Islam has always divided the world, both spatially and temporally, in two. Spatially, the world is divided into Dar al-Islam, where Islam dominates and Muslims rule, and Dar al-Harb, the House of War, where Unbelievers still manage to dominate. Temporally, Muslims see the world as divided into the period after the message of Islam was brought to Muhammad, and the pre-Islamic period, dismissively called the Jahiliyya, or Time of Ignorance, of little worth or interest.
There is plenty of news coming out of Saudi Arabia today that suggests change is in the air. Women can now drive. Cinemas have reopened after decades of being closed. The religious police have been told by the government, that pays their salaries, that they are to curb their aggressive ways. A Saudi academic, Abdulhameed Hakeem, the head of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies in Jeddah, has declared on an Arab-language TV station that Jerusalem is as holy to Jews as Mecca and Medina are to Muslims, and called on Arabs to accept Israel’s claims, its “historic right,” to the city. Crown Prince Muhammad has told Mahmoud Abbas to take whatever deal is offered him and to stop expecting endless Saudi and other Arab support. There are clear signs that Israel and Saudi Arabia have been sharing intelligence about their common enemy, Iran.
But even more surprising than all of these changes is the new attitude of the Saudis to their own past. The Saudis have destroyed mosques, burial sites, homes, and historical locations associated with Muhammad and many of the personalities of early Islamic history. The destruction of these Muslim sites has been relentless. It includes:
Mosques:
The mosque at the grave of Sayyid al-Shuhada’ Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.
The Mosque of Fatima Zahra.
The Mosque of al-Manaratain.
Mosque and tomb of Sayyid Imam al-Uraidhi ibn Ja‘far al-Sadiq
Four mosques at the site of the Battle of the Trench in Medina.
The Mosque of Abu Rasheed.
Salman al-Farsi Mosque, in Medina.
Raj’at ash-Shams Mosque, in Medina.
Cemeteries and tombs:
Jannat al-Baqi in Medina, leveled, still open access for men (since women are advised against visiting cemeteries in Sunni Islam).
Jannat al-Mu’alla, the ancient cemetery at Mecca.
Grave of Hamida al-Barbariyya, the mother of Imam Musa al-Kazim.
Grave of Amina bint Wahb, Muhammad’s mother, bulldozed in 1998.
Graves of Banu Hashim in Mecca.
Tombs of Hamza and other casualties of the Battle of Uhud were demolished at Mount Uhud.
Tomb of Eve in Jeddah.
Grave of the father of Muhammad, in Medina.
Buildings:
The house of Mawlid where Muhammad is believed to have been born in 570. Originally turned into a library, it now lies under a rundown building which was built 70 years ago as a compromise after Wahhabi clerics called for it to be demolished.
The house of Khadija, Muhammad’s first wife. Muslims believe he received some of the first revelations there. It was also where his children Zainab bint Muhammad, Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, Fatimah, Qasim and Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad were born. After it was rediscovered during the Haram extensions in 1989, it was covered over and it was made into a library.
A Hilton hotel stands on the site of the house of Islam’s first caliph, Abu Bakr.
House of Muhammed in Medina, where he lived after the migration from Mecca.
Dar e Arqam, the first Islamic school where Muhammad taught. It now lies under the extension of the Masjid Alharam of Mecca.
Qubbat’ al-Thanaya, the burial site of Muhammed’s incisor that was broken in the Battle of Uhud.
Mashrubat Umm Ibrahim, built to mark the location of the house where Muhammad’s son, Ibrahim, was born to Mariah.
Dome which served as a canopy over the Well of Zamzam.
Bayt al-Ahzan of Sayyida Fatima, in Medina.
House of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, in Medina.
Mahhalla complex of Banu Hashim, in Mecca.
The Saudis have not even bothered to systematically destroy what remains from pre-Islamic times; they haven’t in the past tried to discover, catalogue, or study whatever physically remains from the Time of Ignorance. Their attitude has been one of malign neglect. Let those ancient sites fall into complete ruin, perhaps even be completely forgotten. But all that has apparently changed.
