DESTRUCTION OF ISLAMIC HERITAGE IN SAUDI ARABIA – SECTION 1
(Penghancuran Warisan Kekayaan Islam di Saudi Arabia--Bagian 1)
Muslims throughout the world are extremely disturbed, dismayed and frustrated to watch the systematic destruction of Islamic Heritage in Saudi Arabia for construction of commercial complexes, tourism hotels and public toilets. This unchecked behavior of Saudi Royals and the Rich has damaged the identity of Islam tremendously. Read more...
(Terjemahan Blogger:Kaum muslimin di seluruh dunia (yaitu yang memiliki hati dan akal yang terletak di tempat semestinya yaitu dikepala dan hati tentunya) sangatlah merasa terganggu, gusar dan frustasi menyaksikan penghancuran secara sistematik warisan tak ternilai dari Islam demi dibangunnya bangunan-bagunan komersial untuk Turisme, Hotel serta WC. Kelakuan yang keterlaluan dari kerajaan Saudi serta hancurnya warisan tak ternilai dari Islam ini telah meninggalkan kerusakan yang sangat dahsyat)
(Komentar Blogger: Sesuai dengan Tesis yang bloger kembangkan di Blog ini, yaitu salah satu gejala sangat mendasar dari perkembangan Islam kontemporer adalah "the Lost of Adab" sebagaimana di tekankan oleh pemikir besar Islam dari malaysia, Prof. Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib Al Attas, yaitu hilangnya adab di segala lini, meliputi hilangnya adab ilmu, adab hubungan antara saudara seiman baik itu dari segi politik, ekonomi, sosial dan kemasyarakatan, adab terhadap para pendahulu khususnya cara menghormati Turots dan warisan terdahulu, bahkan adab terhadap warisan fisik baik itu berupa bangunan dan situs-situs bersejarah. Adab yang buruk juga disertai dengan "corruption of knowledge" yaitu adab yang buruk akan menghasilkan kelumpuhan dalam menghasilkan pengetahuan dan pemahaman yang berhikmah, alhasil pandangan orang yang tidak memiliki "adab" ini akan cendrung tergesa-gesa, tertutup jumud keras kepala dan pincang, monottafsir keras dan agresif.
Da'wah pun seolah telah menampilkan ekspresi teror yang menyeramkan. Penulis sangat yakin bahwa di balik ini semua ada kekuatan-kekuatan musuh islam sejati bermain, yaitu agenda dari pada Zionisme internasional dan para penikmat petro dolar. Ekspresi dari pada Islam keras yang tidak tolersan serta cendrung "brutal" ditenggarai merupakan sebuah "maha karya" riset zionis bertahun-tahun dalam memahami secara sosiologis bagaimana caranya menghacurkan wawasan, cara pandang dan warisan Islam, sehingga umat Islam sepenuhnya lumpuh dan tidak mampu bangkit lagi selamanya. Pasca era Kolonial jelas hal ini tidak akan mampu dilakukan melalui agresi militer, sehingga melalui riset sangat intensif studi orientalisme dicapailah berbagai pemahaman yang sangat strategis. Pemahaman-pemahaman tersebut diformulasikan melalui usaha-usaha menumbuhkan berbagai varian-varian ekstrim dari dalam tubuh umat Islam sendiri yang disokong dan disusupi dari dalam. Lain waktu bloger akan menampilkan fakta dan data sistematis soal ini.
Berikut Kutipan dari Wikipedia
Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(December 2010)
(Blogger translate: Penghancuran situs-situs yang terkait dengan masa Islam tumbuh dahulu adalah sebuah fenomena yang terus berlangsung utamanya di daerah Hijaz dan Arab Saudi bagian Barat, khsususnya di sekitar dua kota suci Makah dan Madinah. Peluluhlantakan situs-situs ini difokuskan pada masjid-masjid, makam, rumah serta berbagai lokasi historis lainnya yang terkait dengan Nabi Muhammad SAW serta banyak tokoh-tokoh pendiri dari sejarah Islam. Di Arab Saudi sendiri, banyak penghancuran dilakukan sebagai bagian dari rencana perluasan Masjidil Haram serta Masjid Nabawi serta fasilitas-fasilitas pendukung bagi terus membludaknya jumlah jemaah haji.)
Saudi Arabia
Islam in the Hejaz
Much of the Arabian Peninsula was politically unified by 1932 in the third and current Saudi State, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The military campaign led by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud and his Bedouin army of inspired tribesmen conquered the Hejaz and ousted the ruling Hashemite clan. The new Najdi rulers, nomadic Arabs largely tribal and illiterate, found themselves at the reins of a highly sophisticated society. A cohesive political structure based on the Majlis al-Shura (consultative council) system had been in place for centuries. A central administrative body managed an annual budget which allocated expenditure on secondary schools, military and police forces.[3](Sebagian besar wilayah Jazirah Arabia secara politik disatukan dibawah kerajaan Arab Saudi pada 1932. Gerakan militer yang dilaksanakan oleh raja Abdulaziz bin Saud dan tentara Baduinya dari kabilah-kabil yang terpengaruh telah menaklukkan Hijaz dan mendepak penguasa Makkah dari Bani Hasim. Penguasa Nejed yang baru tersebut, yang pada mulanya hanyalah kelompok kabilah Arab Badui yang buta huruf mendapatkan dirinya sebagai penguasa sebuah masyarakat yang berkebudayaan cukup tinggi. Suatu struktur politik pengikat yang bernama Majelis Sura (suatu perwakilan permusrawatan) telah berlangsung selama berabad-abad. Majelis ini juga berperan sebagai suatu badan yang menangani pendanaan tahunan yang mengalokasikan dana bagi pengadaan perlengkapan madrasah-madrasah, militer dan aparat keamanan.)
