The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a
leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors
of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the
Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims
and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of
the mosque is Saudi Arabia’s ageing monarch King Abdullah.
The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.
The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed’s
remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred
anonymously.
There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.
Hardline Saudi clerics have long preached that the country’s strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam – an offshoot of the Sunni tradition – prohibits the worship of any object or “saint”, a practice considered “shirq” or idolatrous.
Dr Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told The Independent: “People visit the chambers, which are the rooms where the Prophet’s family lived, and turn towards the burial chamber to pray.
“Now they want to prevent pilgrims from attending and venerating the tomb because they believe this is shirq, or idolatry. But the only way they can stop people visiting the Prophet is to get him out and into the cemetery.”
For centuries Muslim pilgrims have made their way to Mecca in order to visit the Kaaba – a black granite cubed building said to be built by Abraham, around which al-Masjid al-Haram, or the Grand Mosque, is built, and towards which every Muslim faces when they pray.
This pilgrimage, or hajj, is a religious duty that has to be carried out at least once in a lifetime.
Many go on to make their way to the nearby city of Medina to pay their respects at the Prophet’s tomb.
Muslims waiting to pray at the tomb of the Prophet at al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina (Reuters)
Al-Nabawi mosque around the tomb has been expanded by generations of Arabian rulers, particularly the Ottomans. It includes hand-painted calligraphy documenting details of the Prophet’s life and his family. Dr Alawi said the plans also call for these to be destroyed as well as the Green Dome which covers the Prophet’s tomb.
The Prophet is venerated by both branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia. The strict Wahhabi sect is a branch of the Sunni faith, however, and removing the Prophet could further inflame tensions between the two groups .
The current crisis in Iraq has been blamed on the Shia former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s sectarianism, which alienated the Sunni, leading to the uprising. Isis, also known as Islamic State, which holds swathes of Iraq and Syria, and which murdered the American journalist James Foley, is a Sunni organisation.
Mainstream Sunni Muslims would be just as aghast at any desecration of the tomb as the Shia, Dr Alawi said.
The Independent has previously revealed how the multibillion-pound expansion of the Grand Mosque has, according to the Washington-based Gulf Institute, led to the destruction of up to 95 per cent of Mecca’s millennium-old buildings. They have been replaced with luxury hotels, apartments and shopping malls.
King Abdullah has appointed the prominent Wahhabi cleric and imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, to oversee the expansion project – necessary to cope with the huge number of pilgrims who now visit each year.
Dr Alawi says the consultation document for the al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, by the leading Saudi academic Dr Ali bin Abdulaziz al-Shabal of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, has been circulated to the Committee of the Presidency of the Two Mosques.
Several pages of the consultation document have just been published in the presidency’s journal. They call for the destruction of the rooms surrounding the tomb – used by the Prophet’s wives and daughters, and venerated by the Shia because of their association with his youngest daughter, Fatima.
The document also calls for the Green Dome, which covers the tomb and these living quarters, to be removed, and the ultimate removal of the Prophet’s body to a nearby cemetery.
The al-Baqi cemetery already contains the bodies of many of the Prophet’s family, including his father who was removed there in the 1970s, Dr Alawi said. In 1924 all the grave markers were removed, so pilgrims would not know who was buried there, and so be unable to pray to them.
“The Prophet would be anonymous,” Dr Alawi added. “Everything around the Prophet’s mosque has already been destroyed. It is surrounded by bulldozers. Once they’ve removed everything they can move towards the mosque. The imam is likely to say there is a need to expand the mosque and do it that way, while the world’s eyes are on Iraq and Syria. The Prophet Mohamed’s grave is venerated by the mainstream Sunni, who would never do it. It is just as important for the Shia too, who venerate the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima.
“I’m sure there will be shock across the Muslim world at these revelations. It will cause outrage.”
The Independent was unable to contact the Saudi Arabian embassy, but it said in a statement last year: “The development of the Holy Mosque of Makkah al-Mukarramah [Mecca] is an extremely important subject and one which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as custodian of the two holy mosques, takes with the utmost seriousness. This role is at the heart of the principles upon which Saudi Arabia is founded.”
- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/alarm-over-saudi-plan-remove-remains-prophet-muhammad-64572685#sthash.EW9p6z64.dpuf
The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.
There is no suggestion that any decision has been taken to act upon the plans. The Saudi government has in the past insisted that it treats any changes to Islam’s holiest sites with “the utmost seriousness”.
READ MORE: Attack on Mohamed's tomb could stir up sectarian hatred
But such is the importance of the mosque to both Sunni and Shia Muslims that Dr Irfan al-Alawi warned that any attempt to carry out the work could spark unrest. It also runs the risk of inflaming sectarian tensions between the two branches of Islam, already running perilously high due to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.Hardline Saudi clerics have long preached that the country’s strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam – an offshoot of the Sunni tradition – prohibits the worship of any object or “saint”, a practice considered “shirq” or idolatrous.
Dr Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told The Independent: “People visit the chambers, which are the rooms where the Prophet’s family lived, and turn towards the burial chamber to pray.
“Now they want to prevent pilgrims from attending and venerating the tomb because they believe this is shirq, or idolatry. But the only way they can stop people visiting the Prophet is to get him out and into the cemetery.”
For centuries Muslim pilgrims have made their way to Mecca in order to visit the Kaaba – a black granite cubed building said to be built by Abraham, around which al-Masjid al-Haram, or the Grand Mosque, is built, and towards which every Muslim faces when they pray.
This pilgrimage, or hajj, is a religious duty that has to be carried out at least once in a lifetime.
Many go on to make their way to the nearby city of Medina to pay their respects at the Prophet’s tomb.