Now comes the announcement that Saudi Arabia is intent on preserving pre-Islamic heritage sites, such as a date palm oasis from the Stone Age, in a break with the austere strain of fundamentalism that has dominated the country for decades. This is part of the kingdom’s efforts to open up to the wider world, including preserving, and even repairing, sites that might attract tourists. It is also a sign of a growing nationalism. Not all Saudis want to ignore their pre-Islamic history, but would like to learn what happened in Arabia before Islam. This is a natural human desire: History Exists! Our History Exists! and we want to know about it.
Wahhabis regard the veneration of objects and buildings, especially those from the time of the earliest Islam or even the time predating Islam, as tantamount to idolatry. These sites have been deliberately neglected or subject to outright destruction. But under reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has vowed to promote a more moderate form of Islam, the kingdom has allocated $1 billion to preserve its heritage.
“National heritage wasn’t an easy trip, to get people to reflect and go back, especially the antiquities. All the discussions that were about antiquity, this is not Islamic, this is Islamic, this is I think behind us now,” said Prince Sultan bin Salman, head of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH).
In other words, the kingdom is now willing to preserve not just Islamic sites (it’s too late to save so many of those mosques, cemeteries, and buildings associated with Muhammad and important early Muslims that have been destroyed in Mecca and Medina), but also sites that are pre-Islamic, which would once have been unthinkable. The 62-year-old royal, Prince Sultan bin Salman, a son of the king and an older half-brother of the crown prince, spoke in a recent interview about ongoing cooperation with senior Muslim scholars, including bimonthly discussions with the Grand Mufti, the kingdom’s top religious figure, about the latest “discoveries.” Talking to the Grand Mufti is a way to help ensure his approval for preserving and promoting a pre-Islamic site for tourists. Recently the natural agricultural oasis of Al-Ahsa, its 25,000 acres containing both fresh- and hot-water springs, and vast tracks of date palms, received such approval. And that approval also extended to the archaeological sites in the oasis that date to the Neolithic period. This June, Al-Ahsa became the country’s fifth UNESCO World Heritage site. This is a source of pride for Saudis.
Another UNESCO site, Madain Saleh, is a 2,000-year-old city carved into the rocks of the northern desert by the Nabateans, the pre-Islamic Arab civilisation that also built Petra in neighboring Jordan. It is now the center of a multi-billion dollar tourism project the authorities are developing with French support.
In the past, the Saudis would simply have destroyed such pre-Islamic sites — up to 150 such sites have been destroyed, or neglected them entirely, letting them fall into ruin. For anything dating from the time of Jahiliyya, it was believed, were without value. Visits were discouraged.
But views have changed. Now pre-Islamic sites are being spruced up, and promoted as tourist sites. The canny royals, keeping in mind the “conservatives” who remain unconvinced that pre-Islamic structures deserve attention, have produced for their benefit an “Islamic” justification for preserving and studying sites that date from the Time of Ignorance. The study of that time, the tourism-minded royals insist, will help both Believers and Infidels to more fully appreciate Islam:
“I believe you cannot understand Islam as a great religion if you are dismissing completely what happened before Islam,” Prince Sultan said.
“That’s why we focused on hundreds of pre-Islamic sites, pre-history because this is a story that cannot be understood without being looked at in its own holistic and complete sense.”
He said up to 150 important sites had been intentionally destroyed or lost to urban development before the government adopted its new policy of protecting pre-Islamic monuments.
Saudi Arabia hopes that finding, studying, and reviving such sites will do two things. First, it will bolster national identity — these are the sites that fill in the pre-Islamic past, supply Saudis with more of the history of their own country, about which they have been ignorant and about which, in an amazing reversal of Jahiliyya-dismissal, they are now encouraged to learn and to celebrate. Will the day come when the Nabataeans be studied with respect in Saudi schools?
Second, the Saudis are now hoping these sites will attract tourists, both local and foreign. They are keenly aware that the world is weaning itself from oil. As electric cars proliferate, as solar and wind take market share away from oil, the Saudis are being forced to think ahead. They have big plans for expanding their tourism. They already accommodate large numbers of religious travelers — 2.35 million are expected to come this year on the hajj. But only 200,000 regular tourists now arrive yearly, most of them from Arab countries. The Saudis promise that they will increase the tourism budget, up from $27.9 billion in 2015, to $46.6 billion in 2020.
