NYTimes: The Price of Progress: Transforming Islam’s Holiest Site
Published by Haseeb March 8th, 2007 in Current News, Middle East
A huge project is under way near the Kaaba, in the Grand Mosque, altering the skyline at Islam’s holiest site. The Abraj al Bait Mall will bring an amusement park ride, fast food and a lingerie shop to the neighborhood.
“So how could something like this not be snapped up?” But some groups say the building boom also has religious motives. They accuse the archconservative Salafi, who hold great sway in Saudi Arabia, of seeking to eliminate historic spots, fearing that these sites would become objects of worship themselves.
Dr. Ahmed of London has cataloged the destruction of more than 300 separate antiquity sites, including cemeteries and mosques. He says the house where the Prophet Muhammad
(SAWS) lived was razed and today a dilapidated library, with its windows and doors shuttered, stands in its place.
“It is not respecting the Kaaba, not respecting the house of God or the environment of the sanctuary,” Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect who wants to preserve Mecca’s heritage, said of the development. “You are not supposed to even cut a tree in this city, so how could you blow up a mountain? The Islamic laws have been broken.”
Source: NYTimes
March 8, 2007
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Five times a day across the globe devout Muslims face this city in prayer, focused on a site where they believe Abraham built a temple to God. The spot is also the place Muslims are expected to visit at least once in their lives.
Now as they make the pilgrimage clothed in simple white cotton wraps, they will see something other than the stark black cube known as the Kaaba, which is literally the center of the Muslim world. They will also see Starbucks. And Cartier and Tiffany. And H&M and Topshop.
The Abraj al Bait Mall — one of the largest in Saudi Arabia, outfitted with flat-panel monitors with advertisements and announcements, neon lights, an amusement park ride, fast-food restaurants and a lingerie shop — has been built directly across from Islam’s holiest site.
Not everyone considers this progress.
“Mecca is becoming like Las Vegas, and that is a disaster,” said Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, a Saudi opposition research organization. “It will have a disastrous effect on Muslims because going to Mecca will have no feeling. There is no charm anymore. All you see is glass and cement.”
The mall, which opened a week before the annual pilgrimage, called the hajj, in December, is the first phase in a $13 billion construction boom in Mecca that promises to change how this city, forbidden to everyone but Muslims, looks and feels.
The Abraj al Bait housing and hotel complex, a 1.5-million-square-yard development that will include a towering hotel, has begun to redraw the skyline of this ancient religious city.
When the project is completed in 2009, it will include the seventh tallest building in the world, its developers say, with a hospital, hotels and prayer halls. A public-announcement system pipes in prayers from the Grand Mosque across the way, and worshipers can join the masses simply by opening their draperies.
In nearby Jabal Omar, an entire mountain is being flattened to make way for a huge hotel and high-rise complex. And elsewhere, cranes dot the skyline with up to 130 new high-rise towers planned for the area.
“This is the end of Mecca,” said Dr. Irfan Ahmed in London. He has formed the Islamic Heritage Foundation to try to preserve the Islamic history of Mecca, Medina, the second holiest city, and other important religious sites in Saudi Arabia. “Before, even in the days of the Ottomans, none of the buildings in Mecca towered higher than the Grand Mosque. Now these are much higher and more disrespectful.”
Money is certainly one of the motivators in the building boom. Every year, up to four million people descend on this city during the pilgrimage, while a stream continues to flow through here during the year, spending an average $2,000 to $3,000 to stay, eat and shop.
Billboards along the way to Mecca remind investors of the potential earnings from owning an apartment here; some claim a 25 percent return on investment. Advertisements on Arab satellite television channels remind viewers that “you, too, can have the opportunity to enjoy this blessed view.”
Muhammad al-Abboud, a real estate agent, recounts tales of Pakistani businessmen plunking down $15 million to buy several apartments at a time. Saudi princes own entire floors.
A three-bedroom apartment here runs about $3 million, Mr. Abboud said. One directly overlooking the Grand Mosque can reach $5 million.
Critics of the development complain that the result is gated communities where worshipers can separate themselves from the crowds, thereby violating the spirit of the hajj, where all stand equal before God.
“All of Mecca is a sanctuary,” Mr. Abboud said. “So how could something like this not be snapped up?” But some groups say the building boom also has religious motives. They accuse the archconservative Salafi, who hold great sway in Saudi Arabia, of seeking to eliminate historic spots, fearing that these sites would become objects of worship themselves.
