HAJJ AND CUSTODIANS OF HOLY MOSQUES IN MAKKAH AND MADINA

-By A special correspondent-

                 Makkah and Madina are sacred places of Islam. Muslims over all the world love these sacred places in Islam.  Every Muslim dreams to visit these sacred places on earth.  Every Muslim on earth wishes good for the pilgrims who go to Hajj. Indeed, every one prays for the safe return of pilgrims.   For the last three decades, Saudi authorities have done tremendous service for Hajj pilgrims and yet, this does not mean that we should not point out shortcomings and mismanagement of Saudi authorities in Hajj service. International Muslim communities have been making some complaints about health and safety issues in Hajj for some time. It is evidently clear that Saudi authorities have failed many times to maintain the safety standard as required by any international health and safety measurements. The critiques of Saudi government have been complaining that Saudi government has already demolished some sacred sites of Islam in the name of expansion and development of sacred places of Islam in Makkah and Madia.  It is not my objective here to reject all good things that Saudi has done in Makkah and Madina as some people do but I would like to make some objective observations about expansion projects that Saudi has been doing in Sacred places of Islam. Some Muslim archaeologists, scholars and historians have been objecting some of these expansion projects. I shall discuss some these of criticisms in this series of articles.
Saudi Kings and Custodianship of Makkah and Madina: 

I will briefly trace the recent history the sacred mosques in Makkah and Madina in this section of my writing. More importantly, I shall try to understand how the guardianship of these sacred mosques ended into the hands of Saudi Kings. Did international Muslim communities or Muslim countries hand over this guardianship to the present ruling elite or did they inherit it from the prophetic time? Or did they get by force with their political power? I will try to find answers to these questions. I do not like to undermine or belittle any contribution made by this ruling elite to the house of Allah. It would be unfair to deny the great contributions and service of these ruling elites to the Hajj services in recent time and yet, this does not mean we should maintain silence when something goes wrong with the management and administration of Hajj services. Unfortunately, this modern day of vibrant democracy and equal rights for all people 1.6 billion Muslims do not have a say on the management of these sacred cities in Muslim world. 

          The recent catastrophic accidents in the Holy cities of Islam has once again opened the debate about the health and safety issues of pilgrims in Makkah and Madina. Some Muslim countries have questioned the abilities and professionalism of Saudi authorities in looking after three million Muslim pilgrims annually. The argument is that this is not the first time that Muslim countries lost its people in Hajj accidental incidents. There have been many such incidents in the past decades. Therefore, some Muslim nations have made some staunch criticisms of the way Hajj administration is done today. 

            Even Iranian president spoke about the incompetence of Saudi government in Hajj administration. He spoke this in the last United Nation session. I do not endorse or support the Iranian claims over the holy cities of Makkah and Madina. Yet, Iranian thereat is a real threat for these sacred places of Islam. 

         Unlike in the old days, today accidents in Hajj are broad casted all over the world lively and people are very much touched by these incidents. Relatives and family members of pilgrims are worried and concerned. International community is closing watching these incidents. Muslims and Non-Muslims people have begun to ask many questions about these incidents. With CCTV cameras installed in every corner of Hajj rituals I think Saudi government cannot hide the truth from public.  They should have courage and willingness to accept their mistakes and wrong doing. In case of Crane crash they did but in case of Mina incident they did not reveal the facts yet. They should do it sooner rather than later. 

              One of leading scholars on Islam tells us how the guardianship of the sacred of mosques in Makkah and Madina were controlled by Saudi ruling elite. In its fighting for freedom from Ottoman Empire Saudi elites sought the military support of British government in early 20 century. After defeating Turkish force with support of Britain,  “A formal treaty between Ibn Saud and Great Britain, recognising the full independence of the Kingdom Saudi Arabia, was signed on May 20, 1927. Some other European states followed suit” (The Crisis of Islam P.96). Once Saudi Arabia got a recognition from Great Britain and some European nations in early part of 20th   century, Saudi Arabia begun to make control of all sacred places of Islam demolishing the remnants of Ottoman Empire. Although Great Britain and Some European countries quickly recognised many Muslim countries did not recognise the partition of Saudi from the Ottoman Empire but yet, they were gradually compelled to recognise it as an independence nation. Until such a time, the control and guardianship of the holy cities had been under control of Ottoman Caliph. With establishment of Saudi Arabia as an Independent country Saudi Kings got full control of the guardianship of sacred place. Yet, this was challenged by many Muslim nations. 

                 “A Muslim mission from India visited Jeddah and demanded that the King hand over control of the Holy cities to a committee of representatives to be appointed by all Muslim countries. Ibn Saud did not respond to this demand and sent the mission back to India by sea. In June same year, he convened an all-Islamic Congress in Mecca, inviting the sovereigns and presidents of the independent Muslim states and representatives from Muslim organizations in countries under non-Muslim rule. Sixty-nine people attended the congress from all over the Islamic world.
Addressing them, Ibn Saud made it clear that he was now the ruler of the Hijaz. He would fulfil his duties as custodian of the holy places and protector of eh pilgrimage but would not permit any outside intervention in his performance of these tasks” (The Crisis of Islam p.97). This was how Saudi ruling elites got the guardianship of these sacred place. Without any consultation with Muslim nations or without any consent of the most of Muslims nations King Saud got the control of these sacred mosques. Although Islam encourage the consultation in any important matters King Saud ignored that Quranic injunction on this issue and got control of the sacred mosques into his hands.

This king Saud decision was opposed by many leaders of Muslim countries but they could not do anything about it. By this time Ottoman was dismantled and there was no central authority for Muslims. When King Saud evoked this, leaders who attend this Islamic congress did not like it but could not help. “Some dissented and departed, others accepted and recognised the new order. Notable among the latter was the head of the delegation of Muslims in the Soviet Union, whose leader, in an interview with the Soviet news agency TASS, announced that this Islamic Congress had recognised King Ibn Saud as Custodian of the Holy Places . It has also called for the transfer of parts of Jordan to the new Hijazi Kingdom, and in general expressed support for Ibn Saud (The crisis of Islam. P.97).

   This was how this modern Saudi kingdom got the guardianship of the sacred mosque of Islam into their hand by force or by way of bribing some Muslim nations or Muslim organizations. Initially, they got the support of British to get their independence then they forced the entire Muslim countries to accept their terms and conditions on guardianship of the sacred mosques. Since then, sacred mosques have been in the hands of Saudi kings. Muslim countries with population of more than 1.2 billion do not have any rights to express any views about the administration and maintenance of these sacred mosques. Is this a religious dictatorship? Or political dictatorship in religion? How long this dictatorial attitude could continue in this modern world of revolution in Arab world? How long Saudi can keep Iran silent on this issue? To be continued next week Inshallah