The ”holy cow” and redefining the custodianship of the holy lands – by Dr. Nakvisson
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a history of oppression and inhumane treatment of its own people and guest pilgrims, indifference to the Muslims’ affairs, following the US policies and implementing Zionist plans, interference in the Muslim countries’ affairs, plundering of the people’s wealth and stealing of the Hajj revenue, lavish lifestyle of the Saudi monarchs while millions die of hunger and imposing of the ”literalist” Wahhabi ideology on everyone who visits the holy lands. All of this has led to the tipping point where the ”enlightened” Muslims, whether Sunni Muslims or Shia Muslims, are no more willing to take the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a ”holy cow”. Perhaps this is time to redefine the custodianship of Mecca and Medina.
The motivation behind this blog is video clip that has been circulating on the social media for the past few days. It is a clip of one of the episodes of George Galloway’s programme ”Comment” for Press TV. A Sunni Muslim called Galloway and expressed her frustrations about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Please watch the clip below:
The British-granted custodianship of the holy lands
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with imperialism, clanism and Arab nationalism rooted in its very name, has enjoyed the status of the ”custodian” of the holy lands since its inception when it emerged as a new country on the world map after the British instated the al-Saud clan in Hejaz. The readers are encouraged to read the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for further information. Since the time it was carved out as a new country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been treated as a ”holy cow” by many Muslims around the world – a ”holy cow” that is immune to criticism and exercises full authority to impose its Wahhabi brand of Islam in the holy sites that belong to Muslims with different ideologies and schools of thought from all over the world.
A history of oppression and insult
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a long history of suppression of its own people as well as the guest pilgrims who may deviate even a bit from the ”literalist” Wahhabi ideology. Whether it is Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Sufi Muslims or any other school of thought belonging to the mainstream Islam, they have no place in Saudi Arabia unless they stick to the strict Wahhabi practices or conceal their faith and practices. While Mecca and Medina and other holy sites in Saudi Arabia belong to the whole Muslim world, the ruling ideology there is Wahhabism, something not recognised or appreciated by majority of mainstream Muslims. Each year after the Hajj season, we get to hear numerous stories of Saudi oppression of the guest pilgrims… that how they were harassed, arrested, tortured and disgraced.. even inside the courtyards of the Masjid al-Nabi and Masjid al-Haraam, the most sacred places in Islam. The main accusation is usually ”worshipping the graves” (it is a serious crime to get closer to the grave of the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or the graves of his family. Moreover, one may not turn towards the grave of the holy Prophet to pay greetings in order to show respect.
The ”Hajj-revenue for Vanity” programmeThe stories of the vanity of Saudi monarchs have been being reported in the media for decades. Almost everyone with some level of awareness knows that the the ruling class in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an unjustifiably lavish lifestyle at the expense of not only the oil wealth but also the Hajj-revenue. If the Saudi regime were the true leader of the Muslims all over the world then not only the Hajj-money but also the oil wealth would have to be spent on the poor, hungry, uneducated and underdeveloped masses of Muslims around the world. As the oil money and the Hajj-revenue feed to the lavish and full of vanity lifestyle of the Saudi princes, princesses and other members of the clan, millions die of hunger and disease. But it seems that the ”Hajj-revenue for Vanity” programme that the Saudi monarchs have so successfully been running for decades with the help of the Wahhabi clergy class has now been exposed and understood by the mainstream Muslims around the world.
Not really a ”holy cow”
There are considerable numbers of ”enlightened” Muslims who would like to see the holy places in Mecca and Medina free of the odious Wahhabi ideology, the al-Saud clan and the oppressive Saudi Wahhabi clergymen and their foreigner followers humiliating and insulting the good-hearted, well-faithed mainstream Muslims who come all the way from their distant lands after having spent a fortune to pay homage to the holy Prophet and visit the house of God. Perhaps it is time to redefine the custodianship of the holy places. But such a change can only be realised if a considerable number of Muslims all over the world stop treating the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a ”holy cow” that is immune to criticism. However, the recent trends among the general Muslim populations around the world show that the ”holy cow” image of the Saudi monarchy is no longer valid, at least to those who are aware of the Saudi reality. The above video clip is a proof of that.
An ”idealistic” approach to redefining custodianship of the holy lands
The custodianship of the holy lands in Mecca and Medina can be taken from the hands of the al-Saud clan and their Wahhabi clergy class and instead a new custodianship can be defined. But this will require a world-wide campaign from Muslims belonging to every Islamic school of thought and every country and region in the world. This in itself is a rather ”idealistic” approach and may have a lot of ”show-stoppers”. But nevertheless a new custodianship can be defined on the basis of following guidelines:
As a starting point, the al-Saud family may stay in power and control the whole country save Mecca and Medina.
