When Custodians Destroy
(The opinions in this article are not necessary that of the Blog Administrator.)
By Dr. Mahjabeen Islam
Toledo, Ohio
Septembre 02, 2005
Pakistan Link
“If there is another 9/11 we should take out their holy places,” said Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado, referring to Makkah and Madina. The literalistic interpretation of Islam and the obsessive Saudi fear of idolatry fuel the bulldozer that within an hour razes and pours concrete over historical sites revered by the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.
Wahabism is the severe interpretation of Islam named after Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahab, an 18th century scholar. It took hold in Saudi Arabia in 1920 after the partnership of the Saudi royal family and the “ikhwan” or brotherhood followers of Abdul-Wahab.
This literalistic interpretation has the avoidance of idolatry as one of its central tenets. Based on this obsession the graveyard where the companions and family of Prophet Muhammad were buried was leveled in the 1920s. Now one has to rely on hearsay to know where his daughter Fatima is buried for instance, and women are not allowed in. While at Hajj, I peered behind a metal grille while men strolled between the earthen unmarked graves.
Over the last two decades 95% of Makkah’s 1000-year-old historic sites have been bulldozed and replaced by hotels and other concrete jungles that churn out millions year round.
The Saudis are now set on razing the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad. In a land where dissent is punished by a helicopter drop in the desert, lives a supremely courageous man, Dr. Sami Angawi. An architect and sole activist against the Saudi destruction of historic sites, he told the London newspaper, The Independent, "The house where the Prophet received the word of God is gone and nobody cares ... this is the end of history in Mecca and Medina and the end of their future."
On August 6, 2005, The Independent carried the article “The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage”. Prince Turkey Al-Faisal the Saudi ambassador to the UK responded in a letter to The Independent with “what rubbish” saying that Dr. Angawi was a “disgruntled man” and that “every artefact discovered has been preserved and protected and will be displayed in new museums in Makkah and Madinah”. The Saudis perpetually display arrogance and consider other Muslims inferior, and this statement is so typically transparent. Why would you preserve artefacts (if you indeed have) and destroy the original abode that housed them?
According to the London newspaper, “The Wahhabists now have the birthplace of the Prophet in their sights. The site survived redevelopment early in the reign of King Abdul al-Aziz ibn Saud 50 years ago when the architect for a library there persuaded the absolute ruler to allow him to keep the remains under the new structure. That concession is under threat after Saudi authorities approved plans to ‘update’ the library with a new structure that would concrete over the existing foundations and their priceless remains.” Dr Angawi says that the bulldozers could come “at any time”. It is to be replaced with a parking lot and high-rise hotels and apartment complexes under the Jabal Omar scheme.
My attention was riveted only recently, August 17th 2005 when Pakistani columnist Khalid Hasan wrote an article “Muslim silence over Saudi demolition of holy site puzzling”. I attempted to galvanize about 1000 people living mainly in North America and Pakistan by email, urging them to protest in a variety of ways.
One of the recipients called the Saudi embassy in Washington and was told that the reason for their plans was for the comfort of the millions of pilgrims and that they would never do anything to the Grand Mosque. Well! Whoever said anything about the Grand Mosque? In satellite pictures the palace of the Saudi king occupies 20% of the haram or Grand Mosque. Enacting the angst of Hagar, pilgrims run between the hills of Safa and Marwa. In the 1980s the Saudis demolished a part of these two hills to make way for the palace of the late King Khaled.
When you exit the Grand Mosque the Saudi palace looms in your face like a fortress, stretching for a long walk, in one direction and way above the Kaaba in the vertical one. What significance does the Saudi royal family and their palaces have in the minds of Muslims? And what comparative importance does the house where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received Qur’anic revelation have for the same?
Ali Al-Ahmed of the Gulf Institute sees through the Saudi government’s disingenuous premise well. “If the comfort of pilgrims is the aim, why not build a railroad between Makkah and Madina, and Makkah and Jeddah?” I must add: why not scale down on the royal palace, which takes up such disproportionate room in the Grand Mosque and is actually an assault on the senses? Surely the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthplace is not anywhere close to the colossus that the palace is.
The Saudis are mere custodians of the Kaaba. What gives them the right to destroy 95% of historical sites and have the bravado to now aim at Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) birthplace? Whoever said that the holy sites belonged to them? At Hajj and Umra the claustrophobia of Wahabiism is all but unbearable. Women are treated as less than human. Only one hour at dawn and one hour at midday is allotted to them to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Upon entry to Riyadul-Jannah, the area between the Prophet’s grave and the pulpit, which is to be raised, as is, to heaven, on the Day of Judgment, female Saudi guards enveloped face, body and hands in black, scream out instructions, in Urdu and Arabic. The sole premise of these is to not worship the Prophet (peace be upon him) and to only say “salam” to him.
