Folks were outraged by Rep. Tom Tancredo's comments on destroying Mecca and Medina. Muslims were particulary upset by the implied threat to the sacred cities.

Why, then, is there no outcry as the Saudis destroy the history of the two cities.

Historic Mecca, the cradle of Islam, is being buried in an unprecedented onslaught by religious zealots.

Almost all of the rich and multi-layered history of the holy city is gone. The Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades.

Now the actual birthplace of the Prophet Mohamed is facing the bulldozers, with the connivance of Saudi religious authorities whose hardline interpretation of Islam is compelling them to wipe out their own heritage.

It is the same oil-rich orthodoxy that pumped money into the Taliban as they prepared to detonate the Bamiyan buddhas in 2000. And the same doctrine - violently opposed to all forms of idolatry - that this week decreed that the Saudis' own king be buried in an unmarked desert grave.

A Saudi architect, Sami Angawi, who is an acknowledged specialist on the region's Islamic architecture, told The Independent that the final farewell to Mecca is imminent: "What we are witnessing are the last days of Mecca and Medina."

According to Dr Angawi - who has dedicated his life to preserving Islam's two holiest cities - as few as 20 structures are left that date back to the lifetime of the Prophet 1,400 years ago and those that remain could be bulldozed at any time. "This is the end of history in Mecca and Medina and the end of their future," said Dr Angawi.

Why the destruction? Who is the driving force? Why the forcies of militant Wahabbism, the preferred version of Islam of the Saudi Royal Family.

"At the root of the problem is Wahhabism," says Dr Angawi. " They have a big complex about idolatry and anything that relates to the Prophet."

The Wahhabists now have the birthplace of the Prophet in their sights. The site survived redevelopment early in the reign of King Abdul al-Aziz ibn Saud 50 years ago when the architect for a library there persuaded the absolute ruler to allow him to keep the remains under the new structure. That concession is under threat after Saudi authorities approved plans to " update" the library with a new structure that would concrete over the existing foundations and their priceless remains.

Dr Angawi is the descendant of a respected merchant family in Jeddah and a leading figure in the Hijaz - a swath of the kingdom that includes the holy cities and runs from the mountains bordering Yemen in the south to the northern shores of the Red Sea and the frontier with Jordan. He established the Haj Research Centre two decades ago to preserve the rich history of Mecca and Medina. Yet it has largely been a doomed effort. He says that the bulldozers could come "at any time" and the Prophet's birthplace would be gone in a single night.

Now I will be honest. I have some major problems theologically with islam. I believe Muhammad to be a crazy man who peddled false visions and revelations to a gullible group of followers, perverting the truths of Christianity and Judaism to justify his deeds. But I also recognize the historical significance of the sites being destroyed, and have great concern that important archaeological evidence will be destroyed.

I wonder, though -- why are Muslims not speaking out against the destruction of their own heritage at the hands of religious extremists? Why won't the UN raise its voice at the destruction of sites that are part of the heritage of the whole world? Where is the international pressure to preserve these valuable historical sites and open them to the world?

In other words, why aren't the Saudis being held to basic standards of international decency for the sake of all mankind?

Posted by: Greg at 10:17 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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