All the affairs of the holy places in Mecca and Medina shall be governed under the control and supervision of an international governing body similar to OIC consisting of representatives of all the Muslim countries (and Islamic schools of thought) and countries like India, Russia, USA and EU that have considerable Muslim populations.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall have its members included in the international body to facilitate the organisation of the holy lands and may get some extra revenue for that.
All the revenue, profit and expenditure related to the pilgrimage will be managed by the governing body.
The governing body shall have a panel of ulema (clergymen) representing all the Islamic schools of thoughts and it will make sure that no specific ideology is imposed on any local or guest pilgrim.
There shall be rotating president-ship of the governing body, just like the EU model, so that every country with Islam as the state religion can become its president for a specific period of time. The members of USA, EU, Russia, India etc may be accommodated in other positions like vice-president etc.
All the congregational prayers in the holy sites shall be led by clergymen of different Islamic schools of thought on a weekly-rotating basis.
The Saudi government will process the visa applications and collect all the revenue related to it. But the fees will be reduced to a reasonable level.
The Saudi government will be paid for all the expenditures coming from its own budget.
The above guidelines, no matter how ”idealistic” they may sound, can give a hope to more than a billion Muslims around the world that one day the holy sites in Mecca and Medina may belong to all the Muslims and not only to a wicked monarchy relying on the support of the clergymen following the ”literalist” Wahhabi ideology. The purpose of the above guidelines is to spark a discussion and debate. One can only hope that some time in the future the holy lands of Mecca and Medina will become safe, welcoming, open and accommodating for every Saudi and non-Saudi Muslim.
Every year many Muslims are denied the right to go and visit Holy Makkah and Madinah on the grounds of visa restrictions imposed by Saudi rulers. Syed Neaz Ahmad looks at the issue and suggests a simple solution.
Since the days Prophet Abraham established the House of God inMecca it has been a free city. But only after King Abdulaziz Al-Saud captured the cities of Mecca & Medina from the Sharifs (the descendants of Prophet Mohammad) both the cities have turned into controlled areas where only “Saudi approved” persons can enter.
Mecca & Medina are cities that are very close to the heart of 1.5 billion Muslims of the world. Mecca is the direction for the fivetimes’ daily prayers. Many Muslims believe that Both Mecca & Medina should be open cities where ALL Muslims should be welcome. It’s the House of God and the control should not be in hands of the House of Saud.
An international body of Muslims drawn from over 50 counries should be put in place to run the affairs of these two Holy cities.
neazahmad is based in London, England, United Kingdom, and is an Anchor for Allvoices.
I support you! We have to put an end to wahabi islam that has deprive women of their rights to jobs and to even drive the export terrorism using the US and Israel to suppress the palestinian people! You would here from me soon I want to join you in this quest, can you imaging that the saudi financed group Aqim destroying tomb of holy people in timbuktu!
I am a great fan of your writings I have already replied as best as I can I would like to no more about u and for u to guide me towards being a geniune shia please reply me asap thanks a lot .I hope my contribution toward your article and on. Aqim and timbuktu would prove useful thanks for ur coperation the internent may be slow
I want to become shia! I always pray for iran and their sucess! I love the way you preach islam, they way you guaranty women’s rights to drive, to have jobs, to join the army and to become president of iran! Lovely. I was thinking of going on pilgrimage but not any longer we need to raise our flag over mecca and medina. this useless saudis are sponsoring salifists groups in my country nigeria like boko haram I like the way iran guarantees the rights of even Christians and jews to worship in their country u are the really muslims the wahabis are munafiqun!
alitaj I tried emailing you directly but was rejected several times if you want to contact me because I presume you are genuine and sincere this is my email address kassim.abiola@yahoo.com. Thanks I look forward to receiving your mail and hearing from you.
SAS
August 2, 2012
I’ve had the privilege of living and working in the Kingdom under discussion.
While there are myriad issues (many of which Ali often highlights, several which this article does), there is one unavoidable reality that we must understand and take onboard; The House of Saud is the only entity that can rule a united country. That’s why they call it Saudi Arabia. It is probably the only country in the world named after a family.
KSA is actually 3 (some would argue 4 or 5) countries.
1. Shargia or the Eastern Province: Oil-rich, bordering the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. It is also home to a large (approx 40%) Shia population Shargia supplies nearly all the electricity and water to Riyadh and the Central province.