Similarly, the religious fabric of the Najd and the Hejaz were vastly different. Traditional Hejazi cultural customs and rituals were almost entirely religious in nature. Celebrations honoring the Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions, reverence of deceased saints, visitation of shrines, tombs and holy sites connected with any of these were just some of the customs indigenous to Hejazi Islam.[4]
(Begitu juga, corak relijius Najd dan Hejaz sangatlah berbeda. Adat kebiasaan tradisional orang-orang Hijaz dan ritual-ritual yang mereka lakukan sama sekali berbeda karakternya dengan orang Najd. Pelaksanaan Maulid Nabi, ahlul bait dan sahabat, memperingati waliyullah yang telah wafat, ziarah kubur , kubah serta tempat keramat suci dari para auli Allah adalah kebiasaan penduduk muslim asli Hijaz.)
As administrative authority of the Hejaz passed into the hands of Najdi [Wahabi] Muslims from the interior, the Wahabi ‘ulema (body of religious scholars) viewed local religious practices as unfounded superstition superseding codified religious sanction that was considered a total corruption of religion and the spreading of heresy.[5]
What followed was a removal of the physical infrastructure, tombs, mausoleums, mosques and sites associated with the family and companions of the Prophet.[6](Seketika otoritas pemerintahan jatuh ketangan Najdi (wahabi) muslim, ulama Wahabi (kibaru ulama wahabi) melihat praktek keagamaan lokal sebagai takhyul tidak berdasar yang layak diberi sanksi religius dan dipandang merupakan kerusakan agama serta menyebarnya kebid'ahan kemurtadan. Selanjutnya mereka menghancurkan infrastruktur fisik, maqam, kubah, mesjid dan situs-situs yang terkait dengan ahlul bait dan para sahabat ra.)
The initial dismantling of the sites began in 1806 when the Wahhabi army of the First Saudi State occupied Medina and systematically levelled many of the structures at the Jannat al-Baqi Cemetery.[7] This is the vast burial site adjacent the Prophet's Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Nabawi) housing the remains of many of the members of Muhammad’s family, close companions and central figures of early Islam. The Ottoman Turks, practitioners themselves of more tolerant and at times mystical strains of Islam, had erected elaborate mausoleums over the graves of Al-Baqi. These were levelled in their entirety. Mosques across the city were also targeted and an attempt was made to tear down Muhammad's tomb.[8]
Widespread vocal criticism of this last action by Muslim communities as far away as India, eventually led to abandoning any attempt on this site. Political claims made against Turkish control of the region initiated the Ottoman-Saudi war (1811–1818) in which the Saudi defeat forced Wahhabi tribesmen to retreat from the Hejaz back into the interior. Turkish forces reasserted control of the region and subsequently began extensive rebuilding of sacred sites between 1848 and 1860, many of them done employing the finest examples of Ottoman design and craftsmanship.[9]
On April 21, 1925 the mausoleums and domes at Al-Baqi in Medina were once again levelled [9] and so were indicators of the exact location of the resting places of the Muhammad’s family members and descendants, as it remains to the present day. Portions of the famed Qasida al-Burda, the 13th Century ode written in praise of Muhammad by Imam Muhammed al-Busiri (1211–1294), inscribed over Muhammad's tomb were painted over.
Among specific sites targeted at this time were the graves of the Martyrs of the Battle of Uhud, including the grave of the renowned Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad and one of his most beloved supporters, the Mosque of Fatimah Al Zahraa’, daughter of Mohammad, the Mosque of the Two Lighthouses (Manaratayn) as well as the Qubbat Al-Thanaya,[9] the cupola built as the burial place of Mohammad’s incisor tooth, which was broken from a blow received during the Battle of Uhud.
In Medina, the Mashrubat Umm Ibrahim, the home of Mohammad’s Coptic Egyptian wife Mariah and birthplace of their son Ibrahim, as well as the adjacent burial site of Hamida al-Barbariyya, mother of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, were destroyed during this time.[9] The site was paved over and is today part of the massive marble esplanade beside the Mosque.
The Government appointed permanent scholarly committee of Saudi Arabia has ordered the demolishing of such structures in a series of Islamic rulings noting excessive veneration leading to Shirk [10]
(Komentar Bloger: Dalam catatan para saksi sejarah, kita dapat merasakan suasana teror yang dahsyat ketika pertama kali gerakan radikal ini ditubuhkan dan menunjukan kekuatannya di jazirah arabia. Berikut kutipan dari catatan seorang agen Inggris yang dikenal sebagai Lawrence of Arabia yang turut mengawal dan membidani kelahiran awal dari gerakan ini dalam aksi "bughot" dan "kedurhakaan" mereka menentang kekhalfahan Islam yang sah khilafah Islam Turki Usmani.
Di saat yang sama kekuatan Turki Usmani juga dalam "kebobrokan" baik dari segi moral dan "spiritual" sehingga dalam situasi yang sama ketika menumpas gerakan wahabisme ini, justru melampiaskan kemarahannya kepada penduduk sipil, akibatnya kita melihat gerakan wahabisme justru semakin kuat dan mendapat dukungan. Namun di mana-mana setiap kemunculan fitnah, maka yang paling menderita justru adalah rakyat kecil yang tidak tahu apa-apa. demikian juga yang terjadi di era kontemporer ini di masa gejolak dunia arab yang kita kenal sebagai "arab spring". Namun yang menjadi kunci dari kutipan berikut bahwa keterlibatan agen-agen asing dalam mempelopori kekacauan dan perang saudara sesama kaum muslimin sungguhlah nyata dan merupakan sebuah fakta sejarah tak terbantahkan.
Lawrence of Arabia, 1918
Before 1914, twenty-six-year-old T.E. Lawrence worked for the British Museum digging among the Hittite ruins in Mesopotamia. The Oxford graduate had spent years in the desert developing an intimate knowledge and love of the Bedouin tribes that roamed the region. At the outbreak of war
Lawrence
was rejected as physically unfit for military service but his unique knowledge
of the area made him a perfect candidate for the Intelligence Service at Cairo.
