroyed and ignored, but sacred sites absolutely should not be erased from the existence they came from because they are reminders of the original and true message of Islam.

is this the reason why they are being demolished

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https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/234981892-prophet-and-khadijas-home-now-public-restroom/

. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, stated that "the green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".

ABOUT THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH SAMI AGRAWAL:

This archeologist speaks about the shame of the Saudi Regime and how they destroyed the home of the Prophet (pbuh) and Khadija (as), the place where Fatima Zahra (as) was born and built public rest rooms over it.

Not only demolish historical sites (such as the prophets own house), but invite millions of people to come and defecate on top of them.

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The destruction of sites associated with early Islam is a phenomenon that has occurred mainly in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, particularly around the holy cities of Mecca (Makkah) and Medina (Madinah). The demolition has focused on mosques, burial sites, homes and historical locations associated with the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and many of the founding personalities of early Islamic history including Sahaba (companions) and Ahlul Bayt (family) of the Prophet. This phenomenon is part of the implementation of state-endorsed Wahhabi religious policy to eliminate as much as they can the connection of a common Muslim to its History and its Belief , and to let him have such a vague concept of Islam , that Hypocrites like these Saudi Wahabi can mould them in the best possible way , which can benefit them or their empire.

Ottoman and Abasi columns of the Grand Mosque

Slated for demolition as part of the Grand Mosque expansion, these intricately carved columns date back to the 17th century and are the oldest surviving sections of Islam’s holiest site. Much to the chagrin of Wahabis, they are inscribed with the names of the Prophet’s companions. Ottomon Mecca is now rapidly disappearing

Al-Masjid al-Nawabi

For many years, hardline Wahabi clerics have had their sites set on the 15th century green dome that rests above the tomb holding the Prophet, Abu Bakr and Umar in Medina. The mosque is regarded as the second holiest site in Islam. Wahabis, however, believe marked graves are idolatrous. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, stated that “the green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet’s Masjid”.

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2014

The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam’s most important mosque as part of a highly controversial multi-billion pound expansion.

Photographs obtained by The Independent reveal how workers with drills and mechanical diggers have started demolishing some Ottoman and Abbasid sections on the eastern side of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.

The building, which is also known as the Grand Mosque, is the holiest site in Islam because it contains the Kaaba – the point to which all Muslims face when praying. The columns are the last remaining sections of the mosque which date back more than a few hundred years and form the inner perimeter on the outskirts of the white marble floor surrounding the Kaaba.

Photos taken by activists in Saudi Arabia showing the destruction of the Grand Mosque
Many of the Ottoman and Abbasid columns in Mecca were inscribed with intricate Arabic calligraphy marking the names of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions and key moments in his life. One column which is believed to have been ripped down is supposed to mark the spot where Muslims believe Muhammad began his heavenly journey on a winged horse, which took him to Jerusalem and heaven in a single night.

To accommodate the ever increasing number of pilgrims heading to the twin holy cities of Mecca and Medina each year the Saudi authorities have embarked upon a massive expansion project. Billions of pounds have been poured in to increase the capacity of the Masjid al-Haram and the Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina which marks where Muhammad is buried. King Abdullah has put the prominent Wahabi cleric and imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, in charge of the expansion

In the last decade Mecca has been transformed from a dusty desert pilgrimage town into a gleaming metropolis of skyscrapers that tower over the Masjid al-Haram and are filled with a myriad of shopping malls, luxury apartments and five star hotels.

Many senior Wahabis are vehemently against the preservation of historical Islamic sites that are linked to the prophet because they believe it encourages shirq – the sin of idol worshipping.

But Dr Irfan al-Alawi, executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation which obtained the new photographs from inside the Grand Mosque, says the removal of the Ottoman and Abbasid columns will leave future generations of Muslims ignorant of their significance.

“It matters because many of these columns signified certain areas of the mosque where the Prophet sat and prayed,” he said. “ The historical record is being deleted. A new Muslim would never have a clue because there’s nothing marking these locations now. There are ways you could expand Mecca and Medina while protecting the historical heritage of the mosque itself and the surrounding sites.”

SO ROYALTY DID LISTEN-- ONCE ON THE PROPHET'S SAW MOSQUE, AND ONCE ON GM, AS WELL AS ON BIRTHPLACE IN 1951:

Photos taken by activists in Saudi Arabia showing the destruction of the Grand Mosque
There are signs that King Abdullah has listened to concerns about the historical destruction of Mecca and Medina. Last October The Independent revealed how new plans for the masjid an-Nabawi in Medina would result in the destruction of three of the world’s oldest mosques on the west hand side of the main complex. However new plans approved by King Abdullah last week appear to show a change of heart with the bulk of the expansion now slated to take place to the north of the Masjid an-Nabawi.