Many a pilgrim has had their book or pamphlet that they were using to pray from, snatched by these over zealous types, for what the guards might have imagined was the recitation of idolatrous verses. I thought that our accounting on the Day of Judgment would be individual. That the custodian’s role was to upkeep the building, not to police thought or action.
Consequently it gives me enduring pleasure to remember how I missed the monitoring glare of the only part of the guard that showed. I was able to stand within the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) mosque, look upon that gorgeous green dome and read milad-un-nabi or poems in his praise. For forty minutes at that!
Imagine my heartache to learn of a report prepared by the government of Saudi Arabia wanting that very dome to be removed, for “it does not serve any useful purpose”.
My pain is worsened by the silence of the Muslim world. The inaction of the imams and scholars of Saudi Arabia who allowed the destruction of the historical sites within Makkah and the hills of Safa and Marwah can be relegated to the power of the Saudi riyal. What is the explanation for the reticence of the rest of the Muslim world? Tarek Fatah a Canadian Muslim activist is right: the Muslim world protested the razing of the Babri Mosque in India. What is the stature of the Babri Mosque in comparison to the birthplace of the man that the Qur’an says was sent as a mercy to mankind?
I called a highly placed Pakistan government official requesting a call of protest to Saudi Arabia. “We are recipients of a lot of aid from Saudi Arabia, it would be like biting the hand that feeds you”. Ouch.
An interesting dichotomy: the Saudi royal family likes to call itself “Khadimain-e-Haramain-Sharifain”, the servants of the holy places. Is it becoming to the servant to outdo the House of God? Do servants demolish the house of the master?
My main pain: what opium are the Muslim masses on anyway? What will it take to shake their deep slumber? The Saudis would not have the nerve to destroy the Kaaba, but the steady pace of destruction of historical sites, and now Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) birthplace, places his tomb, Masjid-e-Nabawi, in great danger. It is all a matter of extrapolating the argument of avoiding idolatry.
Soon after 9/11, photos circulated on the net, depicting a plane going through the Kaaba. With the Wahabis having demolished 95% of Makkan historical sites, and the nefarious appetite for more, the Kaaba is all that Tom Tancredo and the “Zionists” will need to worry about. The Saudis will have taken care of the rest.
Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and freelance columnist practicing in Toledo Ohio. Her email address is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com
By Dr. Mahjabeen Islam
Toledo, Ohio
Septembre 02, 2005
Pakistan Link
“If there is another 9/11 we should take out their holy places,” said Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado, referring to Makkah and Madina. The literalistic interpretation of Islam and the obsessive Saudi fear of idolatry fuel the bulldozer that within an hour razes and pours concrete over historical sites revered by the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.
Wahabism is the severe interpretation of Islam named after Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahab, an 18th century scholar. It took hold in Saudi Arabia in 1920 after the partnership of the Saudi royal family and the “ikhwan” or brotherhood followers of Abdul-Wahab.
This literalistic interpretation has the avoidance of idolatry as one of its central tenets. Based on this obsession the graveyard where the companions and family of Prophet Muhammad were buried was leveled in the 1920s. Now one has to rely on hearsay to know where his daughter Fatima is buried for instance, and women are not allowed in. While at Hajj, I peered behind a metal grille while men strolled between the earthen unmarked graves.
Over the last two decades 95% of Makkah’s 1000-year-old historic sites have been bulldozed and replaced by hotels and other concrete jungles that churn out millions year round.
The Saudis are now set on razing the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad. In a land where dissent is punished by a helicopter drop in the desert, lives a supremely courageous man, Dr. Sami Angawi. An architect and sole activist against the Saudi destruction of historic sites, he told the London newspaper, The Independent, "The house where the Prophet received the word of God is gone and nobody cares ... this is the end of history in Mecca and Medina and the end of their future."
On August 6, 2005, The Independent carried the article “The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage”. Prince Turkey Al-Faisal the Saudi ambassador to the UK responded in a letter to The Independent with “what rubbish” saying that Dr. Angawi was a “disgruntled man” and that “every artefact discovered has been preserved and protected and will be displayed in new museums in Makkah and Madinah”. The Saudis perpetually display arrogance and consider other Muslims inferior, and this statement is so typically transparent. Why would you preserve artefacts (if you indeed have) and destroy the original abode that housed them?
According to the London newspaper, “The Wahhabists now have the birthplace of the Prophet in their sights. The site survived redevelopment early in the reign of King Abdul al-Aziz ibn Saud 50 years ago when the architect for a library there persuaded the absolute ruler to allow him to keep the remains under the new structure. That concession is under threat after Saudi authorities approved plans to ‘update’ the library with a new structure that would concrete over the existing foundations and their priceless remains.” Dr Angawi says that the bulldozers could come “at any time”. It is to be replaced with a parking lot and high-rise hotels and apartment complexes under the Jabal Omar scheme.
