Engr'slog#6.0 // The Siege of Mecca

 "We are returning to what we were before- a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world. Saudi Arabia was not like this, before 1979". 

- Muhammad Bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince (Al-Jazeera/ BBC, 2017)

Saudi Arabia is the power center and an emblem of unity for Muslims all around the world as it has house of Allah, the Kaaba to whose direction Muslims pray five times a day, and also the shrine of last prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Each year Muslims from around the globe offer Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, a city located near Red Sea. Saudi Arabia not only entertains Hajj pilgrims but also Umrah pilgrims and worshippers, who come daily to offer prayers in the Grand Mosque built around the holy Kaaba. Both Mecca and Medina are not only religious but also financial blood lines which serve Saudi Arabia's economy. Saudi Arabia is also the largest producer of oil in the world and earns billions of dollars through exports of this black gold. 

In this book, author* has elaborated the background and chain of events that led to the most disastrous event which took place in the holiest place of Islam and epicenter of Muslim world, the holy Kaaba. This incident is forever embedded in minds of Muslims since the day it occurred and a reminder of false and fake religious ambitions for upcoming generations.

The date was first of Muharram of Islamic year, 1400 or according to Gregorian calendar, 20 November 1979. During this era, King Khaled is the ruling monarch and Fahd is the crown prince of Saudi kingdom. Its the end of Hajj pilgrimage and start of new Islamic year. Mixing in the locals were as many as 100,000 visitors from all around the world who have come to offer the morning prayer (fajr prayer, before sunrise) in the Grand Mosque. However, unlike other days, today they will witness the turn of century - a once in a lifetime event.

Hidden in the human sea were hundreds of rebels, some of them had been inside the Mosque for days, reconnoitering its maze of corridors and passageways. Most of these conspirators were Saudis of Bedouin stock, fed up of un-islamic ways of the ruling monarchs, their allies and the elite class.

Just as the imam concluded prayers with wishes for peace, gunshots rang out in the Grand Mosque. Few people thought these gunmen were guards of some prince or maybe its some Saudi-way to celebrate new year. However, more knowledgeable worshippers knew firing a weapon in Grand Mosque is a grave sin. People watched with angst as more and more gunmen closed in on Kaaba, carrying weapons that had been extracted from uncrated coffins. The Grand Mosque's own police force, armed with nothing more than threatening sticks melted away, once two guards who attempted resistance fell dead by the gates.

Amid this commotion, the rebel's leader, Juhayman Al Uteybi, emerged from depths of the Mosque. He reached the Kaaba and snatched microphone from imam's hands and gave series of clipped military commands. Following his instructions, scores of well-trained followers dispersed through out the compound, setting up machine-gun nests atop shrine's seven minarets. The rebels had also barred all exits with chains making it impossible for worshippers to escape, who were now at the mercy of the rebels. Snipers occupied the top of minarets at 89-meters height, which looked over much of downtown Mecca. These snipers and machine guns will become in coming days the most difficult and impossible task to overcome for Saudi forces, which were eventually taken out by using rocket launchers and armored vehicles, resulting in extensive destruction to the Grand Mosque.

After settling down of the fearful and terrified worshippers, rebel leader, Juhayman handed over the microphone to an aide better versed in classical Arabic speech to explain the purpose of the venture.

For the next hour, the Grand Mosque's loudspeakers relayed the uprising's shocking message to the world's one billion Muslims announcing that ancient prophecy had been fulfilled at last, the arrival of Mahdi (who will fight the Anti-Christ (Dajjal) and will clear world of infidels and wrong doers), and hour of final reckoning was being struck for the so-called rulers and monarchs who have spoiled the people of Saudi Arabia by allowing full freedom to foreign non-Muslims, and have forgotten their own Islamic and cultural values.

The Jang Newspaper-1979

Thus began a drawn-out battle that would drench Mecca in blood, marking a watershed moment for the Islamic world. Within hours, this outrage would prompt global diplomatic crisis, death and destruction thousands of miles away as people enraged with anger protested against West (USA and Israel), who thought that they were the masterminds of this plot. 

The Jang Newspaper-1979

In tackling Juhayman's brazen attack on the holiest shrine, the Saudi government showed sickening arrogance, cruel incompetence-destroying major portion of the Grand Mosque and resultant death of hundreds of worshippers and its own soldiers, and bewildering disregard for the truth. Finally on December 4, 1979, after one month of the siege, Saudi forces with the help (only planning and logistical help, as non-Muslims are not allowed to enter the Grand Mosque) from French force's famous commando division, Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN), defeated the insurgency resulting in either capture or death of rebels including capture of their leader, Juhayman. 

However, the entire operation costed too much to the Saudi monarchy and Muslim world, as GIGN was involved at the last resort, and use of highly lethal weapons, caused significant damage to the Mosque, and many worshippers lost their lives. The poor planning, disregard to assistance offered by other Muslim allies and underestimating its enemy, was the first and last mistake of the Saudi regime.

The Jang Newspaper-1979

This worst nightmare in Islamic history pushed Saudi Arabia to consider strict Islamic Laws within her state as King Khalid bowed to religious clerics to save the monarchy from the effects of this uprising. Although these laws were cordially welcomed by Muslim world but it effected Saudi Arabia's relations with the West. Now after 30 years, current Saudi government is trying to revive its same pre-1979 status by lifting ban from many strict prohibitions.

In conclusion, the siege of Mecca is the darkest chapter in modern Islamic history with loss of human life and poor leadership of rulers, and serve as wiles to portray the religious expeditions as acts of terrorism, if they are not for the benefit of the West (the formation and support of Taliban in Afghanistan and later opposition to the same) resulting in economic boycotts and social isolation by the Western allies and their supporting Muslim countries.

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*Author: Yaroslav Trofimov

Author is a staff foreign correspondent of Wall Street Journal since 1999, has reported extensively from Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and the Balkans.