Dr. Ahmed of London has cataloged the destruction of more than 300 separate antiquity sites, including cemeteries and mosques. He says the house where the Prophet Muhammad lived was razed and today a dilapidated library, with its windows and doors shuttered, stands in its place.
“It is not respecting the Kaaba, not respecting the house of God or the environment of the sanctuary,” Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect who wants to preserve Mecca’s heritage, said of the development. “You are not supposed to even cut a tree in this city, so how could you blow up a mountain? The Islamic laws have been broken.”
Progress has exacted a heavy price in Mecca. More pilgrims than ever can come here, thanks to billions spent on tunnels and infrastructure to accommodate them. But in exchange, the city’s once famed night market, where pilgrims brought their wares to sell, is gone. The Meccan homes and buildings that filled the area near the mosque were demolished in the 1970s to enlarge the mosque. The neighborhoods and families who lived near the mosque and welcomed pilgrims have long since moved away.
Mecca has long been a commercial as well as a religious center, but increasingly global brands dominate here.
Mr. Angawi, the Saudi architect, has led a lonely campaign within the kingdom to bring attention to the destruction of the historic sites. Dr. Ahmed has worked to lobby Asian and Arab governments to press the Saudis to stop such demolitions. And Mr. Ahmed, in Washington, has built a database of the historic spots now destroyed. Many Muslims inside and outside Saudi Arabia have remained silent about the issues, they say, fearing the loss of financing from Saudi Arabia for religious institutions and projects.
Saudi officials say they have been painstakingly preserving the Islamic artifacts they find, and operate two small museums in Mecca. In all, they say, more than $19 billion has been spent on preserving the country’s Muslim heritage. They dismiss their critics as cranks who have no following.
Developers and real estate agents, meanwhile, say the construction makes room for even more Muslims to take part in the hajj, and therefore serves the greater good.
That suggests that the changes are far from over.
“Mecca has never been changed like it has now,” Mr. Angawi said. “What you see now is only 10 percent of what’s to come. What is coming is much, much worse.”
29 Responses to “NYTimes: The Price of Progress: Transforming Islam’s Holiest Site”
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from: United States us
Trackback on Aug 17th, 2008 at 1:15 am
I need to make Hajj before this happens. I can’t even explain how sad and angry I am. Thank you Saudi Arabia who allow (or I guess, promote) this kind of absurdity to continue.
I agree with Yaser..this is completely absurd!
salaamoalekum, this just boils my head and yeah inshaAllah i really would like to make Haj before this calamity happens. Dont their imams speak against this?
As salaam alaikum.
Masha’Allah
. I think Hajj might move up my priority list now as well. I am not a big fan of the Disney-fication of our pilgrimage.
Today I have posted a short piece of fiction, a nuh news commentary and a poem. Come on by inshallah if you have 59 seconds to read.
Wa salaama,
nuh ibn
That’s it, they don’t respect Makkah anymore, everytime I go I see a new project, Its so depressing really, maybe someday they will arrange tourism’s trips!
and u know wot’s so funny? there will be a prayer halls in there, well the holy mosque is right next to you Idiots.
I was thinking the same exact thing… Subhanallah!
Wow. No freaking respect.
I think we should all support Dr. Irfan Ahmed and the others who oppose this. I will try to find their websites.
Assalamualeikum wa rahmatullah,
The mountain the has been removed to build this giant mall used to contain a fortress built by the Ottomans to protect the Ka’bah from attacks. It was demolished for this project. It is really sad to see how easy it is to lose one’s heritage and history for a great shopping experience while you watch people pray in the Ka’bah! SubhanAllah, so it is ok to demolish sites that remind us of our history because they may be turned into places of worship, but not souks that even makes us forget to worship?!
I can’t believe this! ;(
But subhan Allah
, all you can see in that picture you posted is the Ka’ba. I mean, however much they try to change Mecca, however much they darken the landscape, however much they disrespect the Sanctuary, nothing hits you like the Ka’ba. That’s one thing i noticed while I was there for ‘umra and similarly at Madina: the masajid are oases, and no one can take that away.
I might not have made much sense, but you will understand if you go there.
Why are they doing this? One reason is that there is a market for it. The same Muslims that complain about will go in droves to this mall, the rides, and have the fast food. We are just hypocritical like that. Either way, our opposition is pointless cuz Saudi don’t listen to anybody, except maybe Georgy.
PEACE
They’ve demolished the historical sites of the seerah in the name of not wanting people to worship them, but alas, it looks like they are worshiping materialism instead. How sad.
assalamu alaikum
well what can I say the end of time is fast approaching it seems (allahu alam). Too many signs have come and gone. May Allah
lead us down the straight path and protect us from this dunya and the shayateen.ameen.