2. Najd or the Central Province: This is the home of the House of Saud and comprises of Riyadh (Saudi’s Capital) and Qassim, Bureda and Hail. The latter home to some of the finest Saudis you will ever meet and the maternal homeland of His Majesty King Abdullah; The former the font and birthplace of the Ikhwan and their Wahabi sect. Approximately 40 percent of the entire development budget of the Kingdom is spent on Riyadh alone. It is also the seat of Saudi power.
3. Hijab or the Eastern Province: Home to Mecca and Madina and one of the oldest ports in the world and fabled burial place of Amma Hawwa; Jeddah. Tabuk in the North, Jizan and Najran in the south. The Hijazi are by and large cultured people and like the Shargi, and I suppose as all people who live near water, have a a kindness and softness to them which the water-parched, hardy desert dwellers of Najd have a bit less.
So, the point I’m trying to make is this. There is only one entity or power-center that can unite and run Saudi Arabia; The House of Saud. And Mecca and Medina are an integral and sovereign part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The premise that Mecca and Madina should be outsourced or managed by anyone but the people of that city or country, is like saying that district Nankana (home to Nakana Sahib) and Hasanabdal (home to Punja Sahib) should be managed and run by the World Sikh Council instead of the government of Pakistan.
Saudis are nice people. They have good traits and bad traits. They have wives and children and parents and inlaws and siblings. They worry about their kids schools and worry about their grocery bills. They love their kids, they love to eat, love to travel and they love to laugh. They have a great sense of humor and they are friends to their friends and enemies to their enemies. They are generous and warm and take a while to warm to strangers. They work hard and party even harder. They are Shia, they are Sunni, they are Agnostic and they are Atheists. They are just like us.
Aqim destroyed the tombs of the 300 saints claiming they were anti-islamic for people to offer prayers to them!. Let me say this we the shias are facing an existential threat from the wahabis and let me recant one of my comments back! No one not even them would stop me from performing one of the 5 pillars of islam which is the pilgrimage to the holy cities of mecca amd medina!. The masjid in damascus is one of the holiest of places it was were prophet yaya’s head was buried and were Isah and the mahdi would make their appearance to us against the dajjal! If we shias can’t successfully defend it then the talk of defending the masjid were the sons of caliph Ali hassan and hussein were buried won’t be taking seriously!. I want to appeal to the people of Iran not to be discouraged by the new sanctions that our enemies has put on them. They shouldn’t be tempted to raise against their able leadership, they should not forget that, that was how the people of mecca heaped sanctions on our prophet Muhammad (peace, blessing and the mercy of Allah be upon him and his family) but they were sucessful at the end they should remember that only Allah guarantees a good economy and not the followers of the dajjal! The should remember their great history and the Iraq-Iran war when the whole world was against them, sanctions heaped on them but they still triumphed ! Allah would give them victory again! They should not abandon syria, if they do they would be next! All able bodied shias should troop down to syria in their millions to defend our land and the masjid of damascus because that is were the mahdi would appear! It is our duty and in doing so protect the other minority groups in syria the Christians and the druze remember that Allah does not belive in numbers we are the party of Allah(Hezbullah) in the battle of badr the khufar had superior numbers than tha army of the prophet but Allah gave the victory, remember that Allah does not like the aggressor we are not the aggressor but simply defending ourselves, home and families! Ask the jews they have always fought a defensive war against the sunnis and have always won. I am also appealing to our allies russia and china to stand firmly behind us we all know after us they would be next Allah would remember them and bless them!
