Demolition of al-Baqi

Demolition of al-Baqi

Jannat al-Baqi before demolition (1910s)
Date	1806 and 1925 (or 1926)
Location	Medina, Saudi Arabia
Organised by	House of Saud
Outcome	Mass destruction of the buildings, and domes of the cemetery

Al-Baqi cemetery, the oldest and one of the two most important Islamic graveyards^[1] located in Medina, in current-day Saudi Arabia, was demolished^[2] in 1806 and, following reconstruction in the mid-19th century, was destroyed again in 1925^[3]: 55 or 1926.^[2][4] An alliance of the House of Saud and the followers of the Wahhabi movement known as the Emirate of Diriyah carried out the first demolition. The Sultanate of Nejd, also ruled by the House of Saud and followers of Wahhabism, carried out the second. In both cases, the actors were motivated by the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, which prohibits the building of monuments on graves.