The war in the Middle East did not go well for the British in the early days of the conflict. Their defeat at Gallipoli and inability to dislodge the Turks from the Dardanelles exposed the Suez Canal to potential attack. Meanwhile, the Arabs viewed the involvement of the Ottoman Empire in World War One as an opportunity to revolt and drive the Turks from their land. Seizing this chance to harass the Turks, the British lent support to the Arabs through shipments of arms and money. The revolt sputtered however and was by 1916 in danger of collapsing. Lawrence was sent to bring order and direction to the Arab cause. The experience transformed the introverted and studious Lawrence into one of the most colorful military figures of the war. For two years Lawrence and his band of Arab irregulars attacked Turkish strongholds, severed communications, destroyed railways and supported the British regular army in the drive north to Damascus.
Massacre and Revenge
In the following account Lawrence describes one of the most controversial episodes of his experience in the Desert. On September 27, 1918 he and his Arab force were in hot pursuit of a retreating Turkish column numbering approximately 2,000 soldiers. Coming upon the village of Tafas south of the city of Damascus they were confronted with the horrifying aftermath of the Turk rampage through the village. Mutilated bodies of women and children lay among the smoking ruins. As the sickened Lawrence watched the scattered Turkish column disappear over the horizon he gave his order: "take no prisoners."
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| A Bedouin warrior |
Tallal had seen what we had seen. He gave one moan like a hurt animal; then rode to the upper ground and sat there a while on his mare, shivering and looking fixedly after the Turks. I moved near to speak to him, but Auda caught my rein and stayed me. Very slowly Tallal drew his headcloth about his face; and then he seemed suddenly to take hold of himself, for he dashed his stirrups into the mare's flanks and galloped headlong, bending low and swaying in the saddle, right at the main body of the enemy.
It was a long ride down a gentle slope and across a hollow. We sat there like stone while he rushed forward, the drumming of his hoofs unnaturally loud in our ears, for we had stopped shooting, and the Turks had stopped. Both armies waited for him; and he rocked on in the
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| Talall El-Hareidhin of Tafa |
The third part, the smallest, was mostly made up of German and Austrian machine-gunners grouped round three motor cars and a handful of mounted officers or troopers. They fought magnificently and repulsed us time and again despite our hardiness. The Arabs were fighting like devils, the sweat blurring their eyes, dust parching their throats; while the flame of cruelty and revenge which was burning in their bodies so twisted them that their hands could hardly shoot. By my order we took no prisoners, for the only time in our war.'"
References:
Lawrence, T.E., Revolt in the Desert (1927); Lawrence, T.E., Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926); Thomas, Lowell, With Lawrence in Arabia (1924). Selengkapnya dapat dibaca dihttp://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/lawrence.htm )
Criticism of policy regarding religious heritage sites
The last ten years have seen an increase in the demolition of sites in Mecca and Medina. As the annual Hajj continues to draw larger crowds year after year, the Saudi authorities have deemed it necessary to raze large tracts of formerly residential neighborhoods around the two mosques to make way for pilgrimage-related infrastructure. In 2010, it was forecast that developers were going to spend an estimated $13 billion on the largest expansion project in the city’s history.[11] While there is widespread agreement for the need of facilities that can accommodate greater numbers of pilgrims, the development of upscale hotels and condominium towers, restaurants, shopping centers and even two luxury spas[12] has caused some to criticize the over-commercialization of a site which many consider to be a Divinely ordained sanctuary for Muslims. The rapid influx of capitalist investment in Mecca and Medina leads many to believe that money and economic growth are ultimately the bottom line for Saudi authorities. A proposition which critics argue works hand in hand with Wahhabi state policy that looks to impose a massive cultural and social deletion within the Holy Cities,[13] erasing any elements that give way to practices that go against the Wahhabi creed.Destroyed sites
In 1801 and 1802, the Saudis under Abdul Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Saud attacked and captured the holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf in Iraq, massacred parts of the Muslim population and destroyed the tombs of Husayn ibn Ali who is the grandson of Muhammad, and son of Ali (Ali bin Abu Talib), the son-in-law of Muhammad. (see: Saudi sponsorship mentioned previously) In 1803 and 1804 the Saudis captured Mecca and Medina and destroyed historical monuments and various holy Muslim sites and shrines, such as the shrine built over the tomb of Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, and even intended to destroy the grave of Muhammad himself as idolatrous, causing outrage throughout the Muslim World.[14][15][16] In Mecca, the tombs of direct relations of Muhammad including his first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid were demolished at Al-Ma’ala Cemetery.[17]- Below is an incomplete list of destroyed sites
Mosques
- The mosque at the grave of Sayyid al-Shuhada’ Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.[9]
- The Mosque of Fatima Zahra.[9]
- The Mosque of al-Manaratain.[9]
- Mosque and tomb of Sayyid Imam al-Uraidhi ibn Ja‘far al-Sadiq, destroyed by dynamite on August 13, 2002.
- Four mosques at the site of the Battle of the Trench in Medina.
- The Mosque of Abu Rasheed.[18]
- Salman al-Farsi Mosque, in Medina.[18]
- Raj'at ash-Shams Mosque, in Medina.[18]
Cemeteries and tombs
- Jannat al-Baqi in Medina, leveled, still open access for men only.
- Jannat al-Mu'alla, the ancient cemetery at Mecca.[18]
- Grave of Hamida al-Barbariyya, the mother of Imam Musa al-Kazim.
- Grave of Amina bint Wahb, Muhammad’s mother, bulldozed and set alight in 1998.
- Graves of Banu Hashim in Mecca.[18]
- Tombs of Hamza and other casualties of the Battle of Uhud were demolished at Mount Uhud.[18]
- Tomb of Eve in Jeddah,[18] sealed with concrete in 1975.
- Grave of the father of Muhammad, in Medina.[18]
Historical religious sites
- The house of Mawlid where Muhammad is believed to have been born in 570. Originally turned into a library, it now lies under a rundown building which was built 70 years ago as a compromise after Wahhabi clerics called for it to be torn down.[19]
- The house of Khadija, Muhammad’s first wife. Muslims believe he received some of the first revelations there. It was also where his children Fatimah and Qasim were born. After it was rediscovered during the Haram extensions in 1989, it was covered over and it was made into a library.
