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DEMOLITION OF JANNAT UL BAQI
By: Aliwaley
In the month of Shawwal, the cemetery Al Baqi was demolished by the
Wahabi extremists. The word "Al-Baqi" means 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. For example Prophet’s (pbuh) son
Ibrahim, who died when he was an infant, was also buried there. The people
of Madina then began to use that site for the burial of their own dead. So the
site of the burial ground at al-Baqi was gradually extended.
Nearly seven thousand companions of the Holy Prophet’s (pbuh) were buried
there, not to mention those of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s). Imam Hasan ibn Ali (a.s),
Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s), Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s), and Imam Ja'far
al-Sadiq (a.s) were all buried there. Among other relatives of the Prophet
(pbuh) 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.s).
Unfortunately, 8th shawal is a sad
day for all the shias. On
8th Shawwal, Wednesday, in the year
1345 AH (April 21, 1925), mausoleums
in Jannatul al-Baqi (Madina) were
demolished by King Ibn Saud. The
typical wahabis of those times
believed, and still believe, that
visiting graves and shrines of
Prophets (pbut) and Imams (pbut) is
a completely un-Islamic practice
and even an act of idolatry. Those
who disagreed with these wahabis
were killed and their property was
confiscated. Still, the Wahhabis
having been carrying out massacres
from which no Muslim who
disagreed with them was spared.
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. In subsequent years,
Muslims from Iraq, Syria and Egypt were refused entry into Makkah for Hajj. King Al-Saud set a pre-condition that those
who wished to perform the pilgrimage would have to accept Wahhabism or else be branded as non-Muslims
Although in about 1818 AD, some Muslims did carry out the reconstruction of this sacred place. Further renovations were
made in about 1848 and 1860 AD. The wahabis, even after their disgraceful act in 1925, could not resist but get involved
again in destroying it. It so happened in 1924 AD Wahhabis entered Hijaz for a second time and carried out another
merciless plunder and massacre. People in the streets were killed, houses were razed to the ground and women and
children too were not spared. Madina surrendered to the Wahhabi onslaught. All Islamic heritage was destroyed. The