Historic and culturally important landmarks are being destroyed to make way for luxury hotels and malls, reports Jerome Taylor
In
the eyes of Wahabis, historical sites and shrines encourage "shirq" –
the sin of idolatry or polytheism – and should be destroyed. When the
al-Saud tribes swept through Mecca in the 1920s, the first thing they
did was lay waste to cemeteries holding many of Islam's important
figures. They have been destroying the country's heritage ever since.
Of the three sites the Saudis have allowed the UN to designate World
Heritage Sites, none are related to Islam.
Independent UK
Click HERE to download graphic: Mecca For The Rich (430.39kB)
Behind
closed doors – in places where the religious police cannot listen in –
residents of Mecca are beginning to refer to their city as Las Vegas,
and the moniker is not a compliment.
Over the past 10 years the
holiest site in Islam has undergone a huge transformation, one that
has divided opinion among Muslims all over the world.
Once a
dusty desert town struggling to cope with the ever-increasing number of
pilgrims arriving for the annual Hajj, the city now soars above its
surroundings with a glittering array of skyscrapers, shopping malls
and luxury hotels.
To the al-Saud monarchy, Mecca is their
vision of the future – a steel and concrete metropolis built on the
proceeds of enormous oil wealth that showcases their national pride.
Yet growing numbers of citizens, particularly those living in
the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, have looked on aghast as the
nation's archaeological heritage is trampled under a construction
mania backed by hardline clerics who preach against the preservation
of their own heritage. Mecca, once a place where the Prophet Mohamed
insisted all Muslims would be equal, has become a playground for the
rich, critics say, where naked capitalism has usurped spirituality as
the city's raison d'être.
Few are willing to discuss their
fears openly because of the risks associated with criticising
official policy in the authoritarian kingdom. And, with the
exceptions of Turkey and Iran, fellow Muslim nations have largely held
their tongues for fear of of a diplomatic fallout and restrictions on
their citizens' pilgrimage visas. Western archaeologists are silent
out of fear that the few sites they are allowed access to will be
closed to them.
But a number of prominent Saudi archaeologists
and historians are speaking up in the belief that the opportunity to
save Saudi Arabia's remaining historical sites is closing fast.
"No one has the balls to stand up and condemn this cultural vandalism,"
says Dr Irfan al-Alawi who, as executive director of the Islamic
Heritage Research Foundation, has fought in vain to protect his
country's historical sites. "We have already lost 400-500 sites. I
just hope it's not too late to turn things around."
Sami
Angawi, a renowned Saudi expert on the region's Islamic architecture, is
equally concerned. "This is an absolute contradiction to the nature
of Mecca and the sacredness of the house of God," he told the Reuters
news agency earlier this year. "Both [Mecca and Medina] are
historically almost finished. You do not find anything except
skyscrapers."
Dr Alawi's most pressing concern is the planned
£690m expansion of the Grand Mosque, the most sacred site in Islam
which contains the Kaaba – the black stone cube built by Ibrahim
(Abraham) that Muslims face when they pray.
Construction
officially began earlier this month with the country's Justice
Minister, Mohammed al-Eissa, exclaiming that the project would respect
"the sacredness and glory of the location, which calls for the
highest care and attention of the servants or Islam and Muslims".
The 400,000 square metre development is being built to accommodate an
extra 1.2 million pilgrims each year and will turn the Grand Mosque
into the largest religious structure in the world. But the Islamic
Heritage Foundation has compiled a list of key historical sites that
they believe are now at risk from the ongoing development of Mecca,
including the old Ottoman and Abbasi sections of the Grand Mosque,
the house where the Prophet Mohamed was born and the house where his
paternal uncle Hamza grew up.
There is little argument that
Mecca and Medina desperately need infrastructure development. Twelve
million pilgrims visit the cities every year with the numbers
expected to increase to 17 million by 2025.
But critics fear
that the desire to expand the pilgrimage sites has allowed the
authorities to ride roughshod over the area's cultural heritage. The
Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of Mecca's
millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades
alone.
