Saudis Plan to Raze the Harem of Prophet Mohammed PUBH – by Ali Taj

Alarming news stories in Russian and English papers while the Muslim world keeps quiet about sacrilegious attacks on Islamic heritage. People of all faiths should unite and and demand a new approach to management of the Holy Mecca and Medina. This is not at all unexpected, Saudi Wahhabi Fatwas openly call for destruction of Islamic history.  The goal of Saudi Monarchy is no different than the Abbasids or Omayyads  more power to the King as Caliph of the Muslim world. To achieve this the extreme ideology must be spread and the tolerant history destroyed.

An "idealistic" approach to redefining custodianship of the holy lands

The custodianship of the holy lands in Mecca and Medina can be taken from the hands of the al-Saud clan and their Wahhabi clergy class and instead a new custodianship can be defined. But this will require a world-wide campaign from Muslims belonging to every Islamic school of thought and every country and region in the world. This in itself is a rather "idealistic" approach and may have a lot of "show-stoppers". But nevertheless a new custodianship can be defined on the basis of following guidelines:

• As a starting point, the al-Saud family may stay in power and control the whole country save Mecca and Medina.
• All the affairs of the holy places in Mecca and Medina shall be governed under the control and supervision of an international governing body similar to OIC consisting of representatives of all the Muslim countries (and Islamic schools of thought) and countries like India, Russia, USA and EU that have considerable Muslim populations.
• The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall have its members included in the international body to facilitate the  organisation of the holy lands and may get some extra revenue for that.
• All the revenue, profit and expenditure related to the pilgrimage  will be managed by the governing body.
• The governing body shall have a panel of ulema (clergymen) representing all the Islamic schools of thoughts and it will make sure that no specific ideology is imposed on any local or guest pilgrim.
• There shall be rotating president-ship of the governing body, just like the EU model, so that every country with Islam as the state religion can become its president for a specific period of time. The members of USA, EU, Russia, India etc may be accommodated in other positions like vice-president etc.
• All the congregational prayers in the holy sites shall be led by clergymen of different Islamic schools of thought on a weekly-rotating basis.
• The Saudi government will process the visa applications and collect all the revenue related to it. But the fees will be reduced to a reasonable level.
• The Saudi government will be paid for all the expenditures coming from its own budget.

The above guidelines, no matter how "idealistic" they may sound, can give a hope to more than a billion Muslims around the world that one day the holy sites in Mecca and Medina may belong to all the Muslims and not only to a wicked monarchy relying on the support of the clergymen following the  "literalist" Wahhabi ideology. The purpose of the above guidelines is to spark a discussion and debate. One can only hope that some time in the future the holy lands of Mecca and Medina will become safe, welcoming, open and accommodating for every Saudi and non-Saudi Muslim.

Saudi Arabia to raze Prophet Mohammed's tomb to build larger mosque

Religion, History, Saudi Arabia

Courtyard of the Prophet Mohammed Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Medina (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

The key Islamic heritage site, including Prophet Mohammed's shrine, is to be bulldozed, as Saudi Arabia plans a $ 6 billion expansion of Medina's holy Masjid an-Nabawi Mosque. However, Muslims remain silent on the possible destruction.

Work on the Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, is planned to start as soon as the annual Hajj pilgrimage comes to a close at the end of November.

After the reconstruction, the mosque is expected to become the world's largest building, with a capacity for 1.6 million people.

And while the need to expand does exist as more pilgrims are flocking to holy sites every year, nothing has been said on how the project will affect the surroundings of the mosque, also historic sites.

Concerns are growing that the expansion of Masjid an-Nabawi will come at the price of three of the world's oldest mosques nearby, which hold the tombs of Prophet Mohammed and two of his closest companions, Abu Bakr and Umar. The expansion project which will cost 25 billion SAR (more than US $6 billion) reportedly requires razing holy sites, as old as the seventh century.

The Saudis insist that colossal expansion of both Mecca and Medina is essential to make a way for the growing numbers of pilgrims. Both Mecca and Medina host 12 million visiting pilgrims each year and this number is expected to increase to 17 million by 2025.

Authorities and hotel developers are working hard to keep pace, however, the expansions have cost the oldest cities their historical surroundings as sky scrapers, luxury hotels and shopping malls are being erected amongst Islamic heritage.

A room in a hotel or apartment in a historic area may cost up to $ 500 per night. And that's all in or near Mecca, a place where the Prophet Mohammed insisted all Muslims would be equal.

"They just want to make a lot of money from the super-rich elite pilgrims, but for the poor pilgrims it is getting very expensive and they cannot afford it,"Dr. Irfan Al Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told RT.

A general view of the Prophet Mohammed Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Medina (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

Jabal Omar complex – a 40 tower ensemble – is being depicted as a new pearl of Mecca. When complete, it will consist of six five star hotels, seven 39 storey residential towers offering 520 restaurants, 4, 360 commercial and retail shops.

But to build this tourist attraction the Saudi authorities destroyed the Ottoman era Ajyad Fortress and the hill it stood on.

The Washington-based Gulf Institute estimated that 95 percent of sacred sites and shrines in the two cities have been destroyed in the past twenty years.

The Prophet's birthplace was turned into a library and the house of his first wife, Khadijah, was replaced with a public toilet block.

Also the expansion and development might threaten many locals homes, but so far most Muslims have remained silent on the issue.

"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.

The fact that there is no reaction on possible destruction has raised talks about hypocrisy because Muslims are turning a blind eye to that their faith people are going to ruin sacred sites.

"Some of the Sunni channels based in the United Kingdom are influenced by Saudi petro dollars and dare not to speak against the destruction, but yet are one of the first to condemn the movie made by non Muslims," Dr. Al Alawi said.

Muslim pilgrims walk in the courtyard of the Prophet Mohammed Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Medina (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

Source: saudi-arabia-prophet-mosque-615