- House of Muhammed in Medina, where he lived after the migration from Mecca.[18]
- Dar e Arqam, the first Islamic school where Muhammad taught.[19] It now lies under the extension of the Masjid Al Nabawi of Madinah.
- Qubbat’ al-Thanaya, the burial site of Muhammed's incisor that was broken in the Battle of Uhud.[9]
- Mashrubat Umm Ibrahim, built to mark the location of the house where Muhammad’s son, Ibrahim, was born to Mariah.
- Dome which served as a canopy over the Well of Zamzam.[18]
- Bayt al-Ahzan of Sayyida Fatima, in Medina.[18]
- House of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, in Medina.[18]
- Mahhalla complex of Banu Hashim, in Medina.[18]
- House of Ali where Hasan and Husayn were born.[18]
See also
- Islamist destruction of Timbuktu heritage sites
- Wahhabism
- Jannat ul-Baqi
- Yaum e gham
- Jawatha Mosque
- Iconoclasm
- Destruction of Shia mosques during the 2011 Bahraini uprising
References
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/medina-saudis-take-a-bulldozer-to-islams-history-8228795.html
- http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-11/india/35749248_1_islamic-heritage-islamic-cooperation-aiumb-general-secretary
- Yamani, Mai (2009). "Devotion". Cradle of Islam. London: I.B. TAURIS. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-84511-824-2.
- Yamani, Mai (2009). "Devotion". Cradle of Islam. London: I.B. TAURIS. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-84511-824-2.
- Rentz, George S. (2004). "Devotion". The Birth of the Islamic Reform Movement in Saudi Arabia. London: Arabian Publishing Ltd. p. 139. ISBN 0-9544792-2-X.
- Angawi, Dr.Sami (February 19, 2002). "A NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript". PBS NewsHour Online Transcript. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
- The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam
- Anthony H. Cordesman. Saudi Arabia enters the 21st century. Praeger (April 21, 2003). ISBN 978-0-275-98091-7. "The tension between Saudi Shi'ite and Wahhabi is especially intense because Saudi "Wahhabis" actively reject all veneration of man, even the prophet. At one point, they even attempted to destroy Muhammad's tomb in Medina. In contrast, the Saudi Shi'ites are "Twelvers," a branch of Islam that venerates the Prophet's son-in-law Ali, and believes that the leadership of Islam must pass through Ali's line. They venerate each of the past imams, and make pilgrimages to their tombs."
- Irfan Ahmed, The Destruction of Holy Sites in Mecca and Medina, page 1, Islamica Magazine, Issue 15.page 71. Accessed online October 29, 2010.
- "Fatwas of the Permanent Committee". Official KSA Rulings. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- Abou-Ragheb, Laith (July 12, 2005). "Dr.Sami Angawi on Wahhabi Desecration of Makkah". Center for Islamic Pluralism. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
- http://www.fairmont.com/makkah
- Laessing, Ulf (November 18, 2010). "Mecca goes Upmarket". Reuters. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
- The Destruction of Holy Sites in Mecca and Medina By Irfan Ahmed in Islamic Magazine, Issue 1, July 2006
- Nibras Kazimi, A Paladin Gears Up for War, The New York Sun, November 1, 2007
- John R Bradley, Saudi's Shi'ites walk tightrope, Asia Times, March 17, 2005
- http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/destruction_of_islamic_architectural_heritage_in_saudi_arabia_a_wake_up_cal
- History of the Cemetery of Jannat al-Baqi, History of the Shrines, Al-Islam.org (Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project). Accessed online 16 December 2008.
- Salah Nasrawi,Mecca’s ancient heritage is under attack - Developments for pilgrims and the strict beliefs of Saudi clerics are encroaching on or eliminating Islam’s holy sites in the kingdom, Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2007. Accessed online 16 December 2008.
What is the difference between Legend (myth), and History (real existence of people)?
(1) The Telegraph reported on November 2, 2012 that Sauds are bulldozing Islam’s Heritage mercilessly. The Paper questioned why Muslims all over the world are keeping silent on this destruction. Read detailed report.
Berikut laporan detailnya
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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 Mecca and Medina 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.
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.
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, the mother of the Prophet, 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 Mecca that date back to the time of the Prophet 1,400 years ago. The litany of this lost history includes the house of Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet, 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 Mecca.
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 Mecca and Medina. 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 Mecca 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. "Mecca 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 Mecca was imminent. " What we are witnessing are the last days of Mecca and Medina."
Mecca's skyline
Giant cranes and half-constructed skyscrapers tower over the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Six new property developments, including the Bin Laden group's Zam Zam Tower, are transforming the character of Islam's holiest city
ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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 Koran. Hardline clerics want it destroyed to stop pilgrims visiting. At the foot of the hill there is a Wahhabi fatwa: " The Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) did not permit us to climb on to this hill, not to pray here, not to touch stones, and tie knots on trees..."
ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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
THE ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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
THE ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The Press TV reported on October 28, 2012 that Sauds (the Saudi Royal family) plan to destroy the remaining monuments in Saudi Arabia. Read detailed report.
Berikut laporan detail tersebut
The Al Saud monarchy intends to bulldoze three of the world’s oldest mosques in Medina to expand the mosque so that it can host 1.6 million pilgrims, the Independent said in a recent report.
The main change will occur in the Western section of Masjid al-Nabawi, which holds the tomb of the founder of Islam, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The three mosques, scheduled to be demolished after annual Hajj pilgrimage, including Ghamama mosque, where Prophet Mohammad is said to have given his first prayers for an Eid ceremony, are located outside the western walls of Masjid al-Nabawi.
Saudi officials have not declared any plans in respect of preserving or moving the historical mosques that are covered by the Ottoman-era structures, the report added.
“There are ways they could expand which would either avoid or preserve the ancient Islamic sites but instead they want to knock it all down,” said Dr. Irfan al-Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation.
