After the House of Saud completed its conquest of the Hejaz in 1924 to 1925, King Ibn Saud granted permission for the demolition of the region's domed tombs and shrine structures, carried out by the Ikhwan, a Wahhabi religious militia, in 1925 to 1926. The two most documented sites were Jannat al-Baqi in Medina, the cemetery adjoining the Prophet's Mosque holding the graves of several of Muhammad's family and companions, and Jannat al-Mualla in Mecca, holding the grave of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Muhammad's first wife, where roughly seventy-five domed tomb structures stood before the demolition. The campaign reflected the Wahhabi theological position, central to the Saudi state's religious program from its founding, that domed and venerated graves risk encouraging shirk, idolatrous veneration of the dead in place of God alone.
Facts
The Event
When It HappenedSourced to the subject's own accountHejaz conquest completed 1924 to 1925; demolitions at Jannat al-Baqi and Jannat al-Mualla carried out 1925 to 1926. 1 PeriodSourced to the subject's own account PeriodSourced to the subject's own account Where It HappenedSourced to the subject's own accountThe Hejaz region of western Arabia, chiefly the two holy cities of Medina, at Jannat al-Baqi, and Mecca, at Jannat al-Mualla. 1 Principal PartiesSourced to the subject's own accountKing Ibn Saud, who authorized the demolitions after consolidating control of the Hejaz; the Ikhwan militia, who carried them out at both Jannat al-Baqi and Jannat al-Mualla. 1 Victim GroupSourced to the subject's own accountNot a population targeted directly, but the material and devotional heritage of Hejazi Islam's shrine and grave-veneration practice, felt most acutely by Shia Muslims, for whom several of the demolished Baqi graves held descendants of Muhammad venerated as Imams, and by the wider community of pilgrims and residents for whom visiting these graves had long been part of devotional practice at the two holy cities. 1 Perpetrator RegimeSourced to the subject's own accountKing Ibn Saud, who granted permission for the demolitions following his conquest of the Hejaz, and the Ikhwan, the Wahhabi religious militia that carried them out as part of a broader program of religious and urban reform aligned with Wahhabi doctrine. 1 Consequences
What It SettledSourced to the subject's own accountThe demolished tombs and shrine structures were never rebuilt; Saudi authorities have consistently rejected requests for their restoration in the century since. Both Sunni and Shia communities protested the demolitions at the time, and Shia Muslims in particular continue to mark the anniversary annually as a day of mourning. 1 Displaced (Low Estimate)Sourced to the subject's own accountThe approximate number of domed tomb structures documented standing at Jannat al-Mualla in Mecca before the demolition; this is a count of structures destroyed rather than of people, since no source consulted gives a human casualty figure for the demolitions. Displaced (High Estimate)Sourced to the subject's own accountThe same approximate seventy-five figure for Jannat al-Mualla alone; no source consulted gives a combined structure count across both Jannat al-Mualla and Jannat al-Baqi together, so the range is not widened past what is actually documented. Origins
Defining MomentSourced to the subject's own accountThe destruction of the domed tomb of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid at Jannat al-Mualla in Mecca, among roughly seventy-five domed tomb structures at that cemetery alone, stands as the demolition campaign's most cited single act, given her standing as Muhammad's first wife and the first person to accept his prophethood. 2 Status
Official RecognitionSourced to the subject's own accountNot formally recognized by any body 1 Recognition BasisSourced to the subject's own accountNo state or international body has issued a heritage-destruction or persecution determination specific to the 1925 to 1926 Hejaz demolitions; response has taken the form of annual community commemoration, chiefly among Shia Muslims, rather than any formal governmental or intergovernmental process, and UNESCO has not designated either site. 1 Disputed
How Its Legacy Is ContestedSourced to the subject's own accountSaudi and Wahhabi religious authorities have defended the demolitions as a return to what they hold to be the earliest and most authentic Islamic practice regarding graves, unadorned burial without structures that might draw veneration toward the dead. Critics, including significant parts of the Sunni world and especially Shia Muslims, read the same acts as the deliberate erasure of shared Islamic heritage and, for Shia communities specifically, of sites tied to Muhammad's own family venerated as Imams. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Islam, Religions The wider religion within which this is an intra-Islamic dispute over practice, not a persecution of Islam by an outside actor; both the demolishing Wahhabi movement and the mourning Shia and Sunni communities are Muslim.
Saudi Arabia, Countries The state whose founding king authorized the demolitions after consolidating control of the Hejaz.
Wahhabism, Denominations The perpetrating movement's own theological tradition, whose doctrine on grave veneration was the demolitions' stated justification.
Related To
The Prophet's Mosque sacredsite entity, adjoining Jannat al-Baqi and already carrying a brief historical-note mention of the 1925 demolition; this entity records the wider Hejaz-spanning campaign, including the separate Mecca demolition, as its own persecution-axis subject.
Sources
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