Civilizations are proud of traditions and construct relics to build heritage sites honoring revered personalities. The Saudi government defies normal traditions by destroying the relics & shrines of all religions including Islam. Baqee is a cemetery in Saudi Arabia where Prophet Mohammed’s children, wives, companions, and relatives are buried. Since the destruction of Baqee in 1925 AD, it has become a symbol of the atrocities and brutality committed by Saudi Arabia and like-minded terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Boko Haram and other offshoots.
This is the exact same ideology that resulted in the destruction of Gautama Buddha statues in Afghanistan, Temple of Palmyra in Syria and the Tomb of Prophet Jonah in Iraq. These atrocities are a direct result of theWahhabi (Salafi) sect teachings, promoted by Saudi Arabia and exemplify their lack of tolerance, respect, peace and humanity. Apart from the destruction of heritage sites, the Saudi police display physical aggression on pilgrims visiting the cemetery especially women, which is a humanitarian issue.
A protest against Saudi Human Rights abuse held on July 13th in Washington DC, organized by The Baqee Organization, to denounce the disappearing of Islam’s holy sites.
Since Wahhabism (Saudi Arabia’s state religion) first rose its head in the desert of Nejd in the Hijaz, in the 18th century Islam, Christianity, Judaism and all other religious denominations have suffered a veritable cultural genocide.
Over 7000 Islamic sites have been destroyed to assuage Wahhabis’ own sense of self-righteous bigotry, still the world has sat in silence. Firmly anchored in intolerance for they think their ideology holy, and pure, Wahhabi clerics have rationalized religious oppression and brutality, turning it into a well-honed system.
Amid the many crimes which were committed over the years one has towered over all as it spoke of a hate so entrenched in itself it could never be defined other than in ideological absolutism.
In 1925, Al-Saud regime took its wrath on al Baqee cemetery, where some of Islam’s most noble personalities, including members of the Prophet Muhammad’s family, are buried. As it lies in ruins, al Baqee came to represent Resistance – the call of a people against the injustice of radicalism, the need for a people to reclaim its History so that cultural and religious identity would not be lost.
Wahhabism has claimed many holy sites over the centuries — Gautama Buddha statues in Afghanistan, the Temple of Palmyra in Syria and the Tomb of Prophet Jonah in Iraq. Before Wahhabism, the world stands to see its memory erased. It is this violence, this insane pursuit for religious absolutism which the Baqee Organization ambitions to denounce, and oppose so that justice could be reclaimed.
Muslims and non-Muslims – beyond creed, ethnicity, and political persuasions, people from across the United States will stand in solidarity with the embattled citizens of Saudi Arabia and the countries it oppresses. Similar protests were also held at Saudi Arabian Consulates and Embassies in Los Angeles.
In the face of tyranny, we are all minorities. It is how we face injustice which truly defines our character.