The Washington-based (Persian) Gulf Institute says Riyadh has bulldozed 95 percent of 1,000-year-old buildings in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the past 20 years with the aim of expanding shopping centers, sky scrapers and luxury hotels.
During construction of the Jabal Omar complex in Mecca, which overshadowed Masjid al-Harram, Saudi officials destroyed many archeological sites, particularly Prophet Mohammad’s birth place and the house of Prophet’s wife, Khadijah (PBUH), turning the holy locations into library and public toilet respectively.
Two of the seven key historic mosques built to mark the Battle of the Trench and a mosque belonging to the Prophet’s grandson were also dynamited ten years ago.
Surprisingly, pictures of demolition of the ancient mosque taken secretly and then smuggled out of the kingdom reveals the Saudi religious police hailing and celebrating the collapse of the Islamic monument.
The report attributes Saudi Arabia’s disdain for historic sites of Islam to the kingdom’s association with Wahabism, which is an extreme and inflexible interpretation of Islam.
The spot that marks the Prophet’s tomb is covered by a famous green dome and forms the centerpiece of the current mosque. The new redevelopment plans of Masjid al-Nabawi will move Prophet’s dome from center to east wing of the new site and destroy the praying niche at the center of the mosque.
The area forms part of the Riyadh al-Jannah (Garden of Paradise), which was regarded as a holy place by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
AO/HSN
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.
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.
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, the mother of the Prophet, 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 Mecca that date back to the time of the Prophet 1,400 years ago. The litany of this lost history includes the house of Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet, 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 Mecca.
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 Mecca and Medina. 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 Mecca 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. "Mecca 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 Mecca was imminent. " What we are witnessing are the last days of Mecca and Medina."
Mecca's skyline
Giant cranes and half-constructed skyscrapers tower over the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Six new property developments, including the Bin Laden group's Zam Zam Tower, are transforming the character of Islam's holiest city
ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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 Koran. Hardline clerics want it destroyed to stop pilgrims visiting. At the foot of the hill there is a Wahhabi fatwa: " The Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) did not permit us to climb on to this hill, not to pray here, not to touch stones, and tie knots on trees..."
ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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
THE ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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
THE ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The Press TV reported on October 28, 2012 that Sauds (the Saudi Royal family) plan to destroy the remaining monuments in Saudi Arabia. Read detailed report.
Berikut laporan detail tersebut
Al Saud plans to destroy remaining Islamic monuments in Medina: Report
A view of Masjid al-Nabawi in the holy city of Medina (file photo)
Sun Oct 28, 2012 9:30AM
There
are ways they could expand which would either avoid or preserve the
ancient Islamic sites but instead they want to knock it all down.”
Irfan al-Alawi, Islamic Heritage Research Foundation
Irfan al-Alawi, Islamic Heritage Research Foundation
The
Saudi regime plans to demolish Islamic monuments in the holy city of
Medina to turn Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet Mohammad’s Mosque) into the
world’s largest building, a report says.
The Al Saud monarchy intends to bulldoze three of the world’s oldest mosques in Medina to expand the mosque so that it can host 1.6 million pilgrims, the Independent said in a recent report.
The main change will occur in the Western section of Masjid al-Nabawi, which holds the tomb of the founder of Islam, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The three mosques, scheduled to be demolished after annual Hajj pilgrimage, including Ghamama mosque, where Prophet Mohammad is said to have given his first prayers for an Eid ceremony, are located outside the western walls of Masjid al-Nabawi.
Saudi officials have not declared any plans in respect of preserving or moving the historical mosques that are covered by the Ottoman-era structures, the report added.
The Saudi regime’s disregard for preserving the key historic sites and historical and archaeological heritage has provoked outrage among a group of academics, who were brave enough to challenge the Saudi monarchy on the issue.
“There are ways they could expand which would either avoid or preserve the ancient Islamic sites but instead they want to knock it all down,” said Dr. Irfan al-Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation.
The Washington-based (Persian) Gulf Institute says Riyadh has bulldozed 95 percent of 1,000-year-old buildings in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the past 20 years with the aim of expanding shopping centers, sky scrapers and luxury hotels.
During construction of the Jabal Omar complex in Mecca, which overshadowed Masjid al-Harram, Saudi officials destroyed many archeological sites, particularly Prophet Mohammad’s birth place and the house of Prophet’s wife, Khadijah (PBUH), turning the holy locations into library and public toilet respectively.
Two of the seven key historic mosques built to mark the Battle of the Trench and a mosque belonging to the Prophet’s grandson were also dynamited ten years ago.
Surprisingly, pictures of demolition of the ancient mosque taken secretly and then smuggled out of the kingdom reveals the Saudi religious police hailing and celebrating the collapse of the Islamic monument.
The report attributes Saudi Arabia’s disdain for historic sites of Islam to the kingdom’s association with Wahabism, which is an extreme and inflexible interpretation of Islam.
The spot that marks the Prophet’s tomb is covered by a famous green dome and forms the centerpiece of the current mosque. The new redevelopment plans of Masjid al-Nabawi will move Prophet’s dome from center to east wing of the new site and destroy the praying niche at the center of the mosque.
The area forms part of the Riyadh al-Jannah (Garden of Paradise), which was regarded as a holy place by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
AO/HSN
(3) The Independent reported on October 19, 2006 under title “The Shame of the House of Saud: Shadows over Makka“ that previously
unseen photographs reveal how Salafi Pagans, obsessed with
Idolatry,have colluded with developers to destroy Islam’s diverse
Heritage. Read full Report…
(4) Dr. Saeed Shehabi, Chairman, International Forum for Islamic Dialogue (IFID) wrote a detailed account of Destruction of Islamic Heritage in Saudi Arabia in February 2008. It is estimated that more than 90% of historic mosques, mausoleums and other artefacts have been erased from the face of the Earth, to the extent that some Saudi voices, especially from the Hejaz, have begun to question the wisdom of the eradication of the country’s historic wealth. Read detailed report…
From Saturday's Daily Telegraph
Imagine that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – the traditional site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus – has been taken over by Cromwellian Puritans. The new owners of the shrine plan to send bulldozers in, replacing the old church with a monstrous building resembling a concrete spaceship. This is so pilgrims can pray without being distracted by “superstitious” icons. Also, the Old City will be buried under hotels that make Vegas look like Venice.