If even the Saudis, who have for decades been destroying much of their nation’s heritage, can now persuade themselves that what physically remains from the Time of Ignorance is no longer to be despised or ignored but, rather, to be re-incorporated into the national narrative, one that provides them with a source of pride, that should be welcomed. For it is one of the ways that the authority of the most fanatical Muslims, those who will continue to insist that anything, from a single inscription to a Nabatean city, that dates from the time before Islam, is worthless, can be undermined.
His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz is President for Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. And it is Tourism and the National Heritage sites (including pre-Islamic sites that have suddenly become cause for celebration rather than destruction), on which that Tourism now relies, that may together loosen, if anything can, the hitherto firm hold of Wahhabism on the most devout of Saudi Arabs. That Wahhabism explains the destruction of so much of Saudi Arabia’s past, for the Wahhabis worry about buildings associated with Muhammad, his family, and the earliest Muslims becoming objects of veneration. They also, of course, are uninterested in everything from the Time of Ignorance.
This new way of regarding physical remains from the Jahiliyya, as a source of both national pride and tourist money, may come to naught; the “conservative” clergy, and their “conservative” allies among the royals, are still very powerful. The well-publicized handful of reform-minded, or perhaps more exactly, “change-minded’ princes — especially Prince Muhammad bin Salman and Prince Sultan bin Salman — may yet be pushed from power in a palace coup. Not all his fellow princes approve of Prince Muhammad monopolizing the limelight. Al Qaeda has warned the Crown Prince that his reforms are “sinful.” But right now, the more advanced Saudis appear to have chosen to rediscover, study, promote, and honor, their pre-Islamic history. And they, and we, should make the most of it.
elee says
Perhaps if “Saudi Arabia” were returned to the Jews who cccupied it in the youth of the Prophet, respect for heritage and human rights would be advanced.
eduardo odraude says
Europe should stipulate: until such time as a majority of Muslim-majority nations practice genuine freedom of religion, there will be a moratorium on further immigration of Muslims to Europe.
That policy would not be based on a sentiment of vengeance or hostility, but on two needs: 1) self-defense and 2) the need to help people in the Islamic world who seek freedom.
eduardo odraude says
Excellent article from Mr. Fitzgerald bringing some good news.
With all the bad news about the spread of totalitarian Islam, we sometimes forget the good news that at the same time, Islam is continually being subverted and undermined, even in the heartland of the Middle East, by the technology of modern communications. Even members of Al Qaeda, in composing their messages, write using all kinds of Western and non-Islamic concepts. And as Mr. Fitzgerald points out, the development of alternative energy sources is also undermining Islam.
So even when things look bad, we don’t need to give up hope.
Renate says
Well, well, well! It looks like the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is a man of his word after all.
Terry Gain says
Renate
Put down the pom poms. We will not know whether there is even a faint chance of that until he apologIves for his absurd lies about Canada and empties his prisons. In the meantime we need to keep the pressure on by continuing to decry KSA’s human rights violations.
Renate says
Yeah, Mr. Everything! Go, MbS, go!
gravenimage says
Just a few days ago, Renate was vociferously defending Saudi Arabia imprisoning human rights activists.
Renate says
So, you’ve never heard the old saying that, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”, I take it. With Vision 2030, the Kingdom could become very modern indeed. I do think the Saudis have a right to run their country the way they want to run it.
gravenimage says
If Saudi Arabia is indeed becoming modern, I applaud that. I do not think that imprisoning human rights activists is modern, though–not unless one envisions the future being Shari’ah law.
And you are fine with Saudi Arabia being a Shari’ah hell hole, saying that no one has the right to criticize another sovereign nation.
Renate says
It’s not me saying one country should not criticize another sovereign nation. It’s international law that says it. In the West, an individual can generally criticize anything he/she wants to criticize. Please, be my guest.