This will be another fitna for the muslims.We must all make dua’a.
Maybe there’s a bright side to this….there always is a bright side…let me know if you guys think of one
salamu `alaykum
I remember when I went to Mecca. There was construction everywhere. khayr, Alhamdulilah. The narrations of the Prophet (Allah
bless him and grant him peace) are quite explicit with regards to what is going on i.e. the construction of high buildings, and should be a reminder to all of us. That is one of the main benefits I see from this.
May Allah
forgive all of us and grant us what is best.
With prayers
Wasalam
Salman
Salam u alekum
Mubina from california
last year we went for haj and I was extremely disturbed by that building. During tawaf , I got distracted with this giant building under constuction.I kept on asking everyone how do u feel. Don’t you feel that we need to see an open sky and isn’t this wrong to have a building above the house of Allah
.
bestow u His blessings
What’s wrong with their aesthetic senses. This building suffocates. Thanks for bringing up this topic.
May Allah
this is an outrage, it’s like when i spend more time with my wii than with the quran sitting on my desk.
this is an outrage, it’s like when i spend more time with my wii than with the quran sitting on my desk.
yeah it is really really sad for them to change Makkah like this. Having a mall and theme park is like making fun of the holy site. Our reason for protesting is becuase it is a holy site and not a commercial business opportunity but maybe the Saudi economy is draining and they decided to follow Jews in making Saudi Arabia, a tourism spot for Muslims as Jews made Jerusalem one big tourism spot for Jews and Christians.
However, the jews also allowed parades and the like.
I hope Saudis dont do that.
I see a parallel. The NY times wanted to draw attention to this perhaps for this reason: how dare the Saudis think to imitate and gain economic profit(although, islaamically speaking there is a hadeeth warning against imitating the ahlul kitaab and if this is the reason (i.e imitation) then it is bad).
Why did they need a mall?
Name brands like Starbucks? Victoria Secret? etc outselling small local shops around makkah.
Great, globalization at its peak in a sanctuary like Makkah.
Oh Allaah what will happen to the poor of Makkah, their shops? etc?
(on the other hand, more job opportunities for unemployed?)
At Hajj this year we had a chance to check out the place. It was apparently the grand opening and many of the stores/restaurants still hadn’t opened shop.
This place is as extravagant as any mall i’ve ever been in… While it is very sad that they shouldn’t be building something which ruins the skyline surrounding the Kaaba… there is still a huge demand for facilities such as these near the Haram, especially from North American Muslims.
The facility offers amenities such as a clean environment to eat, clean washrooms, open areas to shop etc… which are needed for families taking a break when doing Hajj or Umrah.
There is also a shortage of hotel rooms, during hajj, and this complex also helps to this regard.
And while there are stores like Mac/La Senza inside the mall, these stores are pretty Halall (no pictures of models etc…).
May Allah
guide us to move from anger to action and avoid umhelpful bashing of collectives
-saad
The Saudis are monkeys, they are the children of dajjal, I hope they burn in hell.
i was talking about this with one of my friends, who just recently went for hajj. she said it was sad and disappointing, but in all honestly once you’re there, you forget about everything, all your surroundings and disappointments, and all you can focus on is the Kab’aa and how wonderful it feels to finally be standing before it. i think its horrible that they’re doing this, but inshAllah when each of us makes Hajj, we can feel the same way and not let such things come in the way of us connecting with Allah
(swt).
dude, like no one read my intellectual evaluation or commented on it either for or against, my God, people, give me some intellectual comments or feedback.
“also”, i didn’t notice the mega mall next to the wailing wall, is jerusalem really that commercial?
lol, well.
Jerusalem has tourisms all over the place for Jews and Christians. Not to mention Tel Abib and other cities as well.
Yes, I mean tourism is a big industry in the region in general. A jewish person once commented to me about how much Israel profits from tourism.
I sometimes wish that macca was in the handas of non-muslims who would have more respect for the historical heritage and not try 2 demolish evrything in the fear that ‘it may be worshipped’
As-Salam Alaikum
As someone who, Alhumdulilah, was blessed with the opportunity to make Hajj this year, I’ll ell you something: believe me, once you’re there you wont care about all the malls. Remember that Makkah has always been a commercial center. I don’t really like the huge building either, but I never noticed it when I was actually worshiping. Remember Brothers and Sisters, all this negativity isn’t good for us, just be happy that Makkah still is Makkah. The only difference is now we have some convenience shops.