Demolition of al-Baqi

Demolition of al-Baqi
Jannat al-Baqi in the 1910s, before its second demolition
Date1806 and 1925 (or 1926)
LocationMedina, Saudi Arabia
Organised byHouse of Saud
OutcomeMass destruction of the buildings, and domes of the cemetery

Al-Baqi Cemetery, the oldest and one of the two most important Islamic graveyards[1] located in Medina, in current-day Saudi Arabia, was demolished[2] in 1806 and, following reconstruction in the mid-19th century, was destroyed again in 1925[3]: 55  or 1926.[2][4] An alliance of the House of Saud and the followers of the Wahhabi movement known as the Emirate of Diriyah carried out the first demolition. The Sultanate of Nejd, also ruled by the House of Saud and followers of Wahhabism, carried out the second demolition. In both cases, the actors were motivated by the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, which prohibits the building of monuments on graves.

  1. ^ Danforth, Loring M. (29 March 2016). Crossing the Kingdom: Portraits of Saudi Arabia. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29028-0. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b Werner, Ende (2010). "Baqīʿ al-Gharqad". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23494. ISSN 1873-9830.
  3. ^ Mohammadi, Adeel (2014–2015). "The destruction of Jannat al-Baqi': A case of Wahhabi Iconoclasm" (PDF). Undergraduate Journal of Middle East Studies (8). Canada: 47–56. ISSN 1710-4920. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Islamica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).