However key sites are still at risk. The Independent has obtained a presentation used by the Saudis to illustrate how the expansion of Mecca’s main mosque will look. In one of the slides it is clear that the Bayt al-Mawlid, an area which is believed to be the house where Muhammad was born in, will have to be removed unless plans change.

SSE BIRTHPLACE PHOTO 283 DEMOLITION IN GRAND MOSQUE

Above interview from :

https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/234981892-prophet-and-khadijas-home-now-public-restroom/

above video of photos of the Prophet's saw house from:

https://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/234981892-prophet-and-khadijas-home-now-public-restroom/

Above photo: BIRTHPLACE PHOTO 282 SITE IN 2013

Above photo:  BIRTHPLACE PHOTO 283 DEMOLITION IN GRAND MOSQUE             photo from 2014 approx.

above video from:

https://islamopedia.co.uk/2014/05/21/places-to-visit-in-makkah-the-house-of-khadija-ra/

https://islamopedia.co.uk/2014/05/21/places-to-visit-in-makkah-the-house-of-khadija-ra/

In the above lecture by Dr. Ahmed Zaki Yemeni and in it he explains the significance of the House of Khadija and his involvement in the excavation of the site.

The house of Khadija (RA) also used to be in the Banu Hashim district near to the house where the Prophet (SAW) was born.

It was here that the Prophet (peace be upon him) lived much of his adult life after marriage and up to the Hijrah. It was here where the Prophet (peace be upon him) received some of the first revelations. It was here that most of his children were born. It was here that he spent some of his most difficult years whilst living in Makkah under the persecution of the Quraysh. And it was here from where he started his momentous Hijrah, leaving ‘Ali (RA) in his blessed bed.

The house that was there was demolished to make way for the expansion of the existing Mosque. In 1989 there was an excavation of the area to reveal the extent of the house. 

The house is reported to have had 5 key areas. The 1st area was the guest area / or the reception room as we would now know it. The 2nd area was the children’s quarters and where Fatima (RA) was born. The 3rd area was the prayer room where the Prophet (SAW) prayed and the 4th area is the blessed room of Khadija (RA). The 5th area constituted the hallways and the circulation space.

It is not clearly known any longer as to exactly where the house sat, but it was near about where the current ablution areas are behind the Marwah gates.

2014

A controversial plan has emerged in Saudi Arabia to demolish the tomb of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and relocate his body to an anonymous grave, in a move sure to draw an angry response from the Muslim world, a report says.

A leading Saudi academic put forward the proposal as part of a consultation document, which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in the holy city of Medina, where the Prophet (PBUH) are laid to rest under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and regarded as Islam’s second-holiest site, the UK’s Independent newspaper reported on Monday.

Based on the 61-page document, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)’s body could be moved to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery to be buried anonymously.

Several pages of the consultation document that have just been published urge the destruction of the rooms surrounding the tomb – used by the Prophet (PBUH)’s family members. The document also seeks the removal of the Green Dome.

“The Prophet would be anonymous,” Dr Irfan al-Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, said, adding, “Everything around the Prophet’s mosque has already been destroyed. It is surrounded by bulldozers. Once they’ve removed everything they can move towards the mosque.”

“I’m sure there will be shock across the Muslim world at these revelations. It will cause outrage.”

So far, there has been no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the

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“Mecca is a holy sanctuary as stated in the Quran it is no ordinary city. The Muslims remain silent against the Saudi Wahhabi destruction because they fear they will not be allowed to visit the Kindom again,” said Dr. Al Alawi.

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The Huffington Post just published Mecca Clock Tower Photo Shows Kaaba In The Shadow Of Abraj Al-Bait Building. The article opens with: “The Kaaba once took center stage, but now it appears as a minute structure at the foot of a clock tower and hotel, which opened in 2012. The Abraj Al-Bait Towers loom over the Masjid Al-Haram in an ostentatious show of luxury that stands in stark contrast to the piety and history symbolized by the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure believed by Muslims to have been originally built by the prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael.” But this photo included in the article says everything without words. It deserves to be used as a meditation on “what has changed”.

2014

One of Islam’s most revered holy sites – the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed – could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world.

The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of the mosque is Saudi Arabia’s ageing monarch King Abdullah.

The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.

The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously.

There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.

