Saudi royals destroying home of Muhammad

However, a Muslim site far more significant than the Babri mosque is facing destruction, but there is barely a murmur in protest. The site is none other than the home of Prophet Muhammad in the city of Mecca.

The demolition of Muhammad's 1,400-year-old home is not going to take place at the hands of non-Muslims or some occupying western army, but by the very people who have taken the title as protectors of Islam's two holiest mosques in Medina and Mecca: the Saudi royal family.

What makes this demolition worse is the fact that the home of the Prophet is to make way for a parking lot, two 50-storey hotel towers and seven 35-storey apartment blocks; a project known as the Jabal Omar Scheme, all within a stone's throw of the Grand Mosque.

Tarek Fatah, Toronto Star, August 17, 2005