The Gulf Crisis and New World Order — Page 144
Eighth Friday Senno11 Jan ll, 1991 busy garnering the Muslim public opm1on in their favour, by appealing to the sanctity of this land and the Holy Prophet of Islam? As a matter of fact the Saudi Dynasty forcibly occupied the land of Hijaz. The military expedition to this effect was started in 1801 A. D. under the command of Saud - son of Abdul Aziz who was the patriarch of this dynasty. Saud had become famous as a result of his expertise in major military manoeuvres. He started his advance in Iraq and captured Kerbala-e-Mo'alla. He razed all the holy shrines in this area to the ground, on the pretext that they symbolize idolatry and are devoid of any sanctity. These edifices of bricks and stone deserve to be demolished. Then he conducted a massacre of the Muslim residents of Kerbala - the majority of who were Shiite - and marched towards Basra. Almost all the area between Kerbala and Basra was ravaged; the towns were set ablaze, large scale massacres took place and the atrocities which the Saudis committed in Iraq were much more severe, and affected a much larger area, than the alleged crimes that are being attributed to Iraq today. Having mustered strength in Iraq, Saud turned towards what is known as the Holy Land, and captured Taif. In 1803 A. O. he entered Mecca and Medina and ravaged them. A massacre was let loose and many mausoleums were demolished. Many holy relics and remains e. g. the birthplace of the Holy Prophet of Islam and that of Hazrat Abu Bakr, and similar other enclosures were either obliterated or unabashedly desecrated on the flimsy pretext that Islam put no value on these symbols, and they personify the act of idolatry. There is no definitive record of this gory drama, but historians have noted that even unarmed, harmless and non-combatant civilians were savagely massacred. In 1813 A. D. Muhammad Ali Pasha - the ruler of Egypt purged this area of the Saudis. But in the beginning of the twentieth century the Saudis once again raided the land of Hijaz - this time with the full military force of the British in tow. The British generals would plan the strategy of military advance, and the arms and ammunition as well as financial support was all provided by the British, under treaties with the Saudi dynasty. In 1924 A. D. the Saudi dynasty captured the land of Hijaz twice. And much desecration of the holy shrines and unbridled massacre took place during this occupation by Saudis too. Recently, in a 144