The Aqim fighters are not malian they mainly algerian, libyan and northern nigerian! North of mali has enermous amount of oil and Gas Qatar is Aqim largest sponsors according to france24 french intel said so they are funneling arms through libya ben hadj Alqaida operative is the go between ben mouqtar Aqim leader is algerian they have driven away the mainstreem tureg groups into exile and have given qatari, italian and algerian oil firms oil liecences in exchange for arms that is why intially when ECOWAS wanted to quickly intervene when the rebellion was in it’s infancy the west and the US in particular objected and now they control half of mali the coup in mali was carried out by US trained mali army units which created a vaccum which enable Aqim consolidated their hold on the north of mali it is no fabrication check france 24 and jeune afrique magazine websites for futher info they used boko haram terrorist no wonder why the US up till now has refused to label them a foriegn terrorist organization at a special hearing the head of nigerian chirstians called called the us govt hypocrites when invited to the
Excuse some of my mistakes it is my internet connection via my phone that is messing up the head of nigerian christians pastor Ayo orisiajiofor president of the christian association of nigeria was invite to the US for a US senate specially hearing on boko haram when he labelled the obama administration hypocritical for not designating boko haram a foreign terrorist organizaton he wondered what criteria was used to label the taliban a terrorist organization even when there was appalling poverty in Afghanistan but then saying that the root cause of boko haram was poverty and as such should not be labeled a terrorist organization. While it was widely reported in the foreign media that 1000 boko haram terrorist participated in the capture of Gao and timbuktu in northern mali? Even the Algerians whose embassy in Gao was ransacked and staff kidnapped was even urging ECWAS to dialogue with foreign terrorists that are not malian may due to their interest in the north of mali(oil interest) as reported by france 24 ! According to jeune afrique ben mouqtar the leader of Aqim was also reported to be an algerian intel agent and Aqim widely participated in the libyan uprising. He was sported in bengazi with ben hadji during the libyan conflict according to jeune afrique
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a history of oppression and inhumane treatment of its own people and guest pilgrims, indifference to the Muslims’ affairs, following the US policies and implementing Zionist plans, interference in the Muslim countries’ affairs, plundering of the people’s wealth and stealing of the Hajj revenue, lavish lifestyle of the Saudi monarchs while millions die of hunger and imposing of the ”literalist” Wahhabi ideology on everyone who visits the holy lands. All of this has led to the tipping point where the ”enlightened” Muslims, whether Sunni Muslims or Shia Muslims, are no more willing to take the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a ”holy cow”. Perhaps this is time to redefine the custodianship of Mecca and Medina. 
World Shia Forum 
I support you! We have to put an end to wahabi islam that has deprive women of their rights to jobs and to even drive the export terrorism using the US and Israel to suppress the palestinian people! You would here from me soon I want to join you in this quest, can you imaging that the saudi financed group Aqim destroying tomb of holy people in timbuktu!
Could you please tell more about Aqim and holy people in Timbuktu?
I am a great fan of your writings I have already replied as best as I can I would like to no more about u and for u to guide me towards being a geniune shia please reply me asap thanks a lot .I hope my contribution toward your article and on. Aqim and timbuktu would prove useful thanks for ur coperation the internent may be slow
I want to become shia! I always pray for iran and their sucess! I love the way you preach islam, they way you guaranty women’s rights to drive, to have jobs, to join the army and to become president of iran! Lovely. I was thinking of going on pilgrimage but not any longer we need to raise our flag over mecca and medina. this useless saudis are sponsoring salifists groups in my country nigeria like boko haram I like the way iran guarantees the rights of even Christians and jews to worship in their country u are the really muslims the wahabis are munafiqun!
Please email me directly at alibbastaj@hotmail.com
or message https://www.facebook.com/aliabbastaj
alitaj I tried emailing you directly but was rejected several times if you want to contact me because I presume you are genuine and sincere this is my email address kassim.abiola@yahoo.com. Thanks I look forward to receiving your mail and hearing from you.
I’ve had the privilege of living and working in the Kingdom under discussion.
While there are myriad issues (many of which Ali often highlights, several which this article does), there is one unavoidable reality that we must understand and take onboard; The House of Saud is the only entity that can rule a united country. That’s why they call it Saudi Arabia. It is probably the only country in the world named after a family.
KSA is actually 3 (some would argue 4 or 5) countries.
1. Shargia or the Eastern Province: Oil-rich, bordering the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. It is also home to a large (approx 40%) Shia population Shargia supplies nearly all the electricity and water to Riyadh and the Central province.
2. Najd or the Central Province: This is the home of the House of Saud and comprises of Riyadh (Saudi’s Capital) and Qassim, Bureda and Hail. The latter home to some of the finest Saudis you will ever meet and the maternal homeland of His Majesty King Abdullah; The former the font and birthplace of the Ikhwan and their Wahabi sect. Approximately 40 percent of the entire development budget of the Kingdom is spent on Riyadh alone. It is also the seat of Saudi power.
3. Hijab or the Eastern Province: Home to Mecca and Madina and one of the oldest ports in the world and fabled burial place of Amma Hawwa; Jeddah. Tabuk in the North, Jizan and Najran in the south. The Hijazi are by and large cultured people and like the Shargi, and I suppose as all people who live near water, have a a kindness and softness to them which the water-parched, hardy desert dwellers of Najd have a bit less.
So, the point I’m trying to make is this. There is only one entity or power-center that can unite and run Saudi Arabia; The House of Saud. And Mecca and Medina are an integral and sovereign part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The premise that Mecca and Madina should be outsourced or managed by anyone but the people of that city or country, is like saying that district Nankana (home to Nakana Sahib) and Hasanabdal (home to Punja Sahib) should be managed and run by the World Sikh Council instead of the government of Pakistan.
