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 report has not mentioned demolition of Al-Baqee’ cemetery in 1926.
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.

Writing in response to the article, Prince Turki al-Faisal said that
Saudi Arabia was spending more than $19bn (£11bn) preserving and
maintaining these two holy sites. "[We are aware] how important the
preservation of this heritage is, not just to us but to the millions
of Muslims from around the world who visit the two holy mosques every
year. It is hardly something we are going to allow to be destroyed."
This rebuttal sits at odds with a series of previously unseen
photographs, published today, that 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.
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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.
Yet the same oil-rich dynasty that pumped money into the Taliban
regime as they blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan six years
ago has so far avoided international criticism for similar acts of
vandalism at home.

Mai Yamani, author of The Cradle of Islam, said it was time for other
Muslim governments to ignore the al-Sauds' oil wealth and clout and
speak out. "What is alarming about this is that the world doesn't
question the al-Sauds' custodianship of Islam's two holy places. These
are the sites that are of such importance to over one billion Muslims
and yet their destruction is being ignored," she said. "When the
Prophet was insulted by Danish cartoonists thousands of people went
into the streets to protest. The sites related to the Prophet are part
of their heritage and religion but we see no concern from Muslims."
Lay people, and in some cases even US senators could be forgiven for
thinking that the House of Saud has been the guardian of the two holy
places for time immemorial. In fact, it is only 80 years since the
tribal chieftain Ibn Saud occupied Makkah and Medinah. 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. As early as 1929,
Egyptian pilgrims were refused permission to celebrate the colourful
Mahmal rites and more than 30 were killed. At the time Egypt severed
diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. Few governments have stood up
to them since.
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.
"The al-Sauds need to rein in the Wahhabists now," warns Dr Yamani. "Makkah
used to be a symbol of Muslim diversity and it needs to be again." But
with oil prices and profits, at record highs, there is little sign the
House of Saud is listening.
Sami Angawi, a Hijazi architect who has devoted his life to a largely
doomed effort to preserve what remains of the history of the world's
greatest pilgrimage sites, said that the final farewell to Makkah was
imminent. “What we are witnessing are the last days of Makkah and
Medinah."
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
Mountain of light
The mountain of light, or al-Nour, is next in the Wahhabis' sights.
Home to the Hira'a cave, it was here that the Prophet is said to have
received the first verses of the Quran. Hardline clerics want it
destroyed to stop pilgrims visiting. At the foot of the hill there is
a Wahhabi fatwa: “The Prophet Mohamed (saw) did not permit us to climb
on to this hill, not to pray here, not to touch stones, and tie knots
on trees..."
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
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/
middle_east/article358577.ece