Editing Islamism (section)

===Grand Mosque seizure (1979)===
{{Further|Grand Mosque seizure}}

The strength of the Islamist movement was manifest in an event which might have seemed sure to turn Muslim public opinion against [[fundamentalism]], but did just the opposite. In 1979 the [[Masjid al-Haram|Grand Mosque]] in [[Mecca]] Saudi Arabia was seized by an armed fundamentalist group and held for over a week. Scores were killed, including many pilgrim bystanders<ref>Wright, ''Sacred Rage'', (2001), p. 148</ref> in a gross violation of one of the most holy sites in Islam (and one where arms and violence are strictly forbidden).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourdialogue.com/m22.htm |title=Masjid-ul-Haram: Sacred and forbidden |publisher=Ourdialogue.com |access-date=21 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420195838/http://www.ourdialogue.com/m22.htm |archive-date=20 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>Wright, Lawrence, ''The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11''. New York: Knopf, (2006), pp. 103–04</ref>

Instead of prompting a backlash against the movement that inspired the attackers, however, Saudi Arabia, already very conservative, responded by shoring up its fundamentalist credentials with even more Islamic restrictions. Crackdowns followed on everything from shopkeepers who did not close for prayer and newspapers that published pictures of women, to the selling of dolls, teddy bears (images of animate objects are considered [[haraam]]), and dog food (dogs are considered unclean).<ref>Wright, Robin, ''Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam'', p. 155</ref>

In other Muslim countries, blame for and wrath against the seizure was directed not against fundamentalists, but against Islamic fundamentalism's foremost geopolitical enemy—the United States. Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] sparked attacks on American embassies when he announced: "It is not beyond guessing that this is the work of criminal [[American imperialism]] and international Zionism", despite the fact that the object of the fundamentalists' revolt was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, America's major ally in the region. Anti-American demonstrations followed in the Philippines, Turkey, Bangladesh, India, the [[UAE]], Pakistan, and Kuwait. The US Embassy in Libya was burned by protesters chanting pro-Khomeini slogans and the embassy in [[Islamabad]], Pakistan was burned to the ground.<ref>Wright, Robin, ''Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam'', p. 149</ref>