Shia Muslims across the country have started a campaign to get the Saudi Arabian government to restore the mausoleum of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammad, and four Imams that were destroyed a century ago. In Mumbai, protests were held on Sunday at Dongri, Mira Road, and Mumbra.
The graves of these five figures are located at the Jannatul Baqi cemetery near the Prophet’s Mosque, Madina. The Wahabi kingdom destroyed the tombs after it took over the custody of Islam’s holy cities, Mecca and Medina, and the shrines, from the defeated Ottoman Empire. The pact between the Saud family and the Wahhabi clerics to rule the new kingdom under their strict religious doctrine required the mausoleum to be destroyed as the sect prohibits worship at tombs. Presently, only stones mark the inaccessible graves.
Fatima and the Imams – the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth in the Shia tradition – are especially revered figures among groups such as the Khoja Ismaili, Ismaili, and Bohras. “The tyrant Saudi rulers demolished their tombs. From that time, we ensure that the world does not forget what they have done to the descendants of the Prophet,” said Ali Akbar Shroff, President of the Khoja Shia Isna Ashari Jamaat, Mumbai.
Moulana Yasub Abbas of the All India Shia Personal Law Board said that the community has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to persuade the Saudi Arabian government to reconstruct the tombs. “There was a gathering in Shahid Smarak Lucknow on Monday, and we are planning protests outside the Saudi Arabian diplomatic offices in India. The tombs were demolished in 1925, and the authorities have built a wall around them to prevent access to the graves,” said Abbas.
A demand for the restoration of the tombs was made by the Sufi Islamic Board last year. Shroff said that the campaign also has the support of Sunni groups. “The Ajmer Sharif dargah has also made the demand.”
