1926 Demolitions

By the Editors of the Madain Project

The 1925/1926 demolitions was an event that occured on the 21st of April 1926 CE, when a large number of shrines, mausoleums and memorial buildings were destroyed in Saudi Arabia. The campaign was initiate by king Ibn Saud with the support of Ibn abd-ul-Wahab. Most notable of these were the demolistions in the historic cemetaries of Jannaul Baqi and Jannatul Mualla. In the same year, a number of other structures were also destroyed such as the old mosque adjacent to the grave of Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib.

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Overview

This happened despite protests by the international Islamic community. It is note worthy that although the tombs and mausoleums were demolished no graves were destroyed during the demolition process. Other graves included that of Fatima bint-i Muhammad, Imam Hassan ibn-i 'Ali, Zain ul-'Abideen, Imam Baqir, Imam Jaffar Sadiq.

Jannat ul-Baqi before demolitions

Notable Sites Before 1926 Demolitions

circa 1800 CE

Jannat ul-Baqi before demolitions

Jannatul Baqi'
The cemetery of Jannat ul-Baqi before the demolitions. The large structure to the extreme right is the Mausoleum of ahl ul-Bayt, the first smaller structure from right to left was of Daughters of the prophet and the square structure at the bottom of the picture was an old mosque. The group of the multiple smaller structures belonged to the prophet Muhammad's wives, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, Abdullah bin jaffar thayaar, Imam Nafi’i and a few others.

circa 1800 CE

The Mausoleum of ahl-i Bayt

Jannatul Mualla
The Jannat ul-Mu'alla before the demolitions. The largest dome to the left belongs to the tomb of Khadijah. The relatively smaller dome belongs the tomb of Aminah bint Wahab, and the twin domes in the background belong to the tombs of abu Talib, abd Manaf, Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, Abdul Mutallib, Abu Talib and Qasim ibn Muhammad.

circa 1920 CE

Tomb-Mosque of Hamzah
Tomb/Mosque of Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib, originally built during the reign of al-Nasir li-Din Allah it was later renovated during Ottoman era, most likely in mid-ninteenth century. The tomb abcutally belongs to two individuals Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib and his nephew Abdullah ibn Jahash, after they were martyred in Uhud. It was demolished during the demolitions campaign of 1926 and the complex was divided in two seperate structures, Uhud Martyrs enclave and Sayed al Shohada Mosque.

circa 1920 CE

Dome of the Two Incisors
The Dome of the Two Incisors (قبة الثنايا) was a small commemorative dome near the Mount Uhud, before demolition. It is purportedly located at the spot where the teeth of prophet Muhammad were broken during the battle of Uhud. It was a domed structure with a small forecourt, built during the Ottoman era.

circa 1920 CE

Maqamat of the Four Imams
Historically the Mataf area held several structures, including four maqamat (stations) of the four Madha'hab (schools of Islamic jurisprudence), from where the imams would lead prayers for the respective Madh'hab. These were removed in order to make more space available for the Tawaf (circumambulation) around the Kaaba and unify the the prayer timings. The stations (maqamat) stood one in each cardinal direction around the Kaaba.

See Also

References

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