Muslims waiting to pray at the tomb of the Prophet at al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina (Reuters)
Al-Nabawi mosque around the tomb has been expanded by generations of Arabian rulers, particularly the Ottomans. It includes hand-painted calligraphy documenting details of the Prophet’s life and his family. Dr Alawi said the plans also call for these to be destroyed as well as the Green Dome which covers the Prophet’s tomb.
The Prophet is venerated by both branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia. The strict Wahhabi sect is a branch of the Sunni faith, however, and removing the Prophet could further inflame tensions between the two groups .
The current crisis in Iraq has been blamed on the Shia former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s sectarianism, which alienated the Sunni, leading to the uprising. Isis, also known as Islamic State, which holds swathes of Iraq and Syria, and which murdered the American journalist James Foley, is a Sunni organisation.
Mainstream Sunni Muslims would be just as aghast at any desecration of the tomb as the Shia, Dr Alawi said.
The Independent has previously revealed how the multibillion-pound expansion of the Grand Mosque has, according to the Washington-based Gulf Institute, led to the destruction of up to 95 per cent of Mecca’s millennium-old buildings. They have been replaced with luxury hotels, apartments and shopping malls.
King Abdullah has appointed the prominent Wahhabi cleric and imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, to oversee the expansion project – necessary to cope with the huge number of pilgrims who now visit each year.
Dr Alawi says the consultation document for the al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, by the leading Saudi academic Dr Ali bin Abdulaziz al-Shabal of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, has been circulated to the Committee of the Presidency of the Two Mosques.
Several pages of the consultation document have just been published in the presidency’s journal. They call for the destruction of the rooms surrounding the tomb – used by the Prophet’s wives and daughters, and venerated by the Shia because of their association with his youngest daughter, Fatima.
The document also calls for the Green Dome, which covers the tomb and these living quarters, to be removed, and the ultimate removal of the Prophet’s body to a nearby cemetery.
The al-Baqi cemetery already contains the bodies of many of the Prophet’s family, including his father who was removed there in the 1970s, Dr Alawi said. In 1924 all the grave markers were removed, so pilgrims would not know who was buried there, and so be unable to pray to them.
“The Prophet would be anonymous,” Dr Alawi added. “Everything around the Prophet’s mosque has already been destroyed. It is surrounded by bulldozers. Once they’ve removed everything they can move towards the mosque. The imam is likely to say there is a need to expand the mosque and do it that way, while the world’s eyes are on Iraq and Syria. The Prophet Mohamed’s grave is venerated by the mainstream Sunni, who would never do it. It is just as important for the Shia too, who venerate the Prophet’s daughter, Fatima.
“I’m sure there will be shock across the Muslim world at these revelations. It will cause outrage.”
The Independent was unable to contact the Saudi Arabian embassy, but it said in a statement last year: “The development of the Holy Mosque of Makkah al-Mukarramah [Mecca] is an extremely important subject and one which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as custodian of the two holy mosques, takes with the utmost seriousness. This role is at the heart of the principles upon which Saudi Arabia is founded.”
Alarm over Saudi plan to remove tomb of Prophet Muhammad
#SaudiStruggle
The proposal, highlighted by the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, would demolish shrines sacred to many Muslims
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi often called the Prophet's Mosque, is the final resting place of Muhammad (Omar A./Flickr)
Tuesday 2 September 2014 10:38 BST
Last update:
September 2 Sep 2014 11:11 BST
Topics:
A
proposal by a Saudi scholar to remove the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad
in Medina and bury them in an unmarked grave have sparked controversy.
The plans, according to the Independent newspaper have been
circulating the al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina which houses the
Prophet’s remains under the Green Dome which is visited by millions of
pilgrims each year and is regarded as the second holiest site in Islam
after the Kabbah.
The document calls for the demolition of chambers around
Muhammad’s grave and the removal of his remains to the nearby al-Baqi
cemetery, where they would be anonymously interred without a headstone.
The article pointed out that no decision had been officially made to implement the plans.
The revelations have, unsurprisingly, provoked outrage on social media:
Others were more skeptical of the news:
Some suggested that the Independent's main source for the
story, Dr Irfan al-Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation,
was a frequent critic of the Saudi government and exaggerating the
plausibility of the plans.
Another pointed out that the Saudi family had not destroyed the original shrine in their almost 100 years of controlling Mecca:
Saudi Arabia’s brand of Islam - pejoratively labelled
‘Wahhabism’ by its critics, after its 18th-century founder Muhammad ibn
Abd al-Wahhab - is highly critical of idolatry and the worship of
shrines and holy relics.
The bodies of many of the Prophet’s family, including his father, are already interred in the al-Baqi cemetery.
In 1924, after the Saudis took power, all grave markers were removed, so pilgrims would be unable to worship them.
Around 95% of Mecca’s ancient buildings have already been
destroyed in the construction of the Grand Mosque, according to the Gulf
Institute, and the Saudi government has already come in for much criticism over what is seen as a disregard for historically and religiously important sites.
Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has defended the developments
saying “Of all the countries that have ruled Makkah, Saudi Arabia has
undertaken the greatest reforms in the city. The expansion projects are
conducted in a modern and sophisticated manner.”
Writing on the Islamic affairs website 5Pillarz, Dr Ilyas
Mohammed criticised Muslim inaction over the destruction of Saudi
Arabia’s historical buildings.
“During the controversy over The Satanic verses in 1988,
Jyllands-Posten cartoons in 2006 and the movie Innocence of Muslims in
2012, Muslim leaders were falling over themselves to condemn what they
regarded as degradation of their faith,” he wrote. “But over the
destruction of Islamic heritage by other Muslims there seems to be
silence.”
“If Muslims allow the destruction of their heritage sites to continue
unchallenged, then are they in any position to condemn Islamophobes for
attacking our Mosques in Britain?“
Comments
Post a Comment