One of Islam’s most revered holy sites – the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed – could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world.

The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of the mosque is Saudi Arabia’s ageing monarch King Abdullah.

The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.

The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously.

There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.

One of Islam’s most revered holy sites – the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed – could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world.

The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of the mosque is Saudi Arabia’s ageing monarch King Abdullah.

The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.

The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously.

There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.

One of Islam’s most revered holy sites – the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed – could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world.

The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of the mosque is Saudi Arabia’s ageing monarch King Abdullah.

The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.

The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously.

There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.

One of Islam’s most revered holy sites – the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed – could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world.

The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of the mosque is Saudi Arabia’s ageing monarch King Abdullah.

The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.

The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously.

There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.

Dr Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told The Independent: “People visit the chambers, which are the rooms where the Prophet’s family lived, and turn towards the burial chamber to pray.

“Now they want to prevent pilgrims from attending and venerating the tomb because they believe this is shirq, or idolatry. But the only way they can stop people visiting the Prophet is to get him out and into the cemetery.”

#

Al-Nabawi mosque around the tomb has been expanded by generations of Arabian rulers, particularly the Ottomans. It includes hand-painted calligraphy documenting details of the Prophet’s life and his family. Dr Alawi said the plans also call for these to be destroyed as well as the Green Dome which covers the Prophet’s tomb.

King Abdullah has appointed the prominent Wahhabi cleric and imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, to oversee the expansion project – necessary to cope with the huge number of pilgrims who now visit each year.

Dr Alawi says the consultation document for the al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, by the leading Saudi academic Dr Ali bin Abdulaziz al-Shabal of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, has been circulated to the Committee of the Presidency of the Two Mosques.

Several pages of the consultation document have just been published in the presidency’s journal. They call for the destruction of the rooms surrounding the tomb – used by the Prophet’s wives and daughters, and venerated by the Shia because of their association with his youngest daughter, Fatima.

The document also calls for the Green Dome, which covers the tomb and these living quarters, to be removed, and the ultimate removal of the Prophet’s body to a nearby cemetery.

The al-Baqi cemetery already contains the bodies of many of the Prophet’s family, including his father who was removed there in the 1970s, Dr Alawi said. In 1924 all the grave markers were removed, so pilgrims would not know who was buried there, and so be unable to pray to them.

“The Prophet would be anonymous,” Dr Alawi added. “Everything around the Prophet’s mosque has already been destroyed. It is surrounded by bulldozers. Once they’ve removed everything they can move towards the mosque. The imam is likely to say there is a need to expand the mosque and do it that way, while the world’s eyes are on Iraq and Syria. The Prophet Mohamed’s grave is venerated by the mainstream Sunni, who would never do it. It is just as important for the Shia too, who venerate the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima.

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2014

The Independent, which has chronicled the construction plans and the threat posed to historic structures, obtained pictures showing heavy construction equipment knocking down sections of the Grand Mosque. That includes columns “inscribed with intricate Arabic calligraphy marking the names of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions and key moments in his life,” the Independent reported. “One column which is believed to have been ripped down is supposed to mark the spot where Muslims believe Muhammad began his heavenly journey on a winged horse, which took him to Jerusalem and heaven in a single night.”

A previous story wondered why criticism among Muslims has been relatively muted in the face of “cultural vandalism of breath-taking proportions.” Other construction has destroyed sites “with a direct link to the Prophet himself,” the Independent’s Jerome Taylor reported last fall. More than 300 historical sites have been destroyed during the past 20 years.

##

“The recent movie about the Prophet Mohamed caused worldwide protests… and yet the destruction of the Prophet’s birthplace, where he prayed and founded Islam has been allowed to continue without any criticism.”

“During the last three decades, construction work to expand the mosque has already destroyed about two thirds of the sacred mosque’s historical buildings,” Fassi said. “The Ottoman galleries are the greatest treasure of the remaining third. We have already lost the houses of the Prophet’s companions, as well as smaller mosques around the main mosque that dated back to the earliest years of the Islamic era. And, while the house in which the Prophet was born has been transformed into a library, other sites have suffered worse fates: for instance, the house of Khadija, the Prophet’s first wife and the mother of his children, was destroyed in order to build public toilets!”

Illustrations for expanding the main Mecca mosque indicated the area believed to be Muhammad’s birthplace – literally the birthplace of Islam – appears removed. He called the Saudis for comment, but they declined.

--

2014

In the eyes of Wahabis, historical sites and shrines encourage “shirq” – the sin of idolatry or polytheism – and should be destroyed. 

