Masjid an-Nabawiy - historical details

[AbdalQadir]

Salam Alaikum

I don't know if this is common knowledge to other Sunnis, but to me this simple little thing (underlined) mentioned on wikipedia was quite a discovery:

During the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-1861), the mosque was entirely remodeled with the exception of Muhammad's Tomb, the three mihrabs, the minbar and the Suleymaniyya minaret. The precinct was enlarged to include an ablution area to the north. The prayer hall to the south was doubled in width and covered with small domes equal in size except for domes covering the mihrab area, Bab al-Salam and Muhammad's Tomb. The domes were decorated with Qur'anic verses and lines from Qaṣīda al-Burda (Poem of the Mantle), the famous poem by 13th century Arabic poet Busiri. The qibla wall was covered with glazed tiles featuring Qur'anic calligraphy. The floors of the prayer hall and the courtyard were paved with marble and red stones and a fifth minaret (al-Majidiyya), was built to the west of the enclosure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Masjid_al-Nabawi

we know and they too admit proudly they have censored quite a lot of the "shirk" writings on the walls of the Prophet's (Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) blessed mosque. Some of those "shirk" phrases are in fact now allowed by their senior wahabis... for instance, anywhere "Ya Muhammad" was written in Arabic script, the najdis of the past changed it to "Ya Majeed" - all they had to do was add a few dots and not tamper much with the originality of the blessed word.

the discovery to me is the fact that the Burdah was also written on the domes. this is something i've seen first time in my life today. despite their hatred for the Burdah they never mentioned that it was written on the domes of the Prophet's mosque. at least I've never heard of it.

Call me a conspiracy theorist or a cynic or whatever but I think there is a clear reason for it. It's one thing to say random "shirk" phrases were inscribed on the walls. But if they actually mention the Burdah by name, for sure it will ignite a curiosity for it, even amongst their own commonfolk. Surely, current times or historical, being written on the domes in the holy mosque would be a clear cut daleel for its universal acceptance in the Muslim world and even an idiot would understand. So I guess no need to mention it was ever written there.

... and I guess we can all know what this underlined sentence in the following paragraph right after it REALLY means:

After the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, the mosque underwent several major modifications. In 1951 King Ibn Saud (1932-1953) ordered demolitions around the mosque to make way for new wings to the east and west of the prayer hall, which consisted of concrete columns with pointed arches. Older columns were reinforced with concrete and braced with copper rings at the top. The Suleymaniyya and Majidiyya minarets were replaced by two minarets in Mamluk revival style. Two additional minarets were erected to the northeast and northwest of the mosque. A library was built along the western wall to house historic Qur'ans and other religious texts.

 

[Wadood]

Brother AbdalQadir I knew about this.
Yes, I personally investigated the Mubarak front of the blessed RawDa.

Yes the wahabiyya have changed, "Ya Muhammad" to "Ya Majeed"

There was an older thread on this, I guess last year.

There are other ayats and poetry around that has been painted over near the blessed Hujra of Sayyida FaTima al-Zahraaa' raDyAllahu 'anha