Linda M Clark says
Yeah, they can run their country any way they want, just like Adolph Hitler ran his country the way he wanted. I venture to say that Sharia is worse than the 3Reich ever dreamed about.
jule says
They are part of the UN. They are supposed to follow Universal Human Rights, not make up their own. They PUBLICLY crucify, hang, use a sword to cut off peoples head…..in the town squares and make children even watch. A few small towns still legally stone people publicly. They rule by fear and terror. They lock people up for criticizing anything. One woman is days away from a Public beheading by the sword. I guess you just do not know and really could, should look into it.
jule says
They will change it all to fit their myths. Abraham was pre Islam. But they say Abraham (who never went farther south than Egypt) took Ishmael to Mecca and built the Kaaba for Islam about 3000BC. They also say that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were Muslims. They say Nabateans were Arab (no, they were Semitic but not Arab). So watch what they do.
Glorious says
Will tourists (women) be restricted in their dress as apparently even US Presidents’ wives are now. If I understand correctly, headcoverings, long sleeves and long skirts are “required,” or else.
Michael Copeland says
See internet images: there are female visitors with hair not covered..
LB says
Yeah that’s great and all, but I’m still never going to an islamic (or muslim majority) country for as long as I live. I won’t be fooled by this sudden “moderation” of Saudis who deep down think they are superior to any other race and religion (courtesy of the quran). The way I see it, sunni muslims are responsible for 1400 years of religious and racial genocide, so the only way to be sure that the Saudis have truly changed their ways is 1400 years (at least) of peace and dismantling (or at least enlightening) of islam.
gravenimage says
There have been selectively lax Muslim rulers before–it does not change the nature of Islam.
I would take this reform more seriously if he wasn’t imprisoning human rights activists.
roberta says
”There have been selectively lax Muslim rulers before–it does not change the nature of Islam.”
Yep, its an old story in that part of the world. The religious leaders will just wait him out, knowing that some day they will be in control again.
Hunker down kinda sorta more or less.
gravenimage says
Grimly true. Of course, to the extent that he actually makes things more moderate in Saudi Arabia, I wish him well.
jule says
I think they will just change it to fit their myths. Like they say Abraham brought Ishmael to Mecca and made the Kaaba for Islam 3000BC or so. they say Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were really Muslim. They say Islam is the ONLY True religion of Abraham and that Jews were cursed for not following it ‘right’ Only Islam can claim Abraham. The only Religion can be Islam. (that is why it is against Islamic Law to RECOGNIZE Israel as the Jewish State. It is why they say they must destroy it. They are SuperSupremacits. That is why they say ‘Palestinians’ are native Arabs and the land belongs to them. Its called propaganda and it will go on as always. (the origin of the name Palestinian is very interesting and has nothing to do with Philistines, Canaanites, Hittites, (and there were No Arabs but Bedouin around Jordan mainly) Palestine is a name from GREEKS when they ruled in Hellenistic times.)
Smarty says
Actually be heading them as well….http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/08/22/saudi-arabia-may-execute-female-human-rights-activist.amp.html
jule says
They are discussing Beheading a woman prisoner very soon…In Public by some guy in a mask with a sword. This year they even crucified a man…actually they cut off his head, sewed it back on and then had him nailed up for the Public terror.
LB says
It’s not the lax muslim rulers I’m afraid of because I’ll usually never even be within few miles of one. It’s the fanatical, brainwashed, allahu-akbaring, infidel-hating, quran-thumpers, who are not that uncommon among the general population in any country where islam is predominant, and who won’t hesitate to show their allegiance to their bloodthirsty moon-god.
Until islam is either completely changed to its core (and fully accepted by all its followers), or totally eradicated from the face of the Earth, I’m not going anywhere near those middle eastern hellholes. And if they want to live longer, neither should anyone else.
infidel says
To this day MAD PAKISTAN denies its Hindu origins in spite of housing the ancient Mohenjodaro cradle of civilization archaeological sites…
jule says
Its Always the same. They change the history to fit their SuperSupremacist myths. According to Islam, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were really Muslim. They say Abraham traveled with Ishmael to Mecca and built the Kaaba for Islam. (Abraham never went farther south than Egypt and that was with his wife, Sara for a visit)
Renate says
Rock the casbah, MbS, but stay safe while you’re doing it. You’ve got my vote.
