On 8th Shawwal, Wednesday, in the year 1345 AH (April 21, 1925),
mausoleums in Jannatul al-Baqi (Madina) were demolished by King Ibn Saud.
In the same year (1925), he also demolished the tombs of holy
personages at Jannat al-Mualla (Makkah) where the Holy Prophet (s)'s mother,
wife, grandfather and other ancestors are buried.
Amongst the matters about which the Wahhabis are most sensitive is the
matter of renovation of graves and construction over the graves of Prophets,
Imams and the pious ones.
This matter was at first initiated by Ibn Taymiyya and his famous
student Ibn al-Qayyim and they gave their verdicts (fatawa) in
prohibiting the construction of a structure and the necessity of its
destruction.
Ibn al-Qayyim in his book Zad al-ma’ad fi huda khayr al-‘ibad says
as such:
It is obligatory to destroy the structure constructed over the grave and
after gaining power for their destruction it is not permissible to reinstate
them even for one day.
The Origins of Al-Baqi
Literally
"al-Baqi" means a tree garden. It is also known as "Jannat
al-Baqi" due to its sanctity, since in it are buried many of our Prophet's
relatives and companions.
The first companion buried
in al-Baqi was Uthman b. Madhoon who died on the 3rd of Sha'ban in the 3rd year
of Hijrah. The Prophet (s) ordered certain trees to be felled, and in its
midst, he buried his dear companion, placing two stones over the grave.
On the following years,
the Prophet's son Ibrahim, who died in infancy and over whom the Prophet (s)
wept bitterly, was also buried there. The people of Madina then began to use
that site for the burial of their own dead, because the Prophet (s) used to
greet those who were buried in al-Baqi by saying, "Peace be upon you, O
abode of the faithful! God willing, we should soon join you. O' Allah, forgive
the fellows of al-Baqi".
The site of the burial
ground at al-Baqi was gradually extended. Nearly seven thousand companions of
the Holy Prophet (s) were buried there, not to mention those of the Ahlul Bayt
(a). Imam Hasan b. Ali (a), Imam Ali b. al-Husayn (a), Imam Muhammad al-Baqir
(a), and Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a) were all buried there.
Among other relatives of
the Prophet (s) who were buried at al-Baqi are: his aunts Safiya and Aatika,
and his aunt Fatima bint al-Asad, the mother of Imam Ali (a). The third caliph
Uthman was buried outside al-Baqi, but with later extensions, his grave was
included in the area.
Al-Baqi as viewed by historians
Umar bin Jubair describes
al-Baqi as he saw it during his travel to Madina, saying "Al-Baqi is
situated to the east of Madina. You enter it through the gate known as the gate
of al-Baqi. As you enter, the first grave you see on your left is that of
Safiya, the Prophet's aunt, and further still is the grave of Malik bin Anas,
the Imam of Madina. On his grave is raised a small dome. In front of it
is the grave of Ibrahim son of our Prophet (s) with a white dome over it,
and next to it on the right is the grave of Abdul-Rahman son of Umar bin
al-Khattab, popularly known as Abu Shahma, whose father had kept punishing him
till death overtook him. Facing it are the graves of Aqeel bin Abi Talib and
Abdullah bin Ja'far al-Tayyar. There, facing those graves is a small shrine
containing the graves of the Prophet's wives, following by a shrine of Abbas
bin Abdul Muttalib.
The grave of Hazrat Imam Hasan
bin Ali (a), situated near the gate to it's right hand, has an elevated dome
over it. His head lies at the feet of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, and both
graves are raised high above the ground, their walls are panelled with yellow
plates and studded with beautiful star-shaped nails. This is how the grave
of Ibrahim, son of the Prophet (s) has also been adorned. Behind the shrine of
Abbas there is the house attributed to Fatima, daughter of our Prophet (s),
known as "Bayt al-Ahzaan" (the house of grief) because it is the
house she used to frequent in order to mourn the death of her father, the
chosen one, peace be upon him. …
The First Destruction of Al-Baqi
From 1205 AH to 1217 AH,
the Wahhabis made several attempts to gain a foothold in Hijaz but failed.
Finally, in 1217 AH, they somehow emerged victorious in Taif where they spilled
the innocent blood of Muslims. In 1218 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 1221 AH (Around 1800AD),
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. 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.
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.
In 1818 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 1848 and 1860 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 second plunder by the Wahhabis
1924 AD Wahhabis entered
Hijaz for a second time and carried out another merciless plunder and massacre.
People in streets were killed. Houses were razed to the ground. Women and
children too were not spared.
Awn bin Hashim (Shairf of
Makkah) writes: "Before me, a valley appeared to have been paved with
corpses, dried blood staining everywhere all around. There was hardly a tree
which didn't have one or two dead bodies near its roots."
In the year 1344 AH (1924 AD) when the Sa’uds had gained control over
Mecca, Medina and its surroundings, they planned a pretext for destroying the
graves of Baqi’ and the traces of household and companions of the Holy Prophet
(s). By getting verdict (fatwa) from the scholars of Medina they wanted
to pave the way for demolition and preparing the minds of the people of Hijaz
who were never in favour of such action. For this reason they sent the Chief
Judge of Najd, Sulayman bin Bulayhid towards Medina for the purpose of deriving
benefit from the scholars of that place regarding this matter. Thus he planned
the questions in such a manner that its answers (as per the viewpoint of the
Wahhabis) were hidden in the questions itself. And in this way he declared to
the muftis that their replies should match the answers which
had come in the questions; otherwise they would be called as polytheists and be
killed if they would not repent.
The questions and answers were published in the newspaper Umm al-Qura in
Mecca in the month of Shawwal 1344 AH. As a result of this
publication, a severe reaction took place among the Muslims mainly Sunnis and
Shi’as because they were aware that after taking the verdict (fatwa)
even if it was by way of force, the destruction of graves of the leaders of
Islam would commence.
Incidentally, after taking the verdict from fifteen scholars of Medina
and publishing it in Hijaz, the destruction of the traces of the household of
the Prophet (s) began on the 8th of Shawwal of the same year.
The entire traces of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and the companions of the Holy Prophet
(s) disappeared and the valuable properties of the shrine of the Holy Imams
(‘a) at Baqi’ were plundered.All Islamic heritage were destroyed. The only shrine that remained
intact was that of the Holy Prophet (s). Tombs of Hazrat Hamza and other
martyrs were demolished at Uhud. In the
same year Jannat al-Mu'alla, the sacred cemetery at Makkah was destroyed
alongwith the house where the Holy Prophet (s) was born.
May Allah hasten the reappearance of Imam Zamana (atfs)
May Allah destroy the enemies of Ahle Bait (as).
May Allah give us the taufeeq to see restoration of Jannatul Baqi.
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