It wouldn’t happen, would it? Christians would fight to the death to preserve Jerusalem. So would Jews and Muslims. And, for once, they’d have the support of secular politicians and scholars, horrified by the prospect of an act of cultural vandalism unprecedented in modern times.
Unprecedented until now, that is. The long-cherished ambition of Saudi Arabia’s ruling Wahhabi sect to smash up the ancient buildings of Mecca and Medina is nearing fruition.
In Mecca, the house of one of Mohammed’s wives has been demolished to make space for public lavatories. His birthplace may disappear, too, as part of King Abdullah’s scheme to complement the skyscrapers and shopping malls with a Grand Mosque fashioned from the same materials as a multi-storey car park in Wolverhampton.
As for Islam’s second holiest place, the city of Medina, a recent article by Jerome Taylor in the Independent revealed a megalomaniac plan to pull down three 7th-century mosques. Taylor added: “Ten years ago, a mosque which belonged to the Prophet’s grandson was dynamited. Pictures of the demolition that were secretly taken and smuggled out of the kingdom showed the religious police celebrating.”
Only a small minority of the world’s billion Muslims are Wahhabis, despite the tens of billions of petrodollars spent by the Saudis propagating their creed. (Bosnia, for example, is now littered with Saudi-style mosques, replacing the graceful Ottoman architecture that Wahhabis detest.) Many pilgrims to Mecca are revolted by the marriage of Puritanism and greed they find there. Yet protests are scattered and muted. Why?
One answer is that the House of Saud, though widely hated, is also feared: its wealth and terrorist connections make it unlikely that, say, a Pakistani politician would speak openly about the desecration of the Hajj.
The West can hardly complain about such gutlessness: this year’s Hajj exhibition at the British Museum was creepily sanitised – no mention of bulldozers or the 2,000ft clock tower built right next to the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped building that is the centrepiece of Islamic devotions.
But what sticks in the craw is the hypocrisy of Muslims who throw a fit if Israeli archaeologists carry out non-intrusive work underneath the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, “Islam’s third holiest place”, as we’re constantly reminded. Such anger would be more convincing if the first and second holy sites weren’t being ploughed up by a police state. Likewise, are cartoons of Mohammed really more offensive than reducing the remains of his life to rubble?
As one Middle East expert put it to me: “Jews disturbing the Dome of the Rock fits into an anti-Western narrative, so Muslims can cope with that. The Saudi destruction of Mecca doesn’t fit into that narrative, and so there’s virtual silence.” Something worth bearing in mind, perhaps, when you wonder why the murder of Muslims by Muslims in Darfur or Syria provokes only limited outrage in the Islamic world.
Polly’s praise has a hollow ring
Dear Polly Toynbee was in such a tizzy over the EU in yesterday’s Guardian, trying to reconcile her support for Labour’s new line with her ferocious Europhilia. I’ll spare you the details of her contortions, except to say that she ended up by praising the one Blairite minister who had been properly “tireless” in his support of the European Union: Denis MacShane. That’s the same Denis MacShane MP who resigned yesterday after being found guilty of tirelessly submitting 19 false invoices for “research and translation” services. As Polly says, a man truly in communion with the spirit of Brussels.
Vicars with a satanic side
"An ex-Satanist returns to the Catholic Church,” read a headline on a US website this week. Alas, it was just about some woman who’d given up astrology, surely the realm of the feeble-minded rather than of Devil-worshippers.
As it happens, I do know a Christian who used to be a Satanist punk rocker. He’s now an Anglican vicar and a jolly good one, so I won’t embarrass him by naming him.
Mention of Satan and vicars always reminds me of “The Daemons”, my favourite Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story, in which Roger Delgado’s Master poses as the Rev Mr Magister.
He strikes me as your typical Low Church country parson – until, that is, he retires to the crypt to conduct black magic rubrics with distinctly Anglo-Catholic flamboyance.
A sorry state of affairs
Here’s a contender for most humiliating apology of the year: a 540-word mea culpa issued to Lord Ashcroft by Dr Éoin Clarke, whose boring and sanctimonious blog “The Green Benches” is devoted to exposing the wickedness of Conservative health policy. Dr Clarke has been forced to say sorry on five separate counts, including wrongly suggesting that Ashcroft donated money to the Tory party in order to increase the use of agency staff in the NHS.
Incidentally, we’re not talking about a GP blogger who was too busy to check his facts. The only house calls Dr Clarke is qualified to make are to people urgently seeking info on Irish women’s history, the subject of his PhD. As I’ve noted before, Clarke is so proud of his doctorate that he even calls himself “@DrEoinClarke” on Twitter. Bless.
Incidentally, how do you pronounce his name? Says my Gaelic expert: “It’s basically 'Eeyore’, but with just a hint of the click sound made by Xhosa tribesmen.”
The plot thickens
How very, very odd. We learnt this week that the Slimming World All-Party Parliamentary Group, which allows Westminster politicians to discuss “weight management”, is being wound up. The reason given: a fall in membership. Hmm. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but why have the numbers dropped off since 2010? Might it be politically disadvantageous, shall we say, for an ambitious Tory MP to show too much interest in the subject of double chins?
I seek out my Deep Throat in the Downing Street kitchens. At the mention of the words “Slimming World” she raises a knowing eyebrow. “You’ll have to do your own research,” she says. “All I can tell you is: follow the custard.”
