Shiites of Ahl ul-Bayt commemorate heinous destruction of Baqi during Shawwal 4-10th

The 4th to the 10th of Shawwal has been designated as the week of commemorating Baqi and condemning the destruction of the Holy Shrine of the Imams of Baqi (peace be upon them).

Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi named the eighth day of Shawwal “World Baqi Day” a few years ago.

More details in the following report:

The fourth of Shawwal every year marks the beginning of the Baqi Commemoration Week and the condemnation of the destruction of the holy shrine of the Pure Imams of Baqi (peace be upon them) by the extremist Wahhabi Sunnis, hence the grief of Shiites.

The destruction of Baqi refers to an event that happened after the siege of Medina in 1344 AH, when the cemetery of Baqi and its tombs were destroyed by the fatwa of the muftis of Medina, backed by Sheikh Abdullah Boulayhad, the Saudi judge.

The court of four Imams of Muslims: Imam al-Hasan, Imam al-Sajjad, Imam al-Baqir and Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon them) were destroyed in this attack.

After the occupation of Mecca, the Wahhabis led by “Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud” turned to Medina and after the siege and battle with the defenders of the city, they finally occupied the city of the Prophet of God and destroyed the graves of Baqi Imams along with other graves, including the graves of Ibrahim, the son of the Holy Prophet, some wives of the Prophet, Umm al-Banin, the mother of the Honorable Abu Fazl al-Abbas, Abdullah, the father of the Prophet, Ismail, the son of Imam al-Sadiq, and many other graves.

The destruction of Baqi provoked the reaction of many people and scholars in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the former Soviet Union and other parts of the world.

After the destruction, the Baqi cemetery turned into a flat land, but the graves of the four imams are marked with stones.

The efforts of the Shiite scholars and also the government of Iran at the time to build a canopy over the graves of the Imams of Baqi and also to build a wall around the graves, despite the initial agreement of the government of Saudi Arabia, never came to fruition.

Shiite scholars, in addition to protesting the destruction of Baqi’, have written works criticizing the principles of Wahhabism and the destruction of holy places; including the book Kashf al-Ertiyab, written by Seyyed Mohsen Amin and Da’wa al-Huda, written by Mohammad Javad Balaghi. It has been said that the Wahhabis were the first group to destroy religious places based on their religious views.

“The first destruction of the holy graves of the Baqi Imams by the Saudi Wahhabis took place in 1220 AH, when the Ottoman empire toppled the first Saudi government. After this historical-Islamic event, with the investment of Shiite Muslims and the use of special assets and tools, the destroyed shrines were restored to the most beautiful shape. With the construction of the dome and the mosque, Baqi became one of the most beautiful pilgrimage shrines and, in fact, a pilgrimage-tourist place for Muslims.

Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh Shirazi has also strongly condemned this heinous anti-Shiite and anti-cultural crime during his statements (the audio file is available on the official website and channel of the Office of his Eminence).

The Supreme Marja has also emphasized the need to increase demands for the restoration of the Shrine of Baqi’ Imams, peace be upon them. “The painful impact of this horrible crime will not diminish unless this holy shrine is rebuilt and the traces of destruction are removed,” he said.