The destruction has been aided by Wahabism, the austere
interpretation of Islam that has served as the kingdom's official
religion ever since the al-Sauds rose to power across the Arabian
Peninsula in the 19th century.
In the eyes of Wahabis,
historical sites and shrines encourage "shirq" – the sin of idolatry
or polytheism – and should be destroyed. When the al-Saud tribes
swept through Mecca in the 1920s, the first thing they did was lay
waste to cemeteries holding many of Islam's important figures. They
have been destroying the country's heritage ever since. Of the three
sites the Saudis have allowed the UN to designate World Heritage
Sites, none are related to Islam.
Those circling the Kaaba
only need to look skywards to see the latest example of the Saudi
monarchy's insatiable appetite for architectural bling. At 1,972ft,
the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, opened earlier this year, soars over the
surrounding Grand Mosque, part of an enormous development of
skyscrapers that will house five-star hotels for the minority of
pilgrims rich enough to afford them.
To build the
skyscraper city, the authorities dynamited an entire mountain and the
Ottoman era Ajyad Fortress that lay on top of it. At the other end of
the Grand Mosque complex, the house of the Prophet's first wife
Khadijah has been turned into a toilet block. The fate of the house
he was born in is uncertain. Also planned for demolition are the
Grand Mosque's Ottoman columns which dare to contain the names of the
Prophet's companions, something hardline Wahabis detest.
For ordinary Meccans living in the mainly Ottoman-era town houses that
make up much of what remains of the old city, development often means
the loss of their family home.
Non-Muslims cannot visit
Mecca and Medina, but The Independent was able to interview a number
of citizens who expressed discontent over the way their town was
changing. One young woman whose father recently had his house
bulldozed described how her family was still waiting for compensation.
"There was very little warning; they just came and told him that the
house had to be bulldozed," she said.
Another Meccan added:
"If a prince of a member of the royal family wants to extend his
palace he just does it. No one talks about it in public though.
There's such a climate of fear."
Dr Alawi hopes the
international community will finally begin to wake up to what is
happening in the cradle of Islam. "We would never allow someone to
destroy the Pyramids, so why are we letting Islam's history disappear?"
Under Threat
Bayt al-Mawlid
When
the Wahabis took Mecca in the 1920s they destroyed the dome on top of
the house where the Prophet Mohammed was born. It was thenused as a
cattle market before being turned into a library after a campaign by
Meccans. There are concerns that the expansion of the Grand Mosque
will destroy it once more. The site has never been excavated by
archaeologists.
Ottoman and Abasi columns of the Grand Mosque
Slated
for demolition as part of the Grand Mosque expansion, these
intricately carved columns date back to the 17th century and are the
oldest surviving sections of Islam's holiest site. Much to the
chagrin of Wahabis, they are inscribed with the names of the
Prophet's companions. Ottomon Mecca is now rapidly disappearing
Al-Masjid al-Nawabi
For
many years, hardline Wahabi clerics have had their sites set on the
15th century green dome that rests above the tomb holding the Prophet,
Abu Bakr and Umar in Medina. The mosque is regarded as the second
holiest site in Islam. Wahabis, however, believe marked graves are
idolatrous. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of
Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of
Saudi Arabia, stated that "the green dome shall be demolished and the
three graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".
Jabal al-Nour
A
mountain outside Mecca where Mohammed received his first Koranic
revelations. The Prophet used to spend long spells in a cave called
Hira. The cave is particularly popular among South Asian pilgrims who
have carved steps up to its entrance and adorned the walls with
graffiti. Religious hardliners are keen to dissuade pilgrims from
congregating there and have mooted the idea of removing the steps and
even destroying the mountain altogether.
Dalam
dokumen yang ditandatanganinya petang ini di hadapan pesuruhjaya sumpah
di Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur, Anwar berkata, Datuk Seri Najib Razak
dan Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor diperlukan untuk membantu kes berkenaan.
“Oleh
yang demikian, saya percaya terdapat banyak lagi perkara yang telahpun
dibincangkan antara pemohon dan pengadu tersebut semasa pertemuan
tersebut yang saya yakin adalah relevan dan materrial kepada pembelaan
saya,” katanya dalam afidavit itu.