Category Archives: Mecca

Arabian Peninsula, Culture, History, Islam, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Agony of Mecca: Birthplace of Islam becomes City of Greed and Bulldozers………

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“AS THE governor of Mecca, Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud has been able to compensate for earlier failings. He came to his role in 2007 from Asir province, where his plans to erect modern tower blocks in the city of Abha were largely unfulfilled. He successfully erased Abha’s quaint old town, with its beehive houses made of wattle, only to replace them with squat breeze-block bungalows. Not a high-rise was to be seen. Now, on top of what was Mecca’s old city of lattice balconies and riwaq arches, the prince has overseen the Middle East’s largest development project. Skyscrapers soar above Islam’s holiest place, dwarfing the granite Kaaba far below. Diggers flatten hills that were once dotted with the homes of the Prophet’s wives, companions and first caliphs……….. two 50-floor towers on the site of the third caliph’s house. Such is the pace that for a time the holy city’s logo was a bulldozer…………”

This travesty, nay this crime, has been going on for some years. Islamic monuments from the home of Prophet Mohammed to the homes of his wives to the homes of Omar and Ali and other Sahaba have been razed to build malls, parking lots and luxury hotel apartments. Royal Saudi greed conspires with Wahhabi Salafi doctrine that opposes all types of monuments. To destroy the history of Islam, in the Birthplace of Islam.

It is not new, it’s been going on for years while Western powers that blasted the Taliban and ISIS for destroying ancient monuments remain silent. Aiding and abetting the desecration of history. I have posted often on this sad and outrageous issue. Here are a few of my older posts on this topic:

The Wahhabi War on History Continues: Now the Grave of the Prophet……..

Biblical Monuments, Islamic Monuments………

Cultural Dichotomy: Destroying Islamic Monuments, Funding Ancient Roman Restoration……

Breaking News: Prince of Mecca Receives Mayor of Mecca, Holy Town is Doomed……….

Destroyers of Islamic Heritage, Looters of Mecca………

Birthplace of Islam: Where Dogma and Greed Face History…………

Buying the Soul of Britain, Raping the History of Islam, Sacking Mecca……………

Cheers
M. Haider Ghuloum

Cinema, Culture, Iran, Islamic History, Mecca

Cinema and Islam: How Do You Say Cecil B. DeMille in Persian?………

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“Here in this Persian replica of Mecca, built at the cost of millions of dollars, an Iranian film company is attempting to offer the world a literal glimpse of the Prophet Muhammad despite traditional taboos against it. The movie “Muhammad, Messenger of God” already recalls the grandeur — and expense — of a Cecil B. DeMille film, with the narrow alleyways and a replica Kaaba shrine built here in the remote village of Allahyar. But by even showing the back of the Prophet Muhammad as a child before he was called upon by Allah, the most expensive film in Iranian history already has been criticized before its even widely released, calling into question who ultimately will see the Quranic story come to life on the big screen. ……….. But while Sunni Islam, the religion’s dominant branch, widely rejects any depictions of Muhammad, his close relatives or companions, Shiite Islam doesn’t. In Shiite powerhouse Iran and other countries, posters, banners, jewelry and even keychains bear the images of Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali, revered by Shiites who see him as the prophet’s rightful successor. The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, who led Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and later became the country’s supreme leader, reportedly even kept a picture similar to young Muhammad…………”

Iranians often have a penchant for making historic films that depict historic figures of the Old, New, and Islamic Testaments. A few years ago they made a film about Joseph (he of the many-colored coat, son of Jacob). It showed only in Tunisia among the Arab countries, and only briefly before the Salafis attacked and forced its closure in that country.

I wonder if they’d ever make a film about the Muslim Arabs defeating ancient Persia (under Caliph Omar I)? But this film about Mohammed and ancient Mecca is a film I’d really like to see. It could be good, it could be lousy. This Iranian replica may be one way to see an artist’s image of early Mecca before Islam. The Saudis have erased all monuments of early Islam in the real Mecca, including the childhood houses of Prophet Mohammed and his early followers, the Sahaba. The sort of thing ISIS or DAESH has been doing lately. The princes have replaced these historic Mecca sites with luxury hotels, expensive apartment complexes, and shopping malls. And parking lots of course.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter
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Corruption, Jordan, Mecca, Money, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

New Religion: American Leadership Courted by Israeli Money and Jordanian Bakhsheesh…….

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“Gov. Chris Christie likes to live large on other people’s dime, The New York Times reports. Christie let King Abdullah of Jordan pay for a family trip to the country, which included a stay at a hotel that cost around $30,000. In 2012, Christie flew to Israel on a luxurious private jet loaned to him by mogul Sheldon Adelson, who was also opposing legislation to legalize online gambling in New Jersey at the time. Christie later signed that bill into law………..”

The king of humorless Jordan could only pay for Governor Christie’s hotel and food and booze, Jordan not being nearly as rich as Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas vice and the Likud. Mr. Adelson is famous for his genocidal suggestion, I believe in 2013 (google it), that the U.S. should drop nuclear bombs over parts of Iran. Republicans, like Democrats, are hungry for campaign money, any money. What else explains why I should suggest that the Washington Redskins be renamed, if anything else, the Washington Lobbyists?

