The destruction of sites associated with early Islam is an on-going phenomenon that has occurred mainly in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, particularly around the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The demolition has focused on mosques, burial sites, homes and historical locations associated with the Islamic prophet, Muhammad and many of the founding personalities of early Islamic history.
In Saudi Arabia, many of the demolitions have officially been part of the continued expansion of the Masjid Al-Haram at Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and their auxiliary service facilities in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of Hajj pilgrims. Detractors of the demolitions and expansion programs have argued that this phenomenon is part of the implementation of state-endorsed Wahhabi religious policy that emphasizes the Oneness of God (Tawhid) and entirely rejects the worship of divine proxies to God or even the practices and habits which might lead to idolatry and polytheistic association (Shirk).
Theological justification
Islam’s core tenet is the recognition and worship of one supreme, non-Trinitarian God, which it shares with Judaism. Islam espouses the direct link between a believer and the God and rejects the intercession or the existence of a medium between the two. Although this position can be considerably more complex within the different schools and strains of Islamic theology, the conservative orthodoxy of Wahhabism adheres strictly and literally to this position and prefers to abide by a more narrow and safeguarded interpretation.
The widespread demolition of gravesites, tombs, mausoleums, birthplaces, mosques or locations otherwise connected with the prophet Muhammad, his family and companions, pious individuals or important events in Islamic history after the Saudi conquest of the Hejaz was an attempt to eradicate non-orthodox practices that had become established in regional Islam during that time. The ongoing demolition of similar places until the present day may constitute the continued effort by Saudi authorities to safeguard Islamic monotheism against non-orthodox practices that are not recognized by Islam.
Controversy arises because, like any theological issues, there are wide differences in opinion concerning orthodoxy, and with what constitutes acceptable Islamic practices and what does not. This is further compounded by the countless interpretations of Islamic theology that can be present in places such as Mecca and Medina, where millions of Muslim visitors from diverse regions and backgrounds of the Islamic World can congregate in the same space at any given time.
Not in dispute Islam prohibits the deification of anything other than God and this includes the attributing of divine characteristics (such as all-encompassing power or the control or knowledge of human destiny) to anyone or thing other than God, including prophets and saints. Furthermore, there exist within the accredited traditions of Muhammad (Sunnah) several injunctions prohibiting the visitation of sites and more specifically the erecting of structures over graves such as mausoleums and Mosques. It is according to these specific orders from the Prophetic authority of Muhammad that Wahhabi and other orthodox Muslims devise the rulings that permit the demolition referenced above.
Visitation of historical sites
The orthodox view is that the visitation of mosques and historical sites in which Muhammad himself prayed during his lifetime other than the Prophet’s Mosque and the Quba’ Mosque in Medina, and claiming that doing so is an emulation of the Prophetic Sunnah—a valid act of worship and a recommended or virtuous act, is incorrect and there is no legal evidence based on Islamic sources that encourages it as such.
The Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyyah said the following regarding this matter: “The scholars of the early generations after the Prophet (Salaf) from amongst the people of Medina and elsewhere did not regard it as recommended (mustahabb) to visit any places in and around Medina after the Mosque of the Prophet, except for the Mosque of Quba’, because the Prophet did not specify any mosque to be visited apart from that.” [Majmu’ al-Fataawa (17/469)]
“Abu Bakr r.a, Umar r.a (Ibn al-Khattab), Uthman r.a and Ali r.a and all the predecessors of both the immigrants (muhajirun) and the Medinan supporters of the Prophet Muhammad (Ansaar) used to travel from Medina to Mecca to perform the Hajj and Umrah, or for other purpose. None of them said that he was keen to pray in the places where the Prophet had prayed. It is known that had this been recommended in their view, they would have been the first ones to do it, for they had more knowledge of the Sunnah and followed it more closely than anyone else." [Iqtidaa’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem]
It is also narrated in the Hadith that the companion of Muhammad, Al-Ma’rur ibn Suwayd said: “We went out with Umar ibn al-Khattab r.a and we came across a mosque on our route. The people rushed to pray in the mosque, and Umar r.a said, ‘What is the matter with them?’ They said, ‘This is a mosque in which the Prophet of God (Muhammad s.a.w) prayed.’ Umar r.a said, ‘O people, those who came before you were destroyed because they followed such practices until they made them places of worship. Whoever happens to be there at the time of prayer, let him pray there, and whoever is not there at the time of prayer, let him continue on his journey.’ [Classed as a sound narration by Ibn Taymiyyah’s in his Al-Majmu’ al-Fataawa (1/281)]
Below is the incomplete lists of destroyed sites
Mosques
The mosque at the grave of Sayyid al-Shuhada’ Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib.[8]
The Mosque of Fatima Zahra.[8]
The Mosque of al-Manaratain.[8]
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.[15]
Salman al-Farsi Mosque, in Medina.[15]
Raj'at ash-Shams Mosque, in Medina.[15]
Cemeteries and tombs
Jannat al-Baqi in Medina, leveled, still open access for men only.
Jannat al-Mu'alla, the ancient cemetery at Mecca.[15]
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.[15]
Tombs of Hamza and other martyrs were demolished at Uhud.[15]
Tomb of Eve in Jeddah,[15] sealed with concrete in 1975.
Grave of the father of Muhammad, in Medina.[15]
Historical religious sites
The house of Mawlid where Muhammad is believed to have been born in 570. Originally turned into a cattle market, 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.[16]
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.[15]
Dar al Arqam, the first Islamic school where Muhammad taught.[16] 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.[8]
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.[15]
Bayt al-Ahzan of Sayyida Fatima, in Medina.[15]
House of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, in Medina.[15]
Mahhalla complex of Banu Hashim, in Medina.[15]
House of Ali where Hasan and Husayn were born.
Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
