Saudi Government to Demolish Prophet Muhammed’s home

Saudi Royals destroying home of Muhammed says an op-ed piece in the the To ronto Star by
Tarek Fatah. Please save Prophet Muhammad's home echoes an editorial in the Daily Times by Najam Sethi. Both report that the Prophet Muhammed's house in Mecca will be demolished to make way for the Jabal Omar Scheme, a project consisting of a parking lot, two 50-story hotel towers and seven 35-storey apartment blocks. This news was first reported on August 6, in 2005 The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage By Daniel Howden in The Independent.

Despite this terrible outrage, there has been very little coverage in the press in the Muslim world about this decision. I am sure that if the news is leaked to the public, there would be strong protest from multiple quarters in the Muslim world to stop this thoughtless act. Dr Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect, is the only voice so far that has opposed this idea in public, in the original article in The Independent.

Saudi Arabia is home to Wahhabism, an ultra-orthodox sect with a long history of destruction of religious and cultural sites. In the 1920's, when the Wahhabis conquered Mecca, they destroyed the "Jannat al-Baqi" graveyard which contains the graves of the Prophet Muhammed's family and companions. They also looted the Grand Mosque in Medina and destroyed Prophet Muhammed's house where he received the Revelations. Over a year ago, in June (2004) Stephen Schwartz reported in Daily Standard that "the city planning authorities in Medina, known for their Wahhabi extremism, have ordered the leveling of five of seven mosques built in the city by Muhammad’s daughter and four of his companions. These structures are the Mosque of Sayyida Fatima bint Rasulillah, Salman al-Farsi Mosque, Abu Bakr Mosque, Umar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, and Mosque of Ali ibn Abi Talib." It has been reported that a majority of 1,000 year or older buildings in Mecca have been demolished for commercial development.

These were all immeasurable and irreplaceable religious and cultural losses to all Muslims worldwide. It is sad that Saudi Arabia has destroyed and continues to destroy the historical, religious and cultural assets of the entire Muslim community for their short term commercial gains.

I am asking the Chowk community to help verify the details of the news of the demolition of the Prophet's house. If verified, this is an inexcusable outrage and I would request you to spread the word to ask the Saudi government to stop this heinous act.

Here are some contact numbers:

Embassy of Saudi Arabia
901-99 Bank,
Ottawa, ON K1P 6B9
Tel. : 613-237-4100

Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20037
Telephone (202) 333-2740, Fax: (202) 944-3140

Internet Address: http://www.saudi.net

Saudi Consulate General in New York
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 480
New York, NY 10017
Telephone (212) 752-2740, Fax: (212) 688-2719

Saudi Consulate General in Houston
5718 Westheimer, Suite 1500
Houston, TX 77057
Telephone (713) 785-5577, Fax: (713) 785-1163

Saudi Consulate General in Los Angeles
Sawtelle Courtyard Building
2045 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Telephone (310) 479-6000/914-9011, Fax: (310) 479-2752