My attention was riveted only recently, August 17th 2005 when Pakistani columnist Khalid Hasan wrote an article “Muslim silence over Saudi demolition of holy site puzzling”. I attempted to galvanize about 1000 people living mainly in North America and Pakistan by email, urging them to protest in a variety of ways.
One of the recipients called the Saudi embassy in Washington and was told that the reason for their plans was for the comfort of the millions of pilgrims and that they would never do anything to the Grand Mosque. Well! Whoever said anything about the Grand Mosque? In satellite pictures the palace of the Saudi king occupies 20% of the haram or Grand Mosque. Enacting the angst of Hagar, pilgrims run between the hills of Safa and Marwa. In the 1980s the Saudis demolished a part of these two hills to make way for the palace of the late King Khaled.
When you exit the Grand Mosque the Saudi palace looms in your face like a fortress, stretching for a long walk, in one direction and way above the Kaaba in the vertical one. What significance does the Saudi royal family and their palaces have in the minds of Muslims? And what comparative importance does the house where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received Qur’anic revelation have for the same?
Ali Al-Ahmed of the Gulf Institute sees through the Saudi government’s disingenuous premise well. “If the comfort of pilgrims is the aim, why not build a railroad between Makkah and Madina, and Makkah and Jeddah?” I must add: why not scale down on the royal palace, which takes up such disproportionate room in the Grand Mosque and is actually an assault on the senses? Surely the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthplace is not anywhere close to the colossus that the palace is.
The Saudis are mere custodians of the Kaaba. What gives them the right to destroy 95% of historical sites and have the bravado to now aim at Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) birthplace? Whoever said that the holy sites belonged to them? At Hajj and Umra the claustrophobia of Wahabiism is all but unbearable. Women are treated as less than human. Only one hour at dawn and one hour at midday is allotted to them to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Upon entry to Riyadul-Jannah, the area between the Prophet’s grave and the pulpit, which is to be raised, as is, to heaven, on the Day of Judgment, female Saudi guards enveloped face, body and hands in black, scream out instructions, in Urdu and Arabic. The sole premise of these is to not worship the Prophet (peace be upon him) and to only say “salam” to him.
Many a pilgrim has had their book or pamphlet that they were using to pray from, snatched by these over zealous types, for what the guards might have imagined was the recitation of idolatrous verses. I thought that our accounting on the Day of Judgment would be individual. That the custodian’s role was to upkeep the building, not to police thought or action.
Consequently it gives me enduring pleasure to remember how I missed the monitoring glare of the only part of the guard that showed. I was able to stand within the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) mosque, look upon that gorgeous green dome and read milad-un-nabi or poems in his praise. For forty minutes at that!
Imagine my heartache to learn of a report prepared by the government of Saudi Arabia wanting that very dome to be removed, for “it does not serve any useful purpose”.
My pain is worsened by the silence of the Muslim world. The inaction of the imams and scholars of Saudi Arabia who allowed the destruction of the historical sites within Makkah and the hills of Safa and Marwah can be relegated to the power of the Saudi riyal. What is the explanation for the reticence of the rest of the Muslim world? Tarek Fatah a Canadian Muslim activist is right: the Muslim world protested the razing of the Babri Mosque in India. What is the stature of the Babri Mosque in comparison to the birthplace of the man that the Qur’an says was sent as a mercy to mankind?
I called a highly placed Pakistan government official requesting a call of protest to Saudi Arabia. “We are recipients of a lot of aid from Saudi Arabia, it would be like biting the hand that feeds you”. Ouch.
An interesting dichotomy: the Saudi royal family likes to call itself “Khadimain-e-Haramain-Sharifain”, the servants of the holy places. Is it becoming to the servant to outdo the House of God? Do servants demolish the house of the master?
My main pain: what opium are the Muslim masses on anyway? What will it take to shake their deep slumber? The Saudis would not have the nerve to destroy the Kaaba, but the steady pace of destruction of historical sites, and now Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) birthplace, places his tomb, Masjid-e-Nabawi, in great danger. It is all a matter of extrapolating the argument of avoiding idolatry.
Soon after 9/11, photos circulated on the net, depicting a plane going through the Kaaba. With the Wahabis having demolished 95% of Makkan historical sites, and the nefarious appetite for more, the Kaaba is all that Tom Tancredo and the “Zionists” will need to worry about. The Saudis will have taken care of the rest.
Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and freelance columnist practicing in Toledo Ohio. Her email address is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 11:07 PM
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