Terry Gain says
Renate
You don’t get a vote.
Renate says
Terry, it’s a figure of speech, like: I’m behind you. I’m cheering you on. etc.
gravenimage says
Saudi kings are not elected.
Renate says
“You’ve got my vote.” is a figure of speech. It’s like saying “I support you.”
Paul Carr says
““I believe you cannot understand Islam as a great religion if you are dismissing completely what happened before Islam,” Prince Sultan said.”
Pretty lame. How about letting people in Saudi Arabia criticize and ridicule their version of Islam without repercussion. Then, there’s room to take their reforms seriously.
Western countries need to stop funding Saudi Arabia’s proxy war with Iran. They need to stop the Saudi finance of the building of mosques throughout the west. They need to stop immigration from all countries that implement Sharia law, even its stripped down civil variant.
jule says
Qatar and Turkey are proxies of Iran. Things get very complicated when you try to follow which Muslim tribes are with who at any moment.
Tom says
Along with the numerous changes by Saudi to take Islam out of, or downplay Islam within their society, in 2014 they declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. See the link below
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26487092
The Muslim Brotherhood has a strong influence in many western governments, including Trudeau’s Liberal progressive feminist government.
The recent spat between Canada and Saudi and the Trudeau minister’s tweet, instead of using diplomacy, could well have been influenced by the MB as a weapon against Saudi Arabia. This involvement of the MB would explain the vitreolic response by Saudi Arabia.
We all agree that Saudi Arabia has a long way to go in correcting their human rights abuses, but we also have to be wary of the weaponization of this issue by Muslim Brotherhood influenced governments like Trudeau’s.
Playing on people’s emotions is a tactic used not only by the left wing but also by Islamists and their sympathizers, and what better subject to use than human rights, a sacred cow to most westerners.
gravenimage says
The idea that the Muslim Brotherhood is standing up for women’s rights activists is a bit of a stretch…
StellaSaidSo says
‘A bit of a stretch’ indeed. There is nothing in Tom’s post that suggests that he thinks that the Muslim Brotherhood ‘is standing up for women’s rights activists’.
Tom says
The MB obviously don’t stand up for women’s rights but they DO use subterfuge and lies to control weak minded politicians in order to get revenge on their enemies. In the case of the idiot Trudeau’s government they are being used by the MB to divide the west and it was very successful with Canada stuck out on its own and its allies not supporting it in fear of what the very influential Saudi’s might do against them.
We all have to see the bigger picture and ask what the MB gains by their deception. It is division between allies and isolation of Canada.
Canada, like Sweden, is prime for Islamic takeover with Trudeau in charge and with the possibility of a change in government next election to Conservative, the MB have to consolidate their control in Canada and weaken her on the international stage as much as possible.
The Trojan Horse in Canada is opening and spilling its Islamic contents to create division and weaken Canada.
jule says
Yes, that is why Qatar should be sanctioned. Qatar/Turkey/Iran. Many of the people in Egypt too but not al Sisi, who has allied with Saudi. They are all bad but at this moment it is more MB and countries that back them to be worst (at this moment)
Guy Forester says
I would recommend caution. In my opinion, the underlying drive here is to ensure the longevity of the House of Saud. If they can get the populace to BUY IN to the idea of being SAUDI as opposed to members of various tribes and clans, that will help strengthen the house of Saud. Don’t expect regular open elections, actual freedom to practice any religion other than Saudi Ulama approved Islam, or uncensored news, radio, TV, papers, magazines, or internet any time soon.
StellaSaidSo says
+1
gravenimage says
This Just In From Saudi Arabia: We Have A History
……………………..
I’m even more surprised that Saudi Arabia has suspended their relentless attack on “Jahillya” than that they might be allowing those “deficient” women to drive.
Linda Clark says
With the discoveries made by Dan Gibson, the Saudi Government needs to cover their a..es. They destroy the LACK of evidence in Mecca, and instead point peoples attention to the preIslamic histories. I imagine their logic is “if we can PROVE the preislamic history, therefore the Islamic History must be true”. There have been absolutely no archaeological findings dating from Muhammad’s time, in Mecca.
vlparker says
Amazing what the drying up of oil money will do.