#

Slated for demolition as part of the Grand Mosque expansion, these intricately carved columns date back to the 17th century and are the oldest surviving sections of Islam’s holiest site. Much to the chagrin of Wahabis, they are inscribed with the names of the Prophet’s companions. Ottomon Mecca is now rapidly disappearing

2007

Now as they make the pilgrimage clothed in simple white cotton wraps, they will see something other than the stark black cube known as the Kaaba, which is literally the center of the Muslim world. They will also see Starbucks. And Cartier and Tiffany. And H&M and Topshop.

The Abraj al Bait Mall - one of the largest in Saudi Arabia, outfitted with flat-panel monitors with advertisements and announcements, neon lights, an amusement park ride, fast-food restaurants and a lingerie shop - has been built directly across from Islam's holiest site.

Not everyone considers this progress.

"Mecca is becoming like Las Vegas, and that is a disaster," said Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, a Saudi opposition research organization. "It will have a disastrous effect on Muslims because going to Mecca will have no feeling. There is no charm anymore. All you see is glass and cement."

The mall, which opened a week before the annual pilgrimage, called the hajj, in December, is the first phase in a $13 billion construction boom in Mecca that promises to change how this city, forbidden to everyone but Muslims, looks and feels.

The Abraj al Bait housing and hotel complex, a 1.5-million-square-yard development that will include a towering hotel, has begun to redraw the skyline of this ancient religious city.

In nearby Jabal Omar, an entire mountain is being flattened to make way for a huge hotel and high-rise complex. And elsewhere, cranes dot the skyline with up to 130 new high-rise towers planned for the area.

m LOOK AND FEEL   .... WHAT THEY TRY FOR DIRIYAH BUT NOT IN MECCA

"Before, even in the days of the Ottomans, none of the buildings in Mecca towered higher than the Grand Mosque. Now these are much higher and more disrespectful."   M. MANY PEOPLE FIND THIS DISRESPECTFUL... COULD HAVE PUT THE HOTELS AND MALLS A FEW MILES AWAY, AND PEOPLE CAN TRAVEL BY CAR, OR TRAIN OR BUS.. IF THEY CAN TRAVEL THOUSANDS OF MILES TO MECCA THEN THEY CAN TRAVEL FROM THE HOTEL TO THE MOSQUE, AND HAVE THE HOTELS/APARTMENTS TOGETHER WITH THE MALLS FAR AWAY.... THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE TO TRAVEL TO JOBS, SHOPPING MALLS, IN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES, ON ZIYARA,  TRAVEL LONG DISTANCES WHEN THEY TRAVEL ON HOLIDAY TO OTHER COUNTRIES, AD TRAVEL WITHIN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES TO HOIDAY DESTINATIONS AND DAY TRIPSS, ATRACTIONS

But some groups say the building boom also has religious motives. They accuse the archconservative Salafi, who hold great sway in Saudi Arabia, of seeking to eliminate historic spots, fearing that these sites would become objects of worship themselves.

"It is not respecting the Kaaba, not respecting the house of God or the environment of the sanctuary," Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect who wants to preserve Mecca's heritage, said of the development. "You are not supposed to even cut a tree in this city, so how could you blow up a mountain? The Islamic laws have been broken."

#

Mr. Angawi, the Saudi architect, has led a lonely campaign within the kingdom to bring attention to the destruction of the historic sites. Dr. Ahmed has worked to lobby Asian and Arab governments to press the Saudis to stop such demolitions. And Mr. Ahmed, in Washington, has built a database of the historic spots now destroyed.

Developers and real estate agents, meanwhile, say the construction makes room for even more Muslims to take part in the hajj, and therefore serves the greater good.

I just have one thing to say how come there are no malls and mcdonalds by the pyramid? 

Why not build one of the greatest malls outside of mecca? then at least mecca wont be as busy and it will leave room for those who come to mecca for spirituality.

Its now, oh lets pray at the Kabah, and ill meet u afterwards at the mall, well eat mcdonalds and go shopping. And then well go on those amusement rides. wow :(

They're trying to remove your love of the Prophet PBUH) from ur hearts.

Dr. Ahmed of London has cataloged the destruction of more than 300 separate antiquity sites, including cemeteries and mosques. He says the house where the Prophet Muhammad lived was razed and today a dilapidated library, with its windows and doors shuttered, stands in its place.

"This is the end of Mecca," said Dr. Irfan Ahmed in London. He has formed the Islamic Heritage Foundation to try to preserve the Islamic history of Mecca, Medina, the second holiest city, and other important religious sites in Saudi Arabia. 

