In the past decade, Saudi Arabia has built a lot of commercial developments in the Holy City of Makkah and Madinah, over sites of historical heritage which hold great value. The house of Lady Khadija for example, was turned into a public toilet. Since the destruction of al-Baqi cemetery, the 8th of Shawwal has been a day of mourning for all Muslims.
Twitter has been thrumming with the hashtag ReBuildBaqiCemetery. Thousands of tweets are protesting the demolition of al-Baqi cemetery and calling out for it to be restored to its former glory. Current History Middle East. Samaa Al. This is how the grave of Ibrahim, son of the Prophet s has also been adorned. At the farthest end of al-Baqi is the grave of the caliph Uthman, with a small dome over it, and there, next to it, is the grave of Fatima bint Asad, mother of Ali b.
After a century and a half, the famous traveller Ibn Batuta came to describe al-Baqi in a way which does not in any way differ from the description given by Ibn Jubair. Thus, over the centuries, al-Baqi remained a sacred site with renovations being carried out as and when needed till the Wahhabis rose to power in the early nineteenth century.
The latter desecrated the tombs and demonstrated disrespect to the martyrs and the companions of the Prophet s buried there. The Wahhabis believed that visiting the graves and the shrines of the Prophets, the Imams, or the saints was a form of idolatry and totally un-Islamic. Those who did not conform with their belief were killed and their property was confiscated. Since their first invasion of Iraq, and till nowadays, in fact, the Wahhabis, as well as other rulers of the Gulf States, having been carrying out massacres from which no Muslim who disagreed with them was spared.
Obviously, the rest of the Islamic World viewed those graves with deep reverence. Had it not been so, the two caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar would not have expressed their desire for burial near the grave of the Prophet s. Finally, in AH, they somehow emerged victorious in Taif where they spilled the innocent blood of Muslims. In AH, they entered Makkah and destroyed all sacred places and domes there, including the one which served as a canopy over the well of Zamzam.
In , the Wahhabis entered Madina to desecrate al-Baqi as well as every mosque they came across. An attempt was even made to demolish the Prophet's tomb, but for one reason or another, the idea was abandoned.
King Al-Saud set a precondition that those who wished to perform the pilgrimage would have to accept Wahhabism or else be branded as non-Muslims, becoming ineligible for entry into the Haram. Al-Baqi was razed to the ground, with no sign of any grave or tomb whatsoever. But the Saudis were still not quite satisfied with doing all of that.
Their king ordered three black attendants at the Prophet's shrine to show him where the treasure of valuable gifts were stored. The Wahhabis plundered the treasure for their own use. Thousands of Muslims fled Makkah and Madina in a bid to save their lives and escape from the mounting pressure and persecution at the hands of the Wahhabis. Muslims from all over the world denounced this Saudi savagery and exhorted the Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire to save the sacred shrines from total destruction.
Then, as it is known, Muhammad Ali Basha attacked Hijaz and, with the support of local tribes, managed to restore law and order in Madina and Makkah, dislodging the Al-Saud clansmen. The entire Muslim world celebrated this victory with great fanfare and rejoicing. In Cairo, the celebrations continued for five days. No doubt, the joy was due to the fact that pilgrims were once more allowed freely to go for Hajj, and the sacred shrines were once again restored.
In AD, the Ottaman Caliph Abdul Majid and his successors, Caliphs Abdul Hamid and Mohammed, carried out the reconstruction of all sacred places, restoring the Islamic heritage at all important sites.
In and AD, further renovations were made at the expense of nearly seven hundred thousand pounds, most of which came from the donations collected at the Prophet's tomb. The Ottoman Empire had added to the splendor of Madina and Makkah by building religious structures of great beauty and architectural value.
Richard Burton, who visited the holy shrines in AD disguised as an Afghan Muslim and adopting the Muslim name Abdullah, speaks of Madina boasting 55 mosques and holy shrines.
Another English adventurer who visited Madina in AD describes it as a small beautiful city resembling Istanbul. Al-Baqi's was cleaned from those thorny plants and was allocated for burying Muslims died in Medina. Size Al-Baqi' was much smaller in size at the time of the Prophet s , so that the graves of the third caliph and Halima al-Sa'diyya were located outside it. The size of al-Baqi' has been changed in different periods; for example, 'Umayyads added to its area.
Also, some of the people killed by Umayyads at the time of occupying Medina are buried in outside al-Baqi's current area. Zurara, one of the participants in allegiance of al-'Aqaba, who passed away before the Battle of Badr.
The last companion of the Prophet s who passed away in Medina and was buried in al-Baqi' is known to be Sahl b. Al-Baqi' was not meant to hold certain people, but each tribe of Medina took a part of it. Later, places surrounding graves of Imams of al-Baqi' a were mostly taken by Shi'a and the rest of the cemetery was taken by the people of other schools. However, today no one is buried in the main part of the cemetery where the graves of the companions and Imams a are located anymore.
Imams a Four of Shi'a Imams a , i. Imam al-Hasan a , Imam al-Sajjad a , Imam al-Baqir a , and Imam al-Sadiq a are buried in this cemetery and possibly the grave of Lady Fatima a is also there although its location is not known. Following mentioning Imam al-Sadiq's a demise, al-Mas'udi mentions a marble stone in the cemetery where the names of Lady Fatima a and Four of Imams a are written. Companions and Followers Daughters of the Prophet s , his infant son Ibrahim, his wives Mothers of the Believers are buried there.
Anas Leader of Malikis In one of his latest nights of his life, the Prophet s went to al-Baqi' and asked God for forgiveness of the people buried there. Building Domes and Shrines On the graves of noble ones domes and shrines were built such as for Imams of al-Baqi' a and 'Abbas b.
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