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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The last days of Mecca and Medina: Saudis are wiping out Islamic heritage, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad
The last days of Mecca and Medina: Saudis are wiping out Islamic heritage
By Daniel Howden
Saturday, 6 August 2005
Independent.co.uk

It is the same oil-rich orthodoxy that pumped money into the Taliban as they prepared to detonate the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2000. And the same doctrine - violently opposed to all forms of idolatry - that this week decreed that the Saudis' own king be buried in an unmarked desert grave.

A Saudi architect, Sami Angawi, who is an acknowledged specialist on the region's Islamic architecture, told The Independent that the final farewell to Mecca is imminent: "What we are witnessing are the last days of Mecca and Medina."

According to Dr Angawi - who has dedicated his life to preserving Islam's two holiest cities - as few as 20 structures are left that date back to the lifetime of the Prophet 1,400 years ago and those that remain could be bulldozed at any time. "This is the end of history in Mecca and Medina and the end of their future," said Dr Angawi.

Mecca is the most visited pilgrimage site in the world. It is home to the Grand Mosque and, along with the nearby city of Medina which houses the Prophet's tomb, receives four million people annually as they undertake the Islamic duty of the Haj and Umra pilgrimages.

http://newageislam.com/the-last-days-of-mecca-and-medina--saudis-are-wiping-out-islamic-heritage---/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1101



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