"Mecca is becoming like Las Vegas, and that is a disaster," said Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington

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https://www.adhrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015.09.30_MSS-Ch.-7_Dest.-of-Rel.-Sites.pdf

 Introduction The Ministry for Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah, and Guidance, commonly abbreviated to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs (MOIA), supervises and regulates religious activity in Saudi Arabia. Whereas the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) directly enforces religious law, as seen in Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 1, 1 the MOIA is responsible for the administration of broader religious services. According to the MOIA, its primary duties include overseeing the coordination of Islamic societies and organizations, the appointment of clergy, and the maintenance and construction of mosques.2 Yet, despite its official mission to “preserve Islamic values” and protect mosques “in a manner that fits their sacred status,”3 the MOIA is complicit in a longstanding government campaign against the peninsula’s traditional heritage – Islamic or otherwise. Since 1925, the Al Saud family has overseen the destruction of tombs, mosques, and historical artifacts in Jeddah, Medina, Mecca, al-Khobar, Awamiyah, and Jabal al-Uhud. According to the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, between just 1985 and 2014 – through the MOIA’s founding in 1993 –the government demolished 98% of the religious and historical sites located in Saudi Arabia.4 The MOIA’s seemingly contradictory role in the destruction of Islamic holy places, commentators suggest, is actually the byproduct of an equally incongruous alliance between the forces of Wahhabism and commercialism.

MAYBE LEAVE OUT BLAME ON GOV

Compelled to acknowledge larger demographic and economic trends in Saudi Arabia – rapid population growth, increased urbanization, and declining oil revenues chief among them6 – the government has increasingly worked to satisfy both the Wahhabi religious establishment and the kingdom’s financial elite. To do so, it has seized the dual opportunity to expand major Islamic sites and clear space for commercial development. The current Grand Mosque expansion project, for example, simultaneously benefits the wider Wahhabi proselytization mission7 and maximizes the profitability of the Hajj – the kingdom’s largest source of income besides oil.8 

The Grand Mosque expansion is just the largest of many comparable ‘development’ projects at work across the kingdom; taken altogether, these projects represent a broader pattern of creative destruction, targeting some of the oldest and most significant places in human history. Moreover, the government has exploited this confluence of religious and financial interests to justify a campaign aimed at the erasure of dissenting minority heritage sites and the imposition of wider religious uniformity. These concurrent efforts have worked to expunge from the historical record any culture existing prior to Saudi rule.

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II. The Ministry Royal Decree 3/A established the MOIA in 1993 to act “in the service of mosques, developing and sponsoring endowments, propagating Islam, considering Islamic issues, and cooperating with Islamic societies and centers to help Muslims worship Allah.”11 According to the MOIA’s official website, its dayto-day operations work to achieve seven overall objectives. These objectives can be summarized as follows: 1) the dissemination of Islamic materials, 2) the proselytization and preservation of Islamic values, 3) the provision of support for international Islamic communities and institutions, 4) the maintenance and protection of mosques, 5) the preparation of Islamic books and research, 6) the proper management and investment of endowed property, and 7) the improved efficiency of Islamic services writ large.12 #

Nevertheless, the establishment of the MOIA has apparently had little mitigating effect on the kingdom’s destruction of mosques, tombs, and other heritage sites.#

From 1996 to 2014,14 and then again from 201515 – almost as long as the MOIA has existed – Saleh bin Abdul-Aziz Al ash-Sheikh has served as the Minister of Islamic Affairs. The Al ash-Sheikh is one of the most powerful families in Saudi Arabia, tracing its lineage back to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism.16 In addition to his two appointments as Minister of Islamic Affairs, Saleh bin Abdul-Aziz Al ash-Sheikh was also appointed as one of the kingdom’s first muftis (or official Wahhabi

religious authorities).17 Two of the minister’s relatives have risen even higher in the Wahhabi hierarchy, each being appointed to serve as the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia; notably, Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, the current Grand Mufti, has allegedly endorsed state-sponsored religious destruction in the past, calling for the demolition of “all the [Christian] churches of the region.”18 The near-constant leadership of Saleh bin Abdul-Aziz Al ash-Sheikh is only one example of the MOIA’s formal connections to the Wahhabi establishment. More generally, the absence of any institutional separation from this establishment has rendered the MOIA unable to function as an independent government agency. To the contrary, it has functioned as an extension of the political and religious elites, selectively interpreting and applying its mandate to support pre-approved policy, such as destructive state-sponsored development projects. This arrangement has not entailed a strict commitment to the protection of certain mosques and religious sites, or even a begrudging acquiescence to the king’s direct authority over the two holy shrines.19 Instead, it has meant a reactive validation of any demolition based on the exigencies of the project at hand. 