Saudis are nice people. They have good traits and bad traits. They have wives and children and parents and inlaws and siblings. They worry about their kids schools and worry about their grocery bills. They love their kids, they love to eat, love to travel and they love to laugh. They have a great sense of humor and they are friends to their friends and enemies to their enemies. They are generous and warm and take a while to warm to strangers. They work hard and party even harder. They are Shia, they are Sunni, they are Agnostic and they are Atheists. They are just like us.
The discussion is about house of Saud not about people living there. I have to agree with the caller, these rulers have destroyed Islam from within.
Aqim destroyed the tombs of the 300 saints claiming they were anti-islamic for people to offer prayers to them!. Let me say this we the shias are facing an existential threat from the wahabis and let me recant one of my comments back! No one not even them would stop me from performing one of the 5 pillars of islam which is the pilgrimage to the holy cities of mecca amd medina!. The masjid in damascus is one of the holiest of places it was were prophet yaya’s head was buried and were Isah and the mahdi would make their appearance to us against the dajjal! If we shias can’t successfully defend it then the talk of defending the masjid were the sons of caliph Ali hassan and hussein were buried won’t be taking seriously!. I want to appeal to the people of Iran not to be discouraged by the new sanctions that our enemies has put on them. They shouldn’t be tempted to raise against their able leadership, they should not forget that, that was how the people of mecca heaped sanctions on our prophet Muhammad (peace, blessing and the mercy of Allah be upon him and his family) but they were sucessful at the end they should remember that only Allah guarantees a good economy and not the followers of the dajjal! The should remember their great history and the Iraq-Iran war when the whole world was against them, sanctions heaped on them but they still triumphed ! Allah would give them victory again! They should not abandon syria, if they do they would be next! All able bodied shias should troop down to syria in their millions to defend our land and the masjid of damascus because that is were the mahdi would appear! It is our duty and in doing so protect the other minority groups in syria the Christians and the druze remember that Allah does not belive in numbers we are the party of Allah(Hezbullah) in the battle of badr the khufar had superior numbers than tha army of the prophet but Allah gave the victory, remember that Allah does not like the aggressor we are not the aggressor but simply defending ourselves, home and families! Ask the jews they have always fought a defensive war against the sunnis and have always won. I am also appealing to our allies russia and china to stand firmly behind us we all know after us they would be next Allah would remember them and bless them!
The Aqim fighters are not malian they mainly algerian, libyan and northern nigerian! North of mali has enermous amount of oil and Gas Qatar is Aqim largest sponsors according to france24 french intel said so they are funneling arms through libya ben hadj Alqaida operative is the go between ben mouqtar Aqim leader is algerian they have driven away the mainstreem tureg groups into exile and have given qatari, italian and algerian oil firms oil liecences in exchange for arms that is why intially when ECOWAS wanted to quickly intervene when the rebellion was in it’s infancy the west and the US in particular objected and now they control half of mali the coup in mali was carried out by US trained mali army units which created a vaccum which enable Aqim consolidated their hold on the north of mali it is no fabrication check france 24 and jeune afrique magazine websites for futher info they used boko haram terrorist no wonder why the US up till now has refused to label them a foriegn terrorist organization at a special hearing the head of nigerian chirstians called called the us govt hypocrites when invited to the
Excuse some of my mistakes it is my internet connection via my phone that is messing up the head of nigerian christians pastor Ayo orisiajiofor president of the christian association of nigeria was invite to the US for a US senate specially hearing on boko haram when he labelled the obama administration hypocritical for not designating boko haram a foreign terrorist organizaton he wondered what criteria was used to label the taliban a terrorist organization even when there was appalling poverty in Afghanistan but then saying that the root cause of boko haram was poverty and as such should not be labeled a terrorist organization. While it was widely reported in the foreign media that 1000 boko haram terrorist participated in the capture of Gao and timbuktu in northern mali? Even the Algerians whose embassy in Gao was ransacked and staff kidnapped was even urging ECWAS to dialogue with foreign terrorists that are not malian may due to their interest in the north of mali(oil interest) as reported by france 24 ! According to jeune afrique ben mouqtar the leader of Aqim was also reported to be an algerian intel agent and Aqim widely participated in the libyan uprising. He was sported in bengazi with ben hadji during the libyan conflict according to jeune afrique
Sorry for contacting you so late. I was travelling with limited internet access. I have sent an email to you from nakvisson@gmail.com
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