Saudi overhaul reshapes Islam’s holiest city Mecca – Business – The Boston Globe

A rather polite article on how the history of Mecca and Muslims is being re-written by the Saudi government:

Overseeing Mecca is also a key source of prestige for Saudi Arabia’s monarchy. The past two kings — the current one, Abdullah, and his predecessor, Fahd — have adopted the further title of ‘‘custodian of the two holy mosques’’ to boost their status, referring to Mecca’s Grand Mosque and Muhammad’s mosque in nearby Medina.

Now Mecca is being molded to a particularly Saudi vision that bolsters the rule of the Saud royal family.

Two forces shape that vision. One is raw, petrodollar-fueled capitalism. Mecca’s planners are largely catering to wealthier pilgrims by constructing five-star hotels, surrounding the Kaaba in marble-sheathed luxury. Nearby, pilgrims can shop at international chains, including a Paris Hilton store and a gender-segregated Starbucks.

The other force is Wahhabism, the strict, puritanical interpretation of Islam that the Saud rulers elevated to the country’s official doctrine. Saudi kings, for example, have given Wahhabi clerics a monopoly over preaching at the Grand Mosque. In return, the clerics staunchly back the monarchy.

One tenet of Wahhabism is that Muslim tombs or sites connected to revered figures — even the Prophet Muhammad, his family, and companions — should be destroyed to avoid veneration of anything other than God. It is the same iconoclastic zeal that has prompted militants from the Islamic State group to blow up Muslim shrines in Iraq and Syria.

In Mecca, few sites associated with Muhammad remain. Many were destroyed in previous expansions of the Grand Mosque in the 1980s and 1990s, and the new development is finishing off much of what remains. In 2008, the house of Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s successor as leader of the Muslim community, was razed to make way for a Hilton.

Saudi overhaul reshapes Islam’s holiest city Mecca – Business – The Boston Globe.