In 1989, Saudi authorities removed the body of Abd Allah, the Prophet Muhammad’s father, from his burial place at the Prophet’s childhood home. Information derived from ADHRB’s sources in Saudi Arabia indicates that Abd Allah’s remains are now interned at the remnants of the al-Baqi Cemetery. The Prophet’s house, however, was destroyed; the authorities reportedly had it bulldozed to accommodate an expansion of the marble plaza outside the Grand Mosque. The government also demolished the home of the Prophet’s first wife, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, in 1989, replacing it with a library and a row of toilets for visitors to the Grand Mosque.26 Almost a decade later, in 1998, the authorities bulldozed and burned the grave of Aminah bint Wahb, the Prophet’s mother.

By 2012, the government had begun destroying sites where the Prophet was said to have worshipped or preached. That year, ADHRB’s sources report that authorities tore down the Ottoman and Abbasi columns of Dar al-Arqam, supposedly the same location where the Prophet first taught Islam. A year later, the government used concrete to fill in the gap at Mount Uhud, north of Medina, where the Prophet Muhammad was nursed after being wounded in battle.27 Carla Power of TIME Magazine writes that when the authorities finished cementing the crevice, they proceeded to fence off “the base [of Mount Uhud], warning would-be visitors that it was just a mountain, like any other.” 28

More recent reports suggest that the government has accelerated the pace of destruction. In just November of 2014, for example, the authorities destroyed seven separate mosques in the city of Medina. One of these, the mosque belonging to Islam’s first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, was bulldozed to make room for an ATM.29 According to The New Yorker, his house had been “buried under a Hilton hotel” the previous year.

Like at Mount Uhud and other purportedly “idolatrous” locations, the authorities have already posted warning signs around the site that say “there is no proof that the Prophet Muhammad was born there, ‘so it is forbidden to make this place specific for praying, supplicating or get [sic] blessing.’”45

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Meanwhile, as all these trends have intensified, the MOIA has consistently failed to fulfil its responsibility to protect Islamic historical sites. At best, the MOIA has exhibited severe incompetence in the service of its mandate and, at worst, has acted in direct contravention of its stated obligations.

Irfan Al Alawi, executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation,

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/42004034/FARHAT-DOCUMENT-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/42004034/FARHAT-DOCUMENT-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2018

Saudi Arabia claims that the destruction of heritage sites protects religious pilgrims from weak structures in danger of falling, and protects adherents whose faith is weak from the danger of committing shirk (associating others with God—a form of unbelief). I contend that in reality such destruction has no religious basis but rather reflects what suits the Saudi state, which in this case is financial gain. The Saudi state’s aim is to make way for modernization so it can increase the government’s financial resources which will enable investments in hotels and shopping malls. At the same time, the state maintains its religious hegemony by pacifying the Wahhabi ulama, giving them vague authority in matters of religion, such as the destruction of mosques in Kosovo. 

If the motivation for such destruction were solely religious, many heritage sites in Saudi Arabia would not exist today. These sites existed for centuries, maintained by previous Muslim rulers, and the government is enjoined to preserve them by both the Quran and the Sunnah, according to non-Wahhabi ulama. As such, although there is a need to accommodate an increasing number of pilgrims, there are several ways the state could safeguard not only the pilgrims but the historically relevant heritage sites, while still moving forward toward a modernized Saudi state. 

During the early Islamic conquests of the seventh century, Caliph Umar’s (634- 644) peace treaty with Jerusalem stated:

This is the assurance of safety which the servant of God, Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, has granted to the people of Jerusalem. He has given them an assurance of safety for themselves, for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and the health of the city, and for all the rituals that belong to their religion. Their churches will not be inhabited [by Muslims] and will not be destroyed. Neither they, nor the land on which they stand, nor their crosses, nor their property will be damaged. They will not be forcibly converted. (Hamblin, 2001) 

In Muslim culture, the prohibition against destroying religious sites, even those of enemies, has ancient roots. The terms of the seventh century peace treaty referenced above suggest that Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second Sunni caliph and a senior companion of Prophet Muhammad, not only “oversaw major expansion of the Islamic empire, and transmitted numerous hadith” (sayings or actions of the Prophet Muhammad) but was also “considered a particularly authoritative source” on Islamic law (Umar ibn, n.d.). Umar believed that religious sites should be preserved, and that people of other religions should not be forced to convert to Islam. If Prophet Muhammad’s own trusted companion and the second caliph in Islam refused to destroy non-Muslim places of worship, then a crucial contradiction arises as the world watches the destruction of Islamic cultural heritage being perpetrated in the name of Islam today.

