The current
controversy of the potential Saudi demolition of Riyad-Al-Jannah and the
graves of Islamic Caliphs Abu Bakar and Omar is one in a long line of projects
that the world’s biggest exporter of crude oil has undertaken to erase Islamic
Heritage sites. The Saudi obsession with everything concrete and steel is a
cause of concern for Muslims around the world. The construction of enormous
towers and skyscrapers including the ghastly Mecca Clock Tower tell us
something about the future plans of the Saudis.
A 2011 report by The Independent paper titled “Mecca
for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas” written by Jerome
Taylor (who wrote the recent story about the planned Saudi destruction of Riyad-Al-Jannah
etc), says that the Saudis are planning to turn Mecca into a playground for the
rich, by building sky scrapers and luxury hotels that cater for the rich
Muslims coming from all over the world. The same newspaper reported
back in April 2006 about the Saudi construction rampage in Islam’s holiest
sites.
Systematic destruction of the holy sites and building hotels
and resorts is being backed by the blessings
of its religious clerics, who endorse the destruction of the holy sites because
of their (baseless) fear that idolatry might creep into Muslim ranks. Wahhabism,
which is an extreme and strict form of Islam that denounces the reverence of
any holy site, is the official religion in Saudi Arabia. It is worth noting
that the same brand of Islam is practiced by the Taliban who have been involved
in the destruction
of Bamyan Buddhas and the attack
on the legendary Sufi Rehman Baba’s shrine in Peshawar. However, the Wahabbi Kingdom
seems to be on something more than destroying shrines, graves and imposing its
own brand of Islam.
Even a cursory search reveals that the Saudis are embarking
on a real estate and renewable energy projects as they plan for the future post
2030 when it is feared that the supply of oil, which generates 86% of the
kingdom’s revenue, might
start to dwindle thus forcing the Saudis to import additional oil from
other countries. The Economist states that the rapid increase in demand for oil
inside Saudi Arabia has
increased by 37% and 65% of its electricity is generated by the oil that it
produces. For now, increase in oil price has caused the wealth of Saudis to
soar, quite literally, and their construction of the Kingdom Tower is a
testament to the money flooding in.
But the increase in oil consumption, the increasing American
reliance on Shale Gas , the
expectation that Canada and Mexico might become the new middle east and the awareness of the fact that oil reserves would not last forever
has led Saudi Arabia to consider alternate forms of revenue generation which
include real estate, Hajj ( obviously),banking
sector and other renewable forms of energy. Khalid Al Falih, the President
and CEO of Saudi Aramco, reflects the future strategy of the Saudis when he says
that Saudi Aramco wants to transform from an oil& gas company to a ‘global energy and chemicals enterprise’.
Apart from energy sources, the real estate sector is booming thanks to the
swelling population and the increase in tours by the increasingly affluent middle-class
of the Muslim world.
So how does the new course of Saudi economy relate to
destruction of Islam’s holy sites? In this regard, my hypothesis is that the
Saudis under the valid pretext of real state expansion are destroying the holy
sites by invoking the tenets of Wahhabism but on the other hand, in order to
clear the way for capitalist expansion projects and to keep up with the rest of
the world they are back tracking on the Wahabi doctrine which vehemently
opposes all forms of modernization. The
real estate development and other modernization projects can be undertaken
anywhere in the kingdom but it seems that the Wahabbi clerics are capitalizing
on this opportunity to erase the early history of Islam and increase their hold
on the religion. Few countries have dared to raise voice against this heinous crime
of the destruction of Islamic holy sites, fearing diplomatic repercussions that
might arise. Yet we Pakistanis Muslims scream over the depiction of the Prophet
(PBHUH) in the western media, burn buildings, kill people and block websites in
protests but do not raise a single voice when the house of Hazrat Khadija (R.A)
is turned into a public toilet block and when the Saudi Islamic affairs
ministry declares
that “the green dome (of Masjid
Nabwi) shall be demolished and the three
graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".
The time to raise voice against this crime of titanic
proportions is now!
