Prophet Muhammad, born in 570, is believed by Muslims to be God's last prophet to mankind.
His resting place in Medina, Saudi Arabia, is visited by millions of Muslims each year and is considered the second holiest site after the Kaaba, the famous black-domed building in Mecca.
But during the day yesterday, a Saudi academic made public the controversial plans to move the remains of the Prophet from the grave due to the fear of some scholars that the country is becoming more and more a place of worship, reports Koha.net.
According to "The Independent", a 61-page document has circulated among the overseers of the holy site, which proposes that the body of the Prophet be moved to the al-Baqi cemetery, which is located near the place where the Prophet is already buried, where he will be buried. was buried secretly.
Dr. Irfan al-Alawi, director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, told the newspaper: "They want to prevent pilgrims from participating and venerating the grave because they believe that this is "shirq", or idolatry. But, the only way to stop people from visiting the Prophet is to exhume him from there and bury him in the cemetery", reports Koha.net.
Idolatry, known as "shirk" in the Islamic faith, is the worship of objects or saints and is forbidden by religion.
It is not yet known whether King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who is the official custodian of the holy site, nor the supervisors of the al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque where the remains of the Prophet are kept, have agreed to this idea.
The Saudi government previously insisted that it treats the development of the holy places with the "highest seriousness".
But there are fears that with the revelation of this plan, which stems from a reformist movement known as Wahhabism, Muslims will be divided, with opposing views from Sunnis and Shiites.
"I am sure that the Islamic faithful around the world will be greatly shocked by these announcements. It will cause anger", said Dr Alawi. /koha.net/