This raises the question: is the destruction of historic Islamic sites permitted or even condoned within the context of Islam? According to those who carry out such destruction, the answer lies within the ultra-conservative branch of Islamic thought known as Wahhabism, an eighteenth-century revival and reform movement begun by Islamic religious and legal scholar Muhammad Ibn Abd al Wahhab. He declared that preserving such Islamic heritage sites leads to shirk (associating other beings with God), which occurs when a person venerates such sites in addition to venerating God. It is viewed as a type of idolatry, and defies a core Islamic tenet of tawhid (there is one God, and He has no partners associated with Him) (Shirk, n.d.). Shirk is considered the ultimate sin one can commit in Islam. 

First, my focus is on Islamic heritage sites, in particular sites in and around the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, which are connected to key figures in Islam such as Prophet Muhammad and his family. ...........................Before investigating the destruction of mosques, graves, and other sacred locations associated with Prophet Muhammad...

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In 1803, followers of Wahhabism, with support from the Al Saud family, carried out a campaign of destruction, leveling all existing domes in the holy city of Mecca (Ahmed, 2006, p. 71; Al Alawi, 2015; “Mecca’s Changing Face”, 2014). In 1806, they occupied Medina and left no “religious building, including mosques, without demolishing it, whether inside or outside the Baqi” (graveyard with graves of Prophet Muhammad’s family) (Ahmed, 2006, p. 71). The destructive crusade continued, targeting the graves of the martyrs of Uhud, the Mosque of al Manaratain, the mosque of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, the tombs of the Prophet’s wives and companions; structures in the Baqi were flattened to the ground leaving not a single dome in place (Ahmed, 2006, p. 71: Rizvi, 2015, p. 85). 

The military and diplomatic campaigns undertaken by Abd al Aziz ibn Saud from 1902 to 1932 resulted in the formation of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also was responsible for installing Wahhabism as the “official religion of the twentieth century Arab nation” by reinstating the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab to their traditional role (Commins, 2006, p. 71), making sure, however, that their Wahhabi impulses were restrained

To avoid confusion, in this thesis I use the terms Wahhabi or Wahhabism, since these are the most prevalent terms used when scholarly works discuss Saudi Arabia in the context of religion. ...

Contemporary Saudi Ulama Since Saudi Arabia’s constitution is based on the Quran (the holy text), and sharia is the legal foundation from which the country is governed, it is reasonable to look at what power the ulama hold in the country and which Wahhabi doctrines are utilized to justify actions taken by the Saudi government (Aarts & Roelants, 2015, p. 9). As stated previously, the alliance between the Wahhabi clerics and the House of Saud can be characterized as a “power-sharing arrangement” in which the ulama guarantee the political legitimacy of the Al Saud in exchange for the clerics’ religious legitimacy and recognition, limited though it may be (Aarts & Roelants, 2015, p. 15).

However, the Senior Council of Ulama—the highest religious body in Saudi Arabia, the members of which are all appointed by the King—have the task of declaring fatwas (Boucek & Boucek, 2010). The next few paragraphs review the fatwas of contemporary Wahhabi ulama in Saudi Arabia, specifically fatwas by Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz. Ibn Baz was not only the mufti (a jurist appointed by the state and serving on advisory councils) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999, and President of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwa, but he was also Head of the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia (Bin Ali, 2016, p. 277).

why hold concerts, tv, internet

why allow other sites

As the cast of luxury hotels and apartments, perched above a complex of shopping malls and large cranes cast their eerie shadow over our cities that once was, all that remains the singular Ka’aaba, dwarfed by the commercial complex. The Wahhabis have destroyed historic landscapes as the act of preservation in and of itself privileges the land as something holy, and is therefore considered an act of idolatry and apostasy. In a fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz, then the kingdom's highest religious authority: "It is not permitted to glorify buildings and historical sites, such action would lead to polytheism. … So it is necessary to reject such acts and to warn others away from them." Yet, what they fail to recognize is in its place we have built temples to capital, temples dedicated to Mammon. The chase of greed and capital and profiting off of holy sites goes against Wahhabi ideals. The double standards the Saudis have committed on the preservation, or lack thereof, of religious and historical landscapes is a disservice to the entire Muslim world.

