Pollution in Mecca
posted by saurabh in Schmapitalism, Travesty |In this morning’s paper I read that the Saudi Binladen group is constructing a giant hotel/shopping mall complex called Abraj al Bait across the street from the Masjid al Haram, the “Sacred Mosque” of Islam which houses the Ka’aba, the black stone building which is believed to be the first human house, constructed by Adam and later rebuilt by Abraham. The Abraj al Bait shopping center is a 600-retail outlet mall which includes a Tiffany’s, a Starbucks and an H&M.
As you might imagine, upon reading this story my hair curled and turned the color of ash and I vomited fire and blood all over the page and the room. But in case you cannot appreciate the reason for the violence of my reaction, in case some lingering doubt or foolhardiness prompts you to ask, “But, Saurabh, what’s so wrong with building a shopping mall there?”, let me elaborate.
One of the most prominent historical ironies was that which led to the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, the practice of selling indulgences. By allowing the sinner to escape punishment merely by dint of purchasing forgiveness, the Church created an additional, eighth Sin. Viz., Indulgence: wallowing in your own turpitude and loving it. This is the Sin that makes up the mortar in the construction of every shopping mall in the world. This is really what capitalism excels at. The clean, packaged product presented in a glass case, or framed by handsome stained wood furnishings. There are no bones or bits of skin, no drained, festering pits, no pools of foul liquids with only polysyllabic names. There is no guilt. Just the smiling face of the attendant who takes your money, and the satisfaction of your newly acquired pleasure.
Indulgence. Pay, and fear not.
And as with the corrupt Church that Martin Luther railed against, there is the opposing side: pay not, and be damned.
This is the world view that is making its introgression into Mecca, into the most sacred site in all of Islam, where millions of people come every year in the spirit of brotherhood. The hajj is the great equalizer - all Muslims must make the pilgrimage, if they can, and they should help those of their fellows who cannot. All are equal in their humility before god. Except, apparently, those who have money.
I am not a religious person, and I do not believe man should humble himself before god. But I do believe in culture. And while I might celebrate some reversals of culture in the Muslim world, this particular one cannot possibly appear to me as anything other than a retrogression.
Ah, but the salivating dogs have caught the sharp, metallic scent of coin. So let them build, and feast. We can have the bones.
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Touché!
A first naive critcism would tend toward the opposition between a temple of faith and one of capitalism (Or greed. Or Luxury. Pick your word) Which would be readily followed by remarks about the mercantile tradition of Mecca and Islam (ith of course references providied. Ex libris).
But there, you cut right through the highly educated and totally sterile debate to the (spiritual?) core of the issue: Indulgence.
Really thanks for the insight.
Made my day.
Saurabh, good points. I sometimes wonder how seriously “religious” people really take their religion. Is it respectful of one’s faith to use it for partisan gain or to justify killing? Why bother with the trappings of orthodoxy if inside one doesn’t consider the faith to be worthy of preservation and protection? One of the reasons I abandoned the religion of my childhood, rather than retreating to a new age stance of partial religiosity, is that I take orthodoxy seriously. I think if you want to do religion, it’s best done right. It’s hard to believe whoever approved Tiffany’s across the street from the big cube respects the solemnity of faith.
gotta remember the saudi situation is really strange, the state religion is really almost exactly that, not the wider sense of islam that the pilgrims pursue, and it’s an insanely wealthy and inequitable state. mecca and karbala are totally different ideas, in the minds of the administrators of the sites. (that’s not about the violence.)
and then you have the added stuff of the shi’a being more conservative in their outlook; the fact that the only islamic republic is revolutionary and shi’a and right next door; the saudi competition with the UAE on who can be most cosmo-gaudy; etc etc.
As you know I am religious, and while the Kaba means little to me directly, I can totally grok why this is making Saurabh’s skin crawl. In a religious culture where men aren’t supposed to wear gold or silk, the concept of going shopping at Tiffany’s–across from a space that’s supposed to tap into a primal sense of surrender and humility–is kind of ghastly. I agree with Rewmi that the naive criticism is both obvious and a strawman–I am reminded by the Prosperity theology schools of American Protestant culture which emphasize comfort and familial prosperity and conveniently ignores more obvious Gospel admonishings. Moreover, architecturally it seems patently offensive—the hills around the Kaba are part of its story and meaning–Abraham tending his flocks, Ishmael and his mother searching for water after being abandoned. The great black stone should be the dominant structure in the landscape, not some dime-a-dozen glass tower.
I’m not against pomp and glory in a religious setting under all circumstances. My own religious practices tend toward the extremely ornamental; non-Abrahamic believer that I am, I’ve still fallen to my knees in prayer in exquisite cathedrals. But for me ideal religious structures are almost the ultimate kind of realized communism–each devotee contributes his or her maximum possible offering of beauty and wealth to this House of God, and each partakes of its joys equally. Congregationally getting your religion on means sharing. Going on pilgrimage should be a homecoming–and “[home] is where we find that we are in the midst of our well-wishers.” Not the midst of our customers or overlords or manipulators.
Dude, Saurabh, I miss the preview button. Bring it back, s’il vous plait.
My friend on Orkut shared this link and I’m not dissapointed that I came to your blog.