{"id":10356,"date":"2014-09-02T03:41:57","date_gmt":"2014-09-02T03:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/?p=10356"},"modified":"2014-09-02T03:45:14","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T03:45:14","slug":"the-saudi-proposal-to-move-prophet-muhammads-tomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/the-saudi-proposal-to-move-prophet-muhammads-tomb\/","title":{"rendered":"The Saudi proposal to move Prophet Muhammad\u2019s tomb"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Islam\u2019s most revered holy sites \u2013 the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) \u2013 could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave in the Baqi’ cemetery under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2019s second-holiest site. The formal custodian of the mosque is Saudi Arabia\u2019s ageing monarch King Abdullah.<\/p>\n

The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca \u2013 the holiest site in the Muslim world \u2013 call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet\u2019s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.<\/p>\n

The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohamed\u2019s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s life and his family. The plans also call for these to be destroyed as well as the Green Dome which covers the Prophet\u2019s tomb.<\/p>\n

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 any attempt to disrupt the tomb of the Prophet, or his mosque, would result in widespread condemnation against Saudi Arabia.
\nThe 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\u2019s millennium-old buildings. They have been replaced with luxury hotels, apartments and shopping malls.<\/p>\n

King Abdullah has appointed the prominent Wahhabi cleric and imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, to oversee the expansion project \u2013 necessary to cope with the huge number of pilgrims who now visit each year.
\nDr 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s body to a nearby cemetery.<\/p>\n

The al-Baqi cemetery already contains the bodies of many of the Prophet\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prophet would be anonymous,\u201d Dr Alawi added. \u201cEverything around the Prophet\u2019s mosque has already been destroyed. It is surrounded by bulldozers. Once they\u2019ve 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\u2019s eyes are on Iraq and Syria. The Prophet Mohamed\u2019s 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\u2019s only daughter, Fatima.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure there will be shock across the Muslim world at these revelations. It will cause outrage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: The Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Islam\u2019s most revered holy sites \u2013 the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) \u2013 could be destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave in the Baqi’ cemetery under plans which threaten to spark discord across the Muslim world. The controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[162,1259,1260,189,1426,163,312],"class_list":["post-10356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-miscellaneous","tag-headline","tag-islamic-heritage","tag-madina","tag-prophet-mohammad-pbuh","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-ticker","tag-wahhabism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10356"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10359,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10356\/revisions\/10359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}