Second-holiest site in Islam attracts
millions of pilgrims each year Al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in
Medina, Saudi Arabia, where the
remains of the Prophet Mohamed are housed- One of Islam’s most revered holy sites
– the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed –
could be destroyed and his body
removed to an anonymous grave
under plans which threaten to spark
discord across the Muslim world. 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 tomb of the Prophet Mohamed: Islam’s most revered holy sites (Gallery) 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”. 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. 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.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudis-risk-new-muslim-division-with-proposal-to-move-mohameds-tomb-9705120.html