Calls to destroy Egypt’s Great Pyramids begin

July 12, 2012 | Filed under: Africa,Islam,News | Posted by:

Raymond Ibrahim, writing for FrontPage Magazine, reports that certain “prominent Muslim clerics” have begun to call for the destruction of Egypt’s pyramids.

According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt’s Great Pyramids—or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi‘i, those “symbols of paganism,” which Egypt’s Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax.    Most recently, Bahrain’s “Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs” and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt’s new president, Muhammad Morsi, to “destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what the Sahabi Amr bin al-As could not.”

This is a reference to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad’s companion, Amr bin al-As and his Arabian tribesmen, who invaded and conquered Egypt circa 641.  Under al-As and subsequent Muslim rule, many Egyptian antiquities were destroyed as relics of infidelity.  While most Western academics argue otherwise, according to early Muslim writers, the great Library of Alexandria itself—deemed a repository of pagan knowledge contradicting the Koran—was destroyed under bin al-As’s reign and in compliance with Caliph Omar’s command.

The only prominent cleric Ibrahim cites is Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi‘i; he also cites a Daily Mail article, which describes a proposal put forth by the Nour Party, a Salafist (Islamist) party which won 20% of the vote in Egypt’s 2011 Parliamentary elections:

For now members of the Nour (The Light) Salafist party, which won 20 per cent of the vote in recent elections, are talking about putting an end to the ‘idolatry’ represented by the pyramids.

This means destruction – along the lines essayed by the Afghan Taliban who blew up the Banyam Buddhas – or ‘concealment’ by covering them with wax. Tourists would presumably see great blobs rather than the perfectly carved steps.

While the FrontPage article has been cited in many places, no primary sources have yet been cited (the “Arabic press”). Al Jazeera reports nothing recent about the pyramids at this writing.

Given the Islamist destruction of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan and the ongoing erasure of Timbuktu’s history, an attempt to destroy or conceal the pyramids isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

The Egyptian government does not appear to have taken a stance on the matter at this time, but that doesn’t prevent extremists from trying to take matters into their own hands.

It is my hope that UNESCO will step in and remove as many “portable” antiquities from Egypt as possible, until there is reasonable assurance that they will be safeguarded from religious extremists.

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  3. What now, Egypt?
  4. Disqualified Islamist candidate in Egypt threatens violence, exposure of corruption
  5. Egypt’s electorate between rock and hard place

7 Responses to Calls to destroy Egypt’s Great Pyramids begin

  1. avatar Kevin July 12, 2012 - 3:39 pm

    … or have they? http://www.rt.com/news/egypt-destroy-pyramids-islamists-007/

    Reply
    • avatar Mike Daniels July 13, 2012 - 9:18 am

      Kevin - Thanks for sharing the RT article. It’s good to know that the Sheik’s comment was not legitimately from him . . . although the RT article cites no source for its information that the comment was not legitimate. It references the Egypt Daily News, which has no article on the subject which I can find. The RT article also doesn’t address the Nour Party’s position reported back in late 2011.

      Reply
  2. avatar "B" July 12, 2012 - 5:38 pm

    Why? Seriously? These scumbags wish to destroy thousands of years of history and artifacts that are completely priceless, because its a “pagan” religion. Its no different than when the catholic missionaries destroyed centuries of relics when they attacked the Aztecs.

    Reply
  3. avatar sheldon archer July 17, 2012 - 6:38 pm

    I keep on saying that soon everyone will say that things were better under Mubarak. Arab Spring? Into the Dark Ages maybe.

    Reply

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