Taroudant, Morocco- The tomb of the Prophet Mohamed, under the Green Dome in the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, could be “destroyed and his body removed to an anonymous grave”, according to U.K.’s Independent.
The same source said that a 61-page consultation document, by a leading Saudi academic, has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi Mosque in Medina.
The controversial document outlines plans for destroying the dome that hosts the tomb of the Prophet Mohamed, one of the holiest sites in the Muslim world, and moving the Prophet’s remains to an anonymous grave.
According to the Independent, the reason the Saudi government wants to carry on this plan is to prevent what they regarded as “shirq” or idolatrous practices by some worshippers who “turn towards the tomb to pray”.
At a time when religious tensions are high in some Islamic regions, Dr. Irfan al-Alawi, Director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, has warned that any alterations to the holy sites could spark unrest.
“People visit the chambers, which are the rooms where the Prophet’s family lived, and turn towards the burial chamber to pray,” he was quoted by The Independent as saying.
“Now they want to prevent pilgrims from attending and venerating the tomb because they believe this is shirq, or idolatry,” he said.
“But the only way they can stop people visiting the Prophet is to get him out and into the cemetery,” he added.
