Experts want Makkah’s Islamic sites preserved

October 27, 2013

Makkah, Oct 27: Experts have called on the government to protect various ancient sites and mosques in Makkah because of their religious and historical importance.

Talal Al-Sharif, an Islamic antiquities expert, said the buildings include mosques built during the Ummayyad period and the house of Khadeeja, the first wife of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

This site is thought to be on the square close to the Marwa hillock.

He said the area where the house stood should be protected as an archaeological site and not used as a prayer area of the Grand Mosque. He said it was important for it to have an entrance, and identified as the home of the Prophet (pbuh).

Al-Sharif said the protection of these mosques would help preserve the country's Islamic history. He said researchers have identified several sites of major archeological importance in Makkah. He said various agencies have started to preserve these sites, including the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

He said the Al-Jinn Mosque was modernized under Saudi rule. He said the Al-Baiah Mosque still exists and goes back to the time of Abu Jaafer Al-Mansour, and Abbasid rule. It was modernized with extensions during the Mamluk and Ottoman periods.

Fawaz Al-Dahhas, professor of Arab history, supervisor of museums at Um Al-Qura University, and member of the advisory committee on Islamic historical sites, said Yathrib tribes met the Prophet (pbuh) at the Al-Baiah Mosque when the Quraish opposed him.

He said Islam was launched from Al-Baiah Mosque, which used to be a ravine between the mountains, known as Al-Ansar Ravine.

This was done in the presence of Al-Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle. He said the ravine was kept intact until the beginning of the Abbasid period. Abu Jafar Al-Mansour built the mosque after Al-Abbas took a pledge to revive his grandfather’s memory. Al-Mustansir Billah renovated the mosque in 1232.

He said other sites include the Al-Rayah Mosque, at the Makkah entrance from the Al-Ghazah side, which was given this name because the Prophet (pbuh) stuck his flagpole there. There is also Al-Jinn Mosque next to Al-Muallah, which was given its name because the Prophet (pbuh) reportedly told his companions, when they saw him coming out of the mosque, that he was teaching the jinn about Islam. It is also known as Masjid Al-Haras (Mosque of the Guards) because the old guards of Makkah used to meet there.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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