Saudi overhaul reshapes Islam's holiest city Mecca

Saudi overhaul reshapes Islam's holiest city Mecca . Associated Press By AYA BATRAWY FILE - In this Sept. 7, 1954 file photo, Muslims visit the Kaaba, the Sacred House of Allah, during a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. As Muslims from around the world stream into Mecca for the annual hajj pilgrimage this week, they come to a city undergoing the biggest transformation in its history. (AP Photo, File) MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — As a child, Osama al-Bar would walk from his home past Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, to the market of spice and fabric merchants where his father owned a store. At that time, Mecca was so small, pilgrims could sit at the cube-shaped Kaaba and look out at the serene desert mountains where the Prophet Muhammad once walked. Now the market and the homes are gone. Monumental luxury hotel towers crowd around the Grand Mosque where the Kaaba is located, dwarfing it. Steep rocky hills overlooking the mosque have been leveled and are now covered with cranes building more towers in row after row. "My father and all the people who lived in Mecca wouldn't recognize it," said al-Bar, who is now Mecca's mayor. As Muslims from around the world stream into Mecca for the annual hajj pilgrimage this week, they come to a city undergoing the biggest transformation in its history. Decades ago, this was a low-built city of centuries-old neighborhoods Over the years, it saw piecemeal renewal projects. But in the mid-2000s, the kingdom launched its most ambitious overhaul ever with a series of mega-projects that, though incomplete, have already reshaped Mecca. Old neighborhoods have been erased for hotel towers and malls built right up to the edge of the Grand Mosque. Historic sites significant for Islam have been demolished. Next to the Kaaba soars the world's third tallest skyscraper, topped by a gigantic clock, which is splashed with colored lights at night. FILE- This is a Sept. 23, 1951 file photo shows a general view of the center of Mecca, and the Kaaba … "It's not Mecca. It's Mecca-hattan. This tower and the lights in it are like Vegas," said Sami Angawi, an architect who spent his life studying hajj and is one of the most outspoken critics of the changes. "The truth of the history of Mecca is wiped out ... with bulldozers and dynamite. Is this development?" Critics complain the result is stripping the holy city of its spirituality. They also say it is robbing the hajj of its more than 1,400-year-old message that all Muslims, rich or poor, are equal before God as they perform the rites meant to cleanse them of sin, starting and ending by circling the Kaaba seven times. Mecca is revered by hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide. They face the Kaaba every day in their prayers. The Grand Mosque is one of the few places in the world where Muslims of all stripes gather — Sunnis and Shiites, secular Muslims, mystics and hard-liners. Overseeing Mecca is also a key source of prestige for Saudi Arabia's monarchy. The past two kings — the current one, Abdullah, and his predecessor, Fahd — have adopted the further title of "custodian of the two holy mosques" to boost their status, referring to Mecca's Grand Mosque and Muhammad's mosque in nearby Medina. Now the city is being molded to a particularly Saudi vision that bolsters the rule of the Al Saud royal family. FILE- In this Sept. 24, 1951 file photo, thousands of Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, … Two forces shape that vision. One is raw, petrodollar-fueled capitalism. Mecca's planners are largely catering to wealthier pilgrims by focusing on construction of five-star hotels, surrounding the Kaaba in marble-sheathed luxury. Nearby pilgrims can shop at international chains, including a Paris Hilton store and a gender-segregated Starbucks. The other force is Wahhabism, the strict, puritanical interpretation of Islam that the Al Saud rulers elevated to the country's official doctrine. In return, Wahhabi clerics staunchly back the monarchy. The monarchy has long given Wahhabi clerics a monopoly of preaching at the Kaaba. One tenet of Wahhabism is that Muslim tombs or sites connected to revered figures — even the Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions — should be destroyed to avoid veneration of anything other than God. It's the same iconoclastic zeal that has prompted militants from the Islamic State group to blow up Muslim shrines in Iraq and Syria. In Mecca, hardly any site associated with Muhammad remains. Many were destroyed in previous expansions of the Grand Mosque in the 1980s and 1990s, and the new development is finishing off much of what remains. In 2008, for example, the house of Abu Bakr, Muhammad's successor as leader of the Muslim community, was razed to make way for a Hilton. The country's top religious official, Grand Mufti Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik, backed such demolitions last year, saying "the removal of such things within the expansion is necessary." FILE- This 1988 file photo shows an aerial view of Mecca and the holy Kaaba in Grand Mosque. As Musl … The urban renewal is necessary, Saudi officials say, to accommodate hajj pilgrims whose numbers are expected to swell from around 3 million currently to nearly 7 million by 2040. The $60-billion Grand Mosque expansion will almost double the area for pilgrims to pray at the Kaaba. Around half the cost went to buying about 5,800 homes that had to be razed for the expansion, said al-Bar, the Mecca mayor. Domes and pillars dating back to rule by the Ottoman Empire are being pulled down to put up modern facilities. Another mega-project is Jabal Omar, a hill on the mosque's west side. The hill — a landmark in the city — was levelled and in its place, construction of around 40 towers is underway, mostly for luxury hotels providing some 11,000 rooms. The first of the Jabal Omar hotels, a Hilton Suites and the Anjum Hotel, just opened in the past few months. On the mosque's south side stands the 1,972-foot (600-meter) clock-tower skyscraper, part of a completed seven-tower complex that was built after tearing down an Ottoman fort on the site. Also underway is the Jabal Sharashif project, in which a slum that largely houses Burmese and African migrants is to be torn down to build a new neighborhood for Saudis, along with hotels. A four-line metro system is planned for the city along with a high-speed rail line to the port city of Jiddah, where the area's airport is located, and to Medina. FILE- This Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006 file photo, shows an aerial view of one of three huge stone pillars … The Grand Mosque's expansion is being headed by the Saudi Binladin Group, which also built the clock tower. The Binladin family has been close to Al Sauds for decades and runs major building projects around the country. Al-Qaida's late leader Osama bin Laden was a renegade son disowned by the family in the 1990s. Speaking at a public forum in Jiddah in May, Nawaf Binladin, whose father is chairman of the conglomerate, said people are constantly asking if all this construction is needed. "This can be answered in one moment in this image," he said, flashing a picture of tens of thousands of worshippers praying in the street because there was not enough room inside the Grand Mosque. But many in the audience were not convinced. Saeed al-Ghamdi, a former Saudi diplomat, said he thinks greed is the main motivator Muslims around the world have an "intimate bond" with Mecca, he said. "It is not a place for one businessman or one company." FILE- In this Monday, Feb. 18, 2002 file photo, thousands of Muslims gather around the holy Kabaa Mecca's planners didn't have to build so close to the Kaaba, overwhelming the simple cube-shaped structure, said Irfan al-Alawi, a Saudi who heads the London-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. The hotels could have been built miles away and transportation improved. "Already we are losing the spirituality," he said. Pilgrims admire the clock tower instead of "looking at the Kaaba and admiring the house of God." Essam Kalthoum, managing director of the government-owned Bawabat Makkah Company, which is involved in a number of projects around the city, acknowledged that "it would be a farce" to say financial motivations are not coming into play. But he said the main goal is to increase space for pilgrims. Kalthoum showed a gift from a Turkish foundation he had just received: a photo of Mecca from the late 1800s. "This is painful," he said. "For those of us who witnessed some of this (past), it brings back memories." But he pointed to the Kaaba in the photograph. "Because of this place," he said, the old markets and buildings had to go. ___ Follow Batrawy on twitter.com/ayaelb

