Saudi royals destroying home of Muhammad

TAREK FATAH

Something is rotten in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But let me come
back to that later.

In December 1992 a mob of 150,000 Hindu nationalists attacked a
15th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya. Within hours, the
mosque was reduced to rubble and in the weeks to follow, thousands of
Indians died in Hindu-Muslim riots.

The Muslim world reacted in outrage. Among the countries that
expressed anger at the destruction of the centuries-old Indian mosque
by Hindu extremists was Saudi Arabia. Here in Canada, imams gave fiery
sermons and urged congregations to protest.

Although more than a dozen years have passed since the destruction of
the mosque, there is still bitterness in the air. Muslims worldwide
feel a sense of betrayal and impotence at not being able to control
their own destiny and protect their historical religious sites.

However, a Muslim site far more significant than the Babri mosque is
facing destruction, but there is barely a murmur in protest. The site
is none other than the home of Prophet Muhammad in the city of Mecca.

The demolition of Muhammad's 1,400-year-old home is not going to take
place at the hands of non-Muslims or some occupying western army, but
by the very people who have taken the title as protectors of Islam's
two holiest mosques in Medina and Mecca: the Saudi royal family.

What makes this demolition worse is the fact that the home of the
Prophet is to make way for a parking lot, two 50-storey hotel towers
and seven 35-storey apartment blocks; a project known as the Jabal
Omar Scheme, all within a stone's throw of the Grand Mosque.

Yet despite this outrage, not a single Muslim country, no ayatollah,
no mufti, no king, not even a Muslim Canadian imam has dared utter a
word in protest.

Such is the power of Saudi influence on the Muslim narrative.

The question is this: Why is it that when the Babri mosque was
demolished, hundreds of thousands of Muslims worldwide took to the
streets to protest, but when Saudi authorities plan to demolish the
home of our beloved Prophet, not a whisper is heard?

Is it because Muslims have become so overwhelmed by the power of the
Saudi riyal currency that we have lost all courage and self-respect?
Or is it because we feel a need to cover up Muslim-on-Muslim violence;
Muslim-on-Muslim terror; Muslim-on-Muslim oppression?

However, in this climate conducive to cowardice, there still are a few
giants that stand tall. Dr. Sami Angawi is one of them.

An eminent Saudi architect, he is a brave man in a country where
courage is scarce. Today, he leads a one-man campaign to save the home
of Muhammad.

He told the London newspaper, The Independent, "The house where the
Prophet received the word of God is gone and nobody cares ... this is
the end of history in Mecca and Medina and the end of their future."

The cultural massacre of Islamic heritage sites is not a new
phenomenon. It is said that in the last two decades, 95 per cent of
Mecca's 1,000-year-old buildings have been demolished. In the early
1920s, the Saudis bulldozed and levelled a graveyard in Medina that
housed the graves of the family and companions of Muhammad.

Today, the religious zealots in Saudi Arabia are not alone. Commercial
developers have joined hands with them and are making hundreds of
millions in profits as they build ugly, but lucrative highrises that
are shadowing the Grand Mosque know as the Kaaba.

The Muslim Canadian Congress has strongly condemned this outrage and
called it a cultural massacre of Muslim heritage for the sake of
profit. In a letter to the Saudi ambassador in Ottawa, Niaz Salimi,
president of the MCC, has demanded an immediate stop to these
demolitions and the placing of a moratorium on all future destruction
of Muslim heritage sites.

She writes, "The sacred places of Islam, regardless of where they are
located, belong to the Muslim community worldwide. The countries where
they are located are simply trustees and have no right to destroy
them."

Today Saudi petrodollars have the ability to silence even its most
vocal critics, but when all is said and done, history will render a
harsh judgment on those who try to wipe out its footprints and steal
the heritage of all humanity.

In the words of Lady Macbeth,

Here's the smell of blood still:

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

Oh! oh! oh!

Tarek Fatah is a founding member of the Muslim Canadian Congress and
host of the weekly TV show, The Muslim Chronicle.


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