Tags: Doctor Who, Islam, Mecca, Polly Toynbee, saudi arabia
(5) The Independent reported on October 28, 2012 that Saudiauthorities have embarked on cultural vandalism and destroying Islamic holy sites without any regard to Islam and Muslims in the world. Read full report…
Even the Imam and Preacher at the Grand Mosque, Abdur Rahman As-Sudais, the infamous Salafi Cleric, who
is head of the Official Presidency for two Grand Mosques (with a rank
of a Minister) is reported to have promised, in a statement in As Sharq
Al-Awsat earlier, that the areas in both the Grand Mosques from Abbasid Caliphate and Ottoman period will not be touched. However, now it has all been destroyed in Makka’s Grand Mosque in the name of expansion. Read more...
People, who visit these exhibitions in major cities of the world, get the impression that Islam was imposed on Saudis earlier and now they have goneback to Paganism, which existed before Islam. Read CNN Report.
(4) Dr. Saeed Shehabi, Chairman, International Forum for Islamic Dialogue (IFID) wrote a detailed account of Destruction of Islamic Heritage in Saudi Arabia in February 2008. It is estimated that more than 90% of historic mosques, mausoleums and other artefacts have been erased from the face of the Earth, to the extent that some Saudi voices, especially from the Hejaz, have begun to question the wisdom of the eradication of the country’s historic wealth. Read detailed report…
The Saudis are bulldozing Islam's heritage. Why the silence from the Muslim world?
Modern Mecca, courtesy of the House of Saud (Photo: AFP/Getty)
Imagine that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – the traditional site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus – has been taken over by Cromwellian Puritans. The new owners of the shrine plan to send bulldozers in, replacing the old church with a monstrous building resembling a concrete spaceship. This is so pilgrims can pray without being distracted by “superstitious” icons. Also, the Old City will be buried under hotels that make Vegas look like Venice.
It wouldn’t happen, would it? Christians would fight to the death to preserve Jerusalem. So would Jews and Muslims. And, for once, they’d have the support of secular politicians and scholars, horrified by the prospect of an act of cultural vandalism unprecedented in modern times.
Unprecedented until now, that is. The long-cherished ambition of Saudi Arabia’s ruling Wahhabi sect to smash up the ancient buildings of Mecca and Medina is nearing fruition.
In Mecca, the house of one of Mohammed’s wives has been demolished to make space for public lavatories. His birthplace may disappear, too, as part of King Abdullah’s scheme to complement the skyscrapers and shopping malls with a Grand Mosque fashioned from the same materials as a multi-storey car park in Wolverhampton.
As for Islam’s second holiest place, the city of Medina, a recent article by Jerome Taylor in the Independent revealed a megalomaniac plan to pull down three 7th-century mosques. Taylor added: “Ten years ago, a mosque which belonged to the Prophet’s grandson was dynamited. Pictures of the demolition that were secretly taken and smuggled out of the kingdom showed the religious police celebrating.”
Only a small minority of the world’s billion Muslims are Wahhabis, despite the tens of billions of petrodollars spent by the Saudis propagating their creed. (Bosnia, for example, is now littered with Saudi-style mosques, replacing the graceful Ottoman architecture that Wahhabis detest.) Many pilgrims to Mecca are revolted by the marriage of Puritanism and greed they find there. Yet protests are scattered and muted. Why?
One answer is that the House of Saud, though widely hated, is also feared: its wealth and terrorist connections make it unlikely that, say, a Pakistani politician would speak openly about the desecration of the Hajj.
The West can hardly complain about such gutlessness: this year’s Hajj exhibition at the British Museum was creepily sanitised – no mention of bulldozers or the 2,000ft clock tower built right next to the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped building that is the centrepiece of Islamic devotions.
But what sticks in the craw is the hypocrisy of Muslims who throw a fit if Israeli archaeologists carry out non-intrusive work underneath the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, “Islam’s third holiest place”, as we’re constantly reminded. Such anger would be more convincing if the first and second holy sites weren’t being ploughed up by a police state. Likewise, are cartoons of Mohammed really more offensive than reducing the remains of his life to rubble?
As one Middle East expert put it to me: “Jews disturbing the Dome of the Rock fits into an anti-Western narrative, so Muslims can cope with that. The Saudi destruction of Mecca doesn’t fit into that narrative, and so there’s virtual silence.” Something worth bearing in mind, perhaps, when you wonder why the murder of Muslims by Muslims in Darfur or Syria provokes only limited outrage in the Islamic world.
Polly’s praise has a hollow ring
Dear Polly Toynbee was in such a tizzy over the EU in yesterday’s Guardian, trying to reconcile her support for Labour’s new line with her ferocious Europhilia. I’ll spare you the details of her contortions, except to say that she ended up by praising the one Blairite minister who had been properly “tireless” in his support of the European Union: Denis MacShane. That’s the same Denis MacShane MP who resigned yesterday after being found guilty of tirelessly submitting 19 false invoices for “research and translation” services. As Polly says, a man truly in communion with the spirit of Brussels.
Vicars with a satanic side
"An ex-Satanist returns to the Catholic Church,” read a headline on a US website this week. Alas, it was just about some woman who’d given up astrology, surely the realm of the feeble-minded rather than of Devil-worshippers.
As it happens, I do know a Christian who used to be a Satanist punk rocker. He’s now an Anglican vicar and a jolly good one, so I won’t embarrass him by naming him.
Mention of Satan and vicars always reminds me of “The Daemons”, my favourite Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story, in which Roger Delgado’s Master poses as the Rev Mr Magister.
He strikes me as your typical Low Church country parson – until, that is, he retires to the crypt to conduct black magic rubrics with distinctly Anglo-Catholic flamboyance.
A sorry state of affairs
Here’s a contender for most humiliating apology of the year: a 540-word mea culpa issued to Lord Ashcroft by Dr Éoin Clarke, whose boring and sanctimonious blog “The Green Benches” is devoted to exposing the wickedness of Conservative health policy. Dr Clarke has been forced to say sorry on five separate counts, including wrongly suggesting that Ashcroft donated money to the Tory party in order to increase the use of agency staff in the NHS.
Incidentally, we’re not talking about a GP blogger who was too busy to check his facts. The only house calls Dr Clarke is qualified to make are to people urgently seeking info on Irish women’s history, the subject of his PhD. As I’ve noted before, Clarke is so proud of his doctorate that he even calls himself “@DrEoinClarke” on Twitter. Bless.
