Theological justification Islam’s core tenet is the recognition and worship of one supreme, non-Trinitarian God, which it shares with Judaism. Islam espouses the direct link between a believer and the God and rejects the intercession or the existence of a medium between the two. Although this position can be considerably more complex within the different schools and strains of Islamic theology, the conservative orthodoxy of Wahhabism adheres strictly and literally to this position and prefers to abide by a more narrow and safeguarded interpretation. The widespread demolition of gravesites, tombs, mausoleums, birthplaces, mosques or locations otherwise connected with the prophet Muhammad, his family and companions, pious individuals or important events in Islamic history after the Saudi conquest of the Hejaz was an attempt to eradicate non-orthodox practices that had become established in regional Islam during that time. The ongoing demolition of similar places until the present day may constitute the continued effort by Saudi authorities to safeguard Islamic monotheism against non-orthodox practices that are not recognized by Islam. Controversy arises because, like any theological issues, there are wide differences in opinion concerning orthodoxy, and with what constitutes acceptable Islamic practices and what does not. This is further compounded by the countless interpretations of Islamic theology that can be present in places such as Mecca and Medina, where millions of Muslim visitors from diverse regions and backgrounds of the Islamic World can congregate in the same space at any given time. Not in dispute Islam prohibits the deification of anything other than God and this includes the attributing of divine characteristics (such as all-encompassing power or the control or knowledge of human destiny) to anyone or thing other than God, including prophets and saints. Furthermore, there exist within the accredited traditions of Muhammad (Sunnah) several injunctions prohibiting the visitation of sites and more specifically the erecting of structures over graves such as mausoleums and Mosques. It is according to these specific orders from the Prophetic authority of Muhammad that Wahhabi and other orthodox Muslims devise the rulings that permit the demolition referenced above. Visitation of historical sites The orthodox view is that the visitation of mosques and historical sites in which Muhammad himself prayed during his lifetime other than the Prophet’s Mosque and the Quba’ Mosque in Medina, and claiming that doing so is an emulation of the Prophetic Sunnah—a valid act of worship and a recommended or virtuous act, is incorrect and there is no legal evidence based on Islamic sources that encourages it as such. The Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyyah said the following regarding this matter: “The scholars of the early generations after the Prophet (Salaf) from amongst the people of Medina and elsewhere did not regard it as recommended (mustahabb) to visit any places in and around Medina after the Mosque of the Prophet, except for the Mosque of Quba’, because the Prophet did not specify any mosque to be visited apart from that.” [Majmu’ al-Fataawa } “Abu Bakr, Umar (Ibn al-Khattab), Uthman and Ali and all the predecessors of both the immigrants (muhajirun) and the Medinan supporters of the Prophet Muhammad (Ansaar) used to travel from Medina to Mecca to perform the Hajj and Umrah, or for other purpose. None of them said that he was keen to pray in the places where the Prophet had prayed. It is known that had this been recommended in their view, they would have been the first ones to do it, for they had more knowledge of the Sunnah and followed it more closely than anyone else." [Iqtidaa’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem] It is also narrated in the Hadith that the companion of Muhammad, Al-Ma’rur ibn Suwayd said: “We went out with Umar ibn al-Khattab and we came across a mosque on our route. The people rushed to pray in the mosque, and Umar said, ‘What is the matter with them?’ They said, ‘This is a mosque in which the Prophet of God (Muhammad) prayed.’ Umar said, ‘O people, those who came before you were destroyed because they followed such practices until they made them places of worship. Whoever happens to be there at the time of prayer, let him pray there, and whoever is not there at the time of prayer, let him continue on his journey.’ [Classed as a sound narration by Ibn Taymiyyah’s in his Al-Majmu’ al-Fataawa ] Another source which is used to substantiate the right to remove sites and locales in which unorthodox practices take place is the narration attributed to the companion and Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab in which he “heard that some people were reported to be visiting the tree under which the Prophet Muhammad had accepted the oath of allegiance of a group of visitors, so he commanded that the tree should be cut down.” [Classed as a sound narration by the jurist and scholar Ibn Hajar in the Hadith collection titled Fath al-Bari ] When asked about the places to visit while in Medina, the late scholar and Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz ibn Baz said: “With regard to the Seven Mosques, the Mosque of the Two Qiblas (Masjid al-Qiblatayn) and other places which some people believe should be visited as part of the pilgrimage rituals; there is no basis for doing that.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 20:31:20 +0000
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