British daily, The Independent, reported on Tuesday that there are Saudi proposals to destroy the tomb of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), and to remove his holy body to anonymous grave.
British daily, The Independent, reported on Tuesday that there are Saudi proposals to destroy the tomb of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), and to remove his holy body to anonymous grave.
“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 daily said in its report.
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 holy Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site.
The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticized the destruction of holy places and artifacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave.
The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Prophet Mohammad’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously, the daily said.
The paper interviewed Dr Irfan al-Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who warned that any attempt to carry out the work could spark unrest.
Saudi clerics have long preached that the country’s strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam prohibits the worship of any object or “saint”, a practice considered “shirq” or idolatrous.
Dr Alawi 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.”
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 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 in order to cope with the huge number of pilgrims who now visit each year.
Dr Alawi said 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, including Sayyeda Fatima (PBUH), according to the newspaper.
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, added The Independent.
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 Mohammad’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.”
On the other hand, The Independent said it 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.”
