"On April 21,1925, the domes in the Baqi' were demolished once more along with the tombs of the holy personalities in Maqbarat'al-Ma'la in Mecca, where the Holy Prophet's mother, wife Khadija, grandfather and other ancestors are buried. Destruction of the sacred sites in the Hijaz continues till this day. Wahhabis say they are trying to rescue Islam from what they consider innovations, deviances and idolatries. Among the practices they believe are contrary to Islam are constructing elaborate monuments over graves and making supplications there.

"The authorities plan to demolish the house of Mawlid, where the Prophet was born. About 60 years ago, this house, which used to have a dome over it, was turned into a cattle market. Some people then worked together to transform it into a library, which it is today. It is lined with shelves of books about Mecca, most of them written by Meccans. But the library is under threat again because of the new Jabal 'Umar project, one of the largest real estate development projects near the Grand Mosque. The birthplace of the Prophet is to make way for a car park and hotels.

"Within the last 10 years, Muqbil ibn Hadi al-Wadi'i, a student at the University of Medina, wrote a thesis titled "About the Dome Built over the Grave of the Messenger," sponsored by Sheikh Hammad al-Ansari. In this paper, the student demands that the noble grave be brought out of the Mosque. He says the presence of the holy grave and noble dome are major innovations and that they both need to be destroyed! His thesis received very high marks."

http://www.islamicamagazine.com/content/view/161/59/

Islamica Magazine Issue 15 (Jan 2006)