An Inconsistency
Sep. 28th, 2011 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloThe puritans who rule Saudi Arabia are busy destroying anything that could invite idolatry. Vast tracts of old Mecca and Medina have been flattened- to the despair of archaeologists and historians of Islam- and Mohammed's birthplace and the cave in which he composed the earlier parts of the Koran are under threat.
I respect the puritan mindset, but what I don't understand is why, if shrines must go, the Kaaba is spared? How is it OK to prostrate yourself before a big black rock but not to visit the house where the prophet was born? There's a lack of follow-through here.
I respect the puritan mindset, but what I don't understand is why, if shrines must go, the Kaaba is spared? How is it OK to prostrate yourself before a big black rock but not to visit the house where the prophet was born? There's a lack of follow-through here.
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Date: 2011-09-28 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-10-01 02:56 pm (UTC)I just don't think it's fair to deprive those generations who follow on after you - who may have totally different ideas of what's important - of finite resources which can never be replaced. And which in the long term may have an intrinsic financial value in terms of tourist interest. I'd guess that heritage tourism brings in quite a bit of money - add that to your pilgrim revenue and you're really laughing.