When economics and factionalism determine the survival of history, the religion suffers.
A major piece of news for Muslims everywhere concerns Saudi Arabia’s proposed expansion of the Masjid an-Nabawi. Located in the holy city of Mecca, this site holds the remains of the Prophet Mohamed and ranks as the second holiest site in the Islamic religious tradition. At the cost of many billions of dollars, the government of Saudi Arabia wishes to enlarge the building so that it would be able to hold up to 1.6 million people. Unfortunately, in the process of expanding it, they will be destroying three of the oldest mosques in the world.