تفسیر مرتضوی منظوم - بحکم مولائے کائنات علیہ السلام

تفسیر مرتضوی منظوم - بحکم مولائے کائنات علیہ السلام از: حضرت میراں میاں شاہ قطب العالم قطب الدین ابو محمد سید غلام مرتضی علی رضی اللہ تعالی عنہ قرآن کریم کی اردو زبان میں پہلی منظوم تفسیر اشاعت اول: 1021ھ جا کے درپیش شہ عالی مقام باادب جھک کرکیا میں نے سلام پائے اقدس پر گرا باصد نیاز پائے بوسی سے ہوا میں سرفراز عرض کیا میں نے کہ یا حضرت امام حکم سے تفسیر کہہ لایا غلام دونوں جلدیں رکھ کے دونوں ہاتھ پر لے گیا میں نذر کو پیش نظر پایا حضرت کی مدد سے انصرام ورنہ ھوسکتا تھا کب مجھ سے یہ کام دونوں لیں دست مبارک سے اٹھا دیر تک دیکھا کئے شیر خدا تب یہ فرمایا بہ آواز بلند تیری محنت کو کیا ھم نے پسند خوش ھوئے ھم اس تیری تفسیر سے تیری اس تحریر سے اس تقریر سے دوست رکھا اس کو جو ھم نے بہ جان دوست رکھیں گے اسے سب مومنان مانگتا ھے اس کا کیا ھم سے صلا جو تو چاھے دیویں ھم تجھ کو دلا میں جو پایا شہ کا لطف بے قیاس یہ کیا خدمت میں، میں نے التماس مانگتا ھوں تم سے میں حب خدا اور حب اھل بیت مصطفے اور مہر جملہ آل فاطمہ اور بایمان میرا ھو خاتمہ اور رھوں دنیا میں باعزو وقار باقی جب تک ھے حیات مستعار اور غلام مرتضے میرا ھے نام میں غلامی میں رھوں حاضر مدام کہ میرا فرزند جو ھے نور عین ھے غلام و بندہ حضرت حسین مانگتا ھوں تم سے اے حق کے حبیب دولت دارین ھو اس کو نصیب اور رھے جس گھر میں یہ کتاب وہ رھیں آباد تا روز حساب اور جو اس کو پڑھے باعتقاد اس کو حاصل ھوئیں سب دل کی مراد کہہ نہیں سکتا میں اس کو برملا جو صلا اس کا مجھ کو شہ سے ملا https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.505463092864565.1073741862.112988852111993&type=1