The destruction of holy lands was justified by the Saudis as an act done on behalf of all Muslims, yet all Muslims can make a claim and have made a claim to these religious sites as a place to be preserved, yet Muslim s in every other muslim nation have preserved their muslimm and non-musli heritage sites.

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2015

The systematic destruction of Saudi Arabia is under way

Quietly, an official programme for the dissolution of the country’s own cultural heritage has been authorised and planned by the state authorities.

Saudi Arabia has been clearing away its own history for almost a century, going into overdrive in the past 20 years. Wahabi integralism has led to the elimination of every trace of an Islam considered “heretic” across the country, but especially in the holy cities. In this vision art, archaeology and culture become empty words. Not even the memory of the first followers and descendants of Muhammad is respected.

Irfan Al-Alawi, the director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, a UK-based institution that has now moved to the US, has for years denounced the disastrous situation.

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If the first church of St. Paul was to be destroyed or the house of Mary, mother of Jesus, were to be razed to the ground there would be a near universal outcry; yet events of a similar scale are happening in Saudi Arabia with hardly any protest whatsoever.

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Over the past 50 years at least 300 historical buildings have been leveled in Mecca and Medina.

A 1994 edict by the kingdom's senior council of religious scholars, ruled that preserving historical buildings might lead to polytheism. 

This edict is conveniently being used by real estate developers to expand their projects. The real estate firms say that their projects are in response to a massive demand for new accommodation to house up to 20 million pilgrims expected to visit Makkah and Media annually over the coming years as authorities relax entry restrictions for pilgrims. 

destroyed a 1000 years of history

Makkah is a religious city and a sanctuary for millions who visit it every year to attain peace and atonement. 

The religious leadership does not speak on matters pertaining to justice and fairness, two of the most important fundamentals of Islam, while the monarchy does not interfere in the affairs of religious hierarchy. The religious hierarchy has rarely challenged the Saudi royal family on matters pertaining to the demolition of historical sites of Islam. On the contrary they have provoked the authorities to demolish them thus creating a haven of commercial benefits for people closer to the royal family. Saudi Arabia's rulers have often ignored the fact that the religious sites do not belong to them. They are for Muslims all over the world. 

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On 3 April 2017, Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, urged support for the renovation of historic Jedda. He emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage sites, where “a large presence of citizens…are a remarkable indication that people long for the heritage of this country.” However, the Saudi government has implemented policies to destroy important cultural sites, thereby denying Saudis the ability to enjoy their heritage. Through its actions both home and abroad, the Saudi government has repeatedly shown little regard for preserving sites of historical and cultural importance.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230920-saudi-arabia-to-develop-over-100-historical-sites-in-makkah-and-madinah/

2023

Plans are underway for Saudi Arabia to develop more than 100 historical sites in the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, reported Gulf News yesterday.

An announcement was made on Monday by the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, during a ceremony in Makkah’s Hira Cultural District.

“The programme of the Guests of the Most Merciful seeks to develop experiences of pilgrims to make it rich and unforgettable in Holy Mecca and Al Medina Al Munawara,” Al-Rabiah said.

Doyof Al Rahman (Guests of the Most Merciful) forms part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and involves the integration and cooperation of scores of entities in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

“God has blessed our country with a great honor, which is serving the Two Holy Mosques and the Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. Makkah and Madinah have a great history and Muslims are eager to know about it,” the minister added.

He also announced the launch of an online platform for booking tickets to visit historical and cultural sites in Makkah, including the Cave of Hira and the other sites that are to be developed.

Last year, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched the second phase of a restoration project aimed at preserving and refurbishing historic mosques across the country. The year before, the initiative saw the renovations of the Jumu’ah and Qiblatain mosques built by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

In previous years, Saudi religious authorities faced criticism from the wider Muslim world over the destruction of most of the ancient Islamic heritage in the country, owing to mosque expansion and development or based on the belief that some of the sites, such as shrines, were a form of idolatry.

According to an article by Time magazine from 2014, “Over 98% of the Kingdom’s historical and religious sites have been destroyed since 1985,” citing the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation in London.

However, there are indications that the religious establishment are lifting some of the restrictions previously in place, in line with Vision2030 and the Crown Prince’s aspirations to return Saudi Arabia to “moderate Islam.”

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above and below video from sami angawi from typing in sami angawi interview in youtube. bottom video also photos of BP towards the end

Above video has photos of house under Mosque, including the toilet block at 5m43seconds.