Editing Medina (section)

====Destruction of heritage in Medina====
{{Main|Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia}}
[[Saudi Arabia]] upholds [[Wahhabism]] as its religious ideology,<ref name="Britannica"/> which is hostile to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise to [[Shirk (Islam)|''shirk'']] (idolatry). As a consequence, under Saudi rule, Medina has suffered from considerable destruction of its physical heritage including the loss of many buildings over a thousand years old.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name=":4">{{cite news |last=Howden |first=Daniel |date=6 August 2005 |title=The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-destruction-of-Mecca-saudi-hardliners-are-wiping-out-their-own-heritage-8023992.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004230517/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-destruction-of-mecca-saudi-hardliners-are-wiping-out-their-own-heritage-8023992.html |archive-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> Critics have described this as "Saudi vandalism" and claim that 300 historic sites linked to Muhammad, his family or companions have been lost in Medina and [[Mecca]] over the last 50 years.<ref>[http://www.islamicpluralism.org/764/islamic-heritage-lost-as-Makkah-modernises ''Islamic heritage lost as Makkah modernises''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622111459/http://www.islamicpluralism.org/764/islamic-heritage-lost-as-makkah-modernises |date=22 June 2018 }}, Center for Islamic Pluralism</ref> The most famous example of this is the [[demolition of al-Baqi]].<ref name="Britannica"/> [[File:Sacred Relics Train.jpg|thumb|The train which [[Fakhri Pasha]] used to transport the [[Sacred Relics (Topkapı Palace)|Sacred Relics]] from Medina to [[Istanbul]].]]