Recently while on a visit to Madinah I took my family to see the site of the Battle of Uhud, one of the earliest encounters between Muslims and those who opposed them. The battle took its name from the mountain which overlooks the city. To say the least, I was shocked at what I saw.
The site was in such a state of neglect that anyone who saw it must have come away with the same impression. This place contains the graves of a number of sahaba (companions of Prophet Muhammad) who died as martyrs in the battle. The entire site is in poor condition. The visitor is greeted by a crumbling fence and some plastic plates that have faded under the strong sun.
It was the same kind of culture shock I experienced when I first visited some Western countries and saw how carefully they look after their historical monuments. The site of Uhud is visited every year by millions of Muslims from all over the world and deserves better treatment. This is the burial place of people who offered their lives to defend Islam at the most difficult of times.
I am sure no official would approve of the miserable condition and neglect of the site. Street vendors and petty traders have taken over the whole place and piles of trash and dirt litter the place.
As if this is not bad enough, visitors are faced with yet a more embarrassing situation: the lack of public toilets. There is not a single public toilet there. Imagine the reaction of people coming from one of the advanced countries. They will surely be surprised at the contradiction after having witnessed the progress our country has made in other areas.
It is unfortunate that various justifications have been used to excuse the disappearance of many sites and monuments of great religious and historical importance. These sites should have been saved and the public educated about how to treat them without contradicting Islamic teachings. The solution lies not in removing the sites but in teaching people, especially pilgrims coming from abroad. These places could be used to promote tourism.
At a time when countries such as Spain are preserving and protecting Islamic sites in Granada and Cordoba and turning them into major tourist attractions, we are demolishing ours. It seems there are some who do not appreciate the religious and historical value of our Islamic sites and seem bent on destroying all that relates to our history.
Arab News From the Local Press 4 February 2003
