Mekkah for the Rich
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Mecca for the rich: Islam’s holiest site ‘turning into Las Vegas’
Posted on Pakalert on September 26, 2011 // 1 Comment
Historic and culturally important landmarks are being destroyed to
make way for luxury hotels and malls, reports Jerome Taylor
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.
Click HERE to download graphic: Mecca For The Rich (430.39kB)
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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.
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