The site in Mecca where the Prophet Mohamed [peace be upon him and his household] is said to have been born is about to be "buried under marble" and replaced by a huge royal palace.
Holy Prophet's Birth Place under Saudi Threat: To Be Replaced
with King's Palace, Luxury Malls!
with King's Palace, Luxury Malls!
The work is part of a multibillion-pound construction project in the holy city which has already resulted in the destruction of hundreds of historic monuments.
Mecca is the holiest city in Islam because of its link to the birth of the Holy Prophet, and because it is the site of the Kaaba, which has been built by Prophet Ibrahim. The Grand Mosque is built around it, and Muslims face towards it when they pray.
According to the Gulf Institute, based in Washington, up to 95 per cent of Mecca's millennium-old buildings have been destroyed, to be replaced with luxury hotels, apartments and shopping malls.
Last week, the remaining 500-year-old Ottoman columns, commemorating the Prophet's ascent to heaven, were destroyed, Irfan Alawi of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told The Independent.
He said that the House of Mawlid, thought to be where the Prophet was born in AD570, is likely to be destroyed before the end of the year.
The new royal palace is to be built for King Abdullah for his visits to Mecca.
Plans for the building, seen by The Independent, include the site of the House of Mawlid, which has recently been closed to pilgrims.
The plans have been verified by an independent source who added that many critics of the construction process are unwilling to speak publicly for fear of being punished by the regime.
Saudi Arabia is ruled by the strict Wahhabism, which prohibits the worship of any object or "saint".
The destruction of historic sites was defended recently by Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah al-Sheikh.
The rooms of the House of Mawlid are under the ground, and in 1951 a library was built over them to preserve them. This has now been closed to pilgrims. Signs on the building warn worshippers against praying.
Alawi, one of the few voices to publicly oppose the destruction, stated that religious police are posted outside the library to prevent worshipping. "The site of the Prophet's birthplace has again come under imminent threat of being permanently forgotten under concrete and marble," Alawi told The Independent.
"Now that Hajj is finished, the 24-hour construction work has started again. They have finished the expansion on one side of the mosque. The royal palace, which will be five times bigger than the current royal palace, is to be built into the side of a mountain and will overlook the mosque.
"Between now and December the library and the rooms of the House of Mawlid are likely be built over. It's inevitable that it will happen."
"It will be history. It will be gone. We are saying, ‘Let us excavate that house and preserve these rooms that are still there'."In September The Independent revealed that even the tomb of the Prophet - which is in the holy city of Medina in the al-Masjid al-Nawabi mosque - was not off-limits for some Wahhabis.
The article, which revealed that calls for the removal of the tomb had been made in a 61-page consultation document, caused an outcry in the Middle East, and forced a denial from the Saudi authorities, who had previously refused to comment on the construction works.
The Independent has made numerous attempts to contact the Saudi authorities for a comment without success.
Source: The Independent, Edited by website team
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