Pembangunan terbaru yang diluluskan oleh Raja Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, akan meliputi kawasan seluas 400,000 meter persegi untuk menampung 1.2 juta jemaah haji. Ia satu usaha kerajaan Arab Saudi bagi meningkatkan kapasiti jemaah dalam satu-satu masa lebih-lebih lagi ketika musim Haji. Projek ini juga adalah sebagai satu pelan jangka panjang bagi meningkatkan infrastruktur bagi memodenkan lagi kota Makkah. Anda boleh melihat di sini gambaran Kota Makkah di masa hadapan. Ini dilihat sebagai satu berita baik kepada jemaah haji kerana ia bakal memberi keselesaan kepada mereka. Walaubagaimanapun, projek ini dilihat para pakar arkeologi bakal memusnahkan beberapa tempat bersejarah yang beharga disekitar Makkah.
CAIRO – The building frenzy changing the face of historic and culturally important sites in holy city of Makkah is disappointing many Saudis who see their culture demolished to give way to luxury hotels and malls, The Independent reported on Saturday, September 24.
"This is an absolute contradiction to the nature of Mecca and the sacredness of the house of God," Sami Angawi, a renowned Saudi expert on the region's Islamic architecture, said.
"Both [Mecca and Medina] are historically almost finished. You do not find anything except skyscrapers."
Dividing the opinion of Muslims all over the world, the holiest site in Islam has undergone a huge transformation over the past decade.
Some Meccans were even comparing their city to Las Vegas.
Going through a number of projects to expand the area of Al-Masjid al-Haram, many historic building were demolished to give space to the new projects.
The latest expansion, approved by King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, would cover an area of 400,000 sq. meters to accommodate 1.2 million worshippers.
The total area of the existing Haram Mosque is 356,000 sq. meters accommodating 770,000 worshippers.
Around the mosque, the city now soars above its surroundings with a glittering array of skyscrapers, shopping malls and luxury hotels.
Muslims from around the world pour into Makkah every year to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
Twelve million pilgrims visit the cities every year with the numbers expected to increase to 17 million by 2025.
During hajj season, nearly 1.8 million Muslims embark on hajj.
Destroying Heritage
The new changes were disappointing to a number of prominent Saudi archaeologists and historian.
"No one has the balls to stand up and condemn this cultural vandalism," says Dr Irfan al-Alawi who, as executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, has fought in vain to protect his country's historical sites.
"We have already lost 400-500 sites. I just hope it's not too late to turn things around."
Among the buildings to be demolished in the planned expansion were the old Ottoman and Abbasi sections of the Grand Mosque, the house where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was born and the house where his uncle Hamza grew up.
For ordinary Meccans living in the mainly Ottoman-era town houses, development often means the loss of their family home.
Some of them were still waiting for the compensation promised by the Saudi government against their demolished houses.
"There was very little warning; they just came and told him that the house had to be bulldozed," she said.
Dr Alawi hopes the international community will finally begin to wake up to what is happening in the cradle of Islam.
"We would never allow someone to destroy the Pyramids, so why are we letting Islam's history disappear?"
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