Friday, March 09, 2007 | Permalink
There was a very interesting article a couple of days ago in The New York Times concerning the current construction boom altering the landscape of the holy city of Mecca.
In addition to the ongoing projects to improve the pilgrimage infrastructure, the article tells us that “an entire mountain is being flattened to make way for a huge hotel and high-rise complex. And elsewhere, cranes dot the skyline with up to 130 new high-rise towers planned for the area.”
Quite a few more cranes are to be found in another multi-billion dollar complex, the Abraj al Bait, under construction just across from the Kaaba. The tallest of its towers, a hotel, is projected to be the seventh highest in the world and will loom high over Islam's holiest site.
Perhaps in keeping with the city's historical status as a major commercial center, a mall recently opened as part of the same development. This mall, we read, is “outfitted with flat-panel monitors with advertisements and announcements, neon lights, an amusement park ride, fast-food restaurants and a lingerie shop.” And Cartier, Tiffany, H&M, Topshop and, of course, Starbucks.
Not surprisingly, some feel that “Mecca is becoming like Las Vegas.”
Quoting the article:
Progress has exacted a heavy price in Mecca. More pilgrims than ever can come here, thanks to billions spent on tunnels and infrastructure to accommodate them. But in exchange, the city’s once famed night market, where pilgrims brought their wares to sell, is gone. The Meccan homes and buildings that filled the area near the mosque were demolished in the 1970s to enlarge the mosque. The neighborhoods and families who lived near the mosque and welcomed pilgrims have long since moved away.
And again (with apologies):
Dr. Ahmed of London has cataloged the destruction of more than 300 separate antiquity sites, including cemeteries and mosques. He says the house where the Prophet Muhammad lived was razed and today a dilapidated library, with its windows and doors shuttered, stands in its place.
Or, to mutilate Clifford Geertz: nothing changes or alters like the unconditionally and unalterably sacred.
Abraj al Bait photos @ SkyscraperPage Forum
Jabal Omar photos @ SkyscraperCity Forum
Reconfiguring the Jamarat Bridge
Labels: sacred plains
I'm glad you mentioned Las Vegas... that's what I was thinking as I read it and saw those 'pictures.'
So that's the modern answer to the old adage of the mountain coming to Mahammad. Rather takes the poetry out of it.
Everyone is free to do whatever they want. This isn't against our religion and even hotels there don't serve alcohol.
If the people of Mecca are happy then I don't see the need of being negative about things.
Gulf people like shopping and having malls is actually handy to keep them away from the heat. Most of people commenting here are probably not allowed to enter mecca so you wouldn't know what it's like being there.
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