Observing Ramadan? There's an app for that

By SAMANTHA HENRY, Associated Press Writer Samantha Henry, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 11, 5:52 am ET

PATERSON, N.J. – The most ancient traditions of Islam are going high-tech, with a slew of modern offerings for those observing the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week.

Cell phone applications such as "iPray" or "iQuran" offer a beeping reminder of requisite prayer times, while the "Find Mecca" and "mosque finder" programs help the Muslim traveler in an unfamiliar city find the nearest place to pray.

"When I saw these applications for the first time, I thought: this is amazing," said James Otun, who has several Islamic applications on his Apple iPhone and iPad. "Whoever came up with this idea: God bless him or her."

The applications aren't just for Ramadan; there are Islamic-themed programs that help users find the nearest Costco offering foods prepared according to Islamic dietary rules, learn the correct Arabic pronunciations in a daily prayer, or count how many pages of the Quran they've read that day — all on a mobile phone.

There also are applications, or apps, for the holy books of several other religions, from the Catholic Holy Bible to the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture.

The first time Sumeyye Kalyoncu heard the Adhan — or call to prayer — through surround-sound speakers on her iPhone dock, she was overcome with nostalgia for her native Turkey. Such applications are especially popular in the U.S., Kalyoncu said, as U.S. mosques do not broadcast daily calls to prayer from external loudspeakers, as they do in Muslim countries.

"These are traditions and these have been in our lives for ages, like almost 15 centuries, so they seem very old," Kalyoncu said. "I think this is like combining together the technology and the things that we do daily."

Kalyoncu uses an iPhone app called iPray Lite, keeping track of requisite daily prayers with a program that simulates the clicking sound of prayer beads or the turning wheel of a handheld metal counter Muslims use to keep count of prayer repetitions. Using headphones, the 24-year-old says she can now fulfill her daily spiritual obligations by counting prayers on her iPhone on the commuter bus to Manhattan from her Edgewater home.

Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the company doesn't track the more than 225,000 apps for its phones by category so she doesn't know how many are Islamic-themed. The programs aren't just offered by Apple; Nokia has a Ramadan suite for its cell phones that consolidates everything worshippers need to know to observe Islam's holiest month, in which Muslims worldwide observe daily daylight fasting.

Some apps are free. Those that are not generally range from about 99 cents to $2.99, although some are more expensive.

The dates of Ramadan still are determined by the lunar calendar, and calculations can differ among Islamic communities around the world. In North America, many Muslims will mark the first day of Ramadan on Wednesday.

But Islam never has been at odds with innovation, said Zinnur Tabakci, who runs an Islamic religious book and gift shop in Paterson, N.J..

"Islam is not against technology. Now you can do it easier, faster," said Tabakci, who recently supplemented the strings of traditional prayer beads and religious texts he sells with a wall of mobile phone accessories to keep up with demand.

"Islam started 1,400 years ago, and at that time, they didn't have that much technology, but they knew everything," he added.

The mosque Tabakci attends in Paterson, called Ulu Cami, or "Great Mosque," has gone high-tech, too. After 16 cameras were installed for security purposes, one innovative mosque attendee began using them to broadcast services live over the Internet so those too old, sick or otherwise unable to attend could watch daily prayers online from home. Mosque leaders say the live broadcasts have become especially popular among relatives of immigrants who like to tune in from overseas to hear the same prayers as their loved ones in New Jersey.

Otun, a technology aficionado, says the apps he uses on his iPhone and iPad make him a more observant Muslim. From the beeping reminder to stop and pray during his busy schedule running a limo service, to an app that tells him which nearby restaurants serve food prepared within Islamic guidelines, Otun says there's no longer an excuse to live an unobservant life.

"If you forgot to pray, you might not be responsible, because you're human; you forget and you can make it up later," said Otun, 35. "But not now that you have those apps, that might change things in God's level."

Otun's favorite application, called Find Mecca, is a compass-like program with an electronic indicator that changes from red to green when you've reached the requisite prayer angle of 58-degrees, Northeast, to ensure you're facing Mecca from any location — a requirement of all Muslims when praying.

Otun said he was amazed to see an image of Mecca on his cell phone screen for the first time, and to realize he could carry a library of religious texts with him everywhere.

"iPhone makes you emotional," he said. "I can't carry 10,000 pages of books, now, you have it in your phone — it's priceless."