It is possible the king of Jordan was just doing what Arabs traditionally do for guests, especially prominent guests; he was being hospitable, as only Arabs from tribal societies naturally are. The Governor, being a governor and a politician, could not refuse, not such a large amount of money: many people in his state earn much less every year.

The hunt for money is the only great bipartisan unifier in America now: even foreign policy and national security are divisive now. Money is almost a religion: it makes leaders of both parties bow down and pray, not only five times a day as we Muslims do, but full-time 24/7. And not toward Mecca or Jerusalem or Bethlehem. They pray toward where the money is: be it Las Vegas or Tel Aviv or the nearest Mujahideen Khalq offices in DC. The supremacy of this religion was edified and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling a few years ago (Citizens United vs. FEC).

The monarch of the Humorless Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan could only pay a paltry 20k or 30k for hotels and booze and food, just like a little bakhsheesh, a little royal tip. The King of Las Vegas and Tel Aviv (or is it Jerusalem) can buy these ‘American leaders’ wholesale. Just imagine what it would be like if some of the kleptocratic oil potentates of our Gulf could openly buy some of these leaders, just as Mr. Adelson buys them. Imagine the possibilities: the sky would be the limit……….
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Counterrevoltion, Bahrain, Culture, History, Mecca

After Freezing the Spring: Arab Regimes are Erasing its Symbols…..

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There is something bout history and monuments and revolutions that bothers Arab regimes, be they absolute tribal monarchies or militry dictatorships or Jihadi terrorists:

In 2011, the ruling family of Bahrain wasted no time in erasing Pearl (Lulu) Square, a landmark of the capital Manama and symbol of the popular uprising. In its place they created an ugly crossroad named after the imported forces that helped crush the protests.

Now Egyptian media report on a huge parking garage being erected in Tahrir Square, symbol of the Egyptian Uprising of 2011. That upriing was killed by the old regime feloul, the Egyptian army, Egyptian Wahhabi-liberals, and Persian Gulf oil money.

But what is new here? Saudi authorities have been for years destroying monuments to that older revolution that was led by Mohammed from Mecca and Madinah fifteen centuries ago. Historical structures and monuments of early Islam, especially in Mecca, have been gradually erased to be replaced by lucrative shopping malls and 7-star hotels. A truly royal land grab. And the ultimate counter-revolution, Arab style.

Of course this is not an aberration, there is a pattern. The Jihadis, the ultimate modern counter-revolutionaries, have been busy destroying other monuments to history from Iraq to Libya .

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum

 
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Arabian Peninsula, History, Islam, Mecca

Breaking News: Prince of Mecca Receives Mayor of Mecca, Holy Town is Doomed……….

      

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“Makkah Emir Prince Mishal Bin Abdullah received at his office in Jeddah on Saturday Makkah Mayor Osama al-Bar. They discussed development projects being implemented in Mecca for the welfare of pilgrims and visitors, unplanned districts, land encroachments, compensation for expropriation of properties, the public transport project in the holy city, the Makkah Gate project and other issues. Al-Bar congratulated the prince on his appointment as the new emir of the province…………”

Okkkkkay. Expropriation of properties indeed. As for the fate of mecca and how the princes and potentates and their retainers and business partners have ruined its heritage, I refer you to the following links, if’n you are interested:

Destroyers of Islamic Heritage, Looters of Mecca……

Holy Greed: Paris Hilton Does Mecca, Takes Over Prophet Mohammed’s Childhood Home………

Saudi Culture: Bulldozing the Graves of Mohammed and Omar into Las Vegas…….

Birthplace of Islam: Where Dogma and Greed Face History………

Buying the Soul of Britain, Raping the History of Islam, Sacking Mecca………

Cement Shortages May not Save Mecca from its Las Vegas Future………

Cheers
mhg

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Arabian Peninsula, Culture, History, Islam, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Destroyers of Islamic Heritage, Looters of Mecca………

      

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“Two million Muslims have flooded into Saudi Arabia’s Mina Valley from Mecca for the start of the Hajj pilgrimage this week. Dressed in simple white garments and freed from their worldly possessions, they are following in the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad. But in Islam’s holiest city, there is increasingly little sign of the prophet’s legacy – or the frugal life he espoused. “The authorities are trying to destroy anything in Mecca that is associated with the prophet’s life,” says Irfan al-Alawi, director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who recently returned from a trip to the city. “They have already bulldozed the house of his wife, his grandson and his companion – and now they are coming for his birthplace. And for what? Yet more seven-star hotels.”…………..”

Notice that the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation is based in Britain, not in Hijaz. In Saudi Arabia, they would have some prince leading it: it would be like having a fox in the hen house.
I have written earlier posts on this topic, how a combination, an alliance of royal greed and Wahhabi dogma has destroyed, is still destroying the priceless historical monuments of early Islam. It is downright criminal what the Al Saudi princes and their merchant allies and retainers are doing. Properties closest to the Kaaba are the priciest, and that is where monuments of early Islam were located. Ergo, these monuments were doomed once the Saudi princes set their eyes on that prime land, within walking distance to the Holy Mosques. Here are some links to my earlier posts on this:

Saudi Culture: Bulldozing the Graves of Mohammed and Omar into Las Vegas……

Buying the Soul of Britain, Raping the History of Islam, Sacking Mecca……

Birthplace of Islam: Where Dogma and Greed Face History……

Eid and Haj and Abraham and the Martyred Sheep of Mecca….

Cheers
mhg

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