Incidentally, how do you pronounce his name? Says my Gaelic expert: “It’s basically 'Eeyore’, but with just a hint of the click sound made by Xhosa tribesmen.”
The plot thickens
How very, very odd. We learnt this week that the Slimming World All-Party Parliamentary Group, which allows Westminster politicians to discuss “weight management”, is being wound up. The reason given: a fall in membership. Hmm. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but why have the numbers dropped off since 2010? Might it be politically disadvantageous, shall we say, for an ambitious Tory MP to show too much interest in the subject of double chins?
I seek out my Deep Throat in the Downing Street kitchens. At the mention of the words “Slimming World” she raises a knowing eyebrow. “You’ll have to do your own research,” she says. “All I can tell you is: follow the custard.”
(5) The Independent reported on October 28, 2012 that Saudiauthorities have embarked on cultural vandalism and destroying Islamic holy sites without any regard to Islam and Muslims in the world. Read full report…
(6) The Hindu Newspaper reported on November 5, 2012 that Saudi
Arabia’s poor track record on the protection of Islamic heritage
structures has further fueled anxiety about these sites’ future. The
Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of all
1,000-year-old buildings in Makkah and Medina have been destroyed over
the last 20 years. Read full Report…
The Muslims of the world cannot see Islam being destroyed by
the ruling clan of Saudi Arabia without any regard to Islam and Muslims
in the world. Watch the following Shocking Video clips, you will be surprised to know the extent of damage Salafis have done to Islam andits Heritage.
Dr. Irfan Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told RTthat the key Islamic heritage site, including Prophet Mohammed’s (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) shrine, is to be bulldozed as Saudi Arabia plans a $ 6 billion expansion of Madina’s holy Grand Mosque. Read more …
Work on the Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, was scheduled to start after 2012 Hajj season. However, the Muslims of the world raised a hue and cry on the proposed destruction of Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) dome and his pious grave. Then the Saudi Government is reported tostopped the proposed destruction. This was reported in Saudi GazetteNewspaper on November 14, 2012. Read more..
Similarly, it is reported in Okaz Newspaper on February 13, 2013 that Saudi Government is considering to restore some Heritage buildings in the Kingdom in order to promote religious tourism. Read more…
But, no one can believe the deceptive Saudi Royal Clan.
Earlier they promised that they will not destroy the Ottoman eraIslamic memorials in Saudi Arabia; but they did destroy Ottoman’s Ajyad Fortress in Makka to build Abraj Al-Bait Commercial Towers.
Similarly, in 2010 King Abdullah promised Turkish authorities that he will not allow destruction of Ottoman era portico in Masjid al-Haram. But he did not keep that promise and now the Ottoman portico around Ka’aba has been destroyed completely.
They have ignored all their promises officially made to Turkish Government and to the world earlier. Read detailed information in this context appeared on February 11, 2013 in Turkish Newspapers. Click Here to read more…
Even the Imam and Preacher at the Grand Mosque, Abdur Rahman As-Sudais, the infamous Salafi Cleric, who
is head of the Official Presidency for two Grand Mosques (with a rank
of a Minister) is reported to have promised, in a statement in As Sharq
Al-Awsat earlier, that the areas in both the Grand Mosques from Abbasid Caliphate and Ottoman period will not be touched. However, now it has all been destroyed in Makka’s Grand Mosque in the name of expansion. Read more...
Muslims suspect that SaudiGovernment’s recent announcement not to destroy the Green Dome of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم), or their proposal of restoration of some sites, could be a shrewdmove to buy some time and when Muslims’ anger dies down, they will suddenly destroy the Dome and remove the pious graves of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) and Khulafa-e-Rashideen from the mosque as they did earlier with 60,000 pious graves of Sahaba in Arabian Peninsula.
The Tribune reported on November 1, 2012 that
there is a strong potential and likelihood that Saudi Salafis will
demolish the Green Dome, and destroy Riyadh al-Jannah and the pious
graves of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) and
Khulafa-e-Rashideen in their long line of projects they are undertaking
to erase Islamic Heritage in Saudi Arabia. Read more…
Press TV reported on February 11, 2013 that
Saudi Arabia’s plan of demolishing Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و آله
وسلم) Green Dome is actually a conspiracy hatched by Salafis and
Zionists together. Salafis are working on the Zionists Agenda to
eliminate Islam from the Planet Earth. Read more…
Saudi Royals are destroying Islamic Heritage andpreserving cultural heritage of their Zionist ancestors, and Idols worshiped by their Pagan forefathers in Temple like Museums in Saudi Arabia.Read more…
In the name of restoration ofHeritage sites, what they are restoring is the idols worshiped by their Paganancestors as well as sites related to Saud‘s dynasty inArabian Peninsula. Read more..
Saudis are organizing Exhibitions depicting their national Heritage in all major cities of Saudi Arabia and outside, in US, Europe,Russia, Australia, etc. And what is the national Heritage being exhibited in the grand exhibitions? Pre-Islamic Cultural Heritage of their Pagan forefathers. Read Arab News report dated January 14, 2013.
Watch this video clip and see the Idols of Pagan Gods preserved by Saudi Arabia which are shown in International Exhibitions. Click Here.
People, who visit these exhibitions in major cities of the world, get the impression that Islam was imposed on Saudis earlier and now they have goneback to Paganism, which existed before Islam. Read CNN Report.
Salafists have interpreted Quranic verses and Ahadith to claim that Salafi Paganism is real Islam; which looks to be the main motivation for them to erase all Islamic memorials from their land. Read more…
Saudis openly say that preservation of Prophet’s(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) relics,
his houses, the houses of Sahabah, their old mosques and even their
sacred graves is shirk; but preservation of Idols worshiped by their
forefathers is their important responsibility towards their future
generations. The new definitions of Shirk, Bidda are aimed at confusing
innocent Muslims all over the world. Read more…
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