Renate says
So true!
emma says
and if only western countries, gripped by radical sjw mentality, could also honor and rediscover their european past heritage, before the islamic invasion happening right now in their own countries, then maybe they too can rediscover a national pride and strength. All the tearing down of statues of white founders are happening in the west, while saudis bring up statues from their pre-islamic era. People of european descent self-flagellate while arab pride rises, and this is reflected in their digging up of past arab treasures.
Relic says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJOTlE1K90k
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
As far as I can tell, this video has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Musically, it’s kind of monotonous, but the imagery is fascinating. How many man-hours did it take to create this video in which the female dancers are swapped out while the image of the male singer is seamlessly unaffected? (And what’s Ellen DeGeneres doing there?)
ibrahim itace muhammed says
It is evident from this article that evil Saudi Royal family are zionists bent on systematically destroying Islam. Look at how they destroyed Islamic historical sites replacing them with barbaric jahiliyya sites to attract tourists from naked Westerners and forming alliance with fascist evil Zionist State of Israel?There has been many attempts by evil Jewish saudi monarchs to tinker with Quran, especially verses Exposing evil machinations of evil Jews because saudi Royal are Jews the children of a Jew called modakhai who disguised as Bedouin and formed Saudi dynasty. Mithraist christians are now happy that evil Zionist saudi monarchs are now replacing Islamic heritage with Jahiliyya pagan heritage. That is why Non- Arab muslim pilgrims are now facing racist treatments at the hands of zionist saudi rulers ,which is an abomination in Islam. Later or sooner, the evil wahhabi saudi Royal family will be sacked from control over mecca and Medina to save Islamic holy sites in the same way Qudus in Jerusalem will be liberated. Idiot scums of evils!!
John says
Aah a place of blatant idolatry !
jule says
When Trump, Tillerman, & a few others first went to visit, There was that Big WAR Dance they had to join in. Our world is divided but them exactly opposite to us and our values. They read right to left, they live as people did in 600AD, all their words that sound the same to us are opposite in meaning like ‘freedom’, liberation, freedom fighters,oppressors of Islam,human rights, ect. They do not mean the same thing to them as they do to us. It fools too many of us.
I don’t know how we are going to get this all explained but I know we must and somehow we must organize.
Ann Marie says
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came from Saudi Arabia..
Isn’t the Saudi government funding most of the Islamic schools in the US?
And aren’t they seeking the death penalty for a woman who took part in protests?
Sorry, I’m not doing a happy dance over their ‘changes”
Carl Goldberg, PhD says
Oddly, Hugh writes: “Salman, who has vowed to promote a more moderate form of Islam,”. Eh, what? Turkish president Erdogan famously said that there is no such thing as moderate or immoderate Islam, that Islam is Islam, and that’s it. Surely, what Salman meant was a more moderate PRACTICE of Islam, which is very different from Islam, itself.
Jayell says
I’ve seen some DVD re-issues of Third Reich propaganda and newsreel films from the 1930’s, featuring records of their ‘big events’. Very interesting to see how the Nazis presented themselves on their media. I wonder if the Saudis produce similar producttions, because the picture at the top of this article looks uncannily like a shot of one of the Nuremburg rallies.
UNCLE VLADDI says
Arabia desperately needs to be inundated and its population diluted with Asians – for “DIVERSITY!”
jule says
No I do not think so. Look how Islam is taking Indonesia and how Malaysia is an MB center (as is Ireland now too) Taiwan, Philippines, East Asia are so ruined with Islam. Pakistan was India until 1947. Afghanistan was Buddhist. Racism is not their biggest thing…they want everyone in ONE CULTURE. It is the other Cultures they destroy and make everyone “Arab”…even Persians. Egypt was not Arab before. More Asian inside Islam only makes them Arab Sunni/Islam or Shiite Muslim/Islam.
jewdog says
It sounds like light from the outside world is finally seeping into the Saudi dungeon. The Saudi rulers may also feel some resentment towards those Islamic hardliner who want their heads. It just goes to show that fear tactics can backfire, and that it’s hard to keep ’em down on the oasis once they’ve seen Paree.