جزاك الله خير…

My thoughts:

1.) To those who said Hajj or Umrah are for the rich only – nonsense. My parents did Hajj back in 2007 and they stayed at the Hilton that’s right next to the Haram Shareef. My mom has trouble walking long distances on foot, and she wanted to be closer to the Haram Shareef so she saved up and shelled out extra money [a few hundred extra, that's it] to stay at the Hilton. My family is not rich. We’re middle class. My dad is retired and my mom doesn’t work.

2.) While I’m not a big fan of the Atkins proposed design myself, please …. quit it with the comments about how its so unnatural or ugly, etc. I think it looks beautiful, kinda like a cross between the Sydney Opera House and the Roman Coliseum. Whatever the case may be, the current existing structure is way different than what existed just 100 years ago, and what existed 100 years ago [BEFORE the arrival of the Saudis] was built over what had been torn down from previous centuries. Its called practicality. As the population expands and the dynamics surrounding the annual Hajj change, you HAVE to expand and make more space.

3.) During the time of Prophet Muhammad [saws], and before, and after him, Makkah was always the center of commerce and business. The Ukaz market – since the time of the Prophet – IS what made Makkah so famous in the first place. It was trade, commerce, BUSINESS and MONEY that built up Makkah in the first place. There’s nothing wrong with business.

4.) Building below the ground is an absolutely dumb and impractical idea. I will not apologize to the one who suggested it. Its ridiculously expensive and an extremely retarded and unwise way of spending the wealth of the Muslims. Its way more expensive to do that than to simply build straight up. Go learn basic civil engineering or else please dont open your mouth.

5.) Tall buildings and Judgement Day. – Many people, including some of the commentators above, are making an extremely disingenuous and erroneous link between those ahadith and the tall buildings going up in Makkah. Making tall buildings isnt haram. It was simply pointed out that the construction of such tall buildings in the Arabian peninsula is a sign of Judgement Day. There are many good things that will happen [such as the arrival of Imam Mahdi or nabi Eesa (AS) ] that are also signs of Judgement Day. Do we think that Imam Mahdi is “bad” or “haram” or undesirable, na3udhubellah? GET REAL and stop thinking so emotionally. People need to learn to make the critical distinction between facts and fluff.

1. I would tear down EVERY building that is higher then the Ka’bah and restore all of the relics, masjids, shrines, and other holy and historical places that was destroyed by the Wahhabis in the last century or so.

2. I would then order an annual Mawlid festival to be done in Makkah and Madinah and decorate all the masjids and streets with beautiful lights

3. I would institute public Sufi hadras in the Holy cities every week just like in Damascus.

4. I would then forbid all major western companies like Mc Donalds, etc. from operating within the Hijaz.

5. I would then build low-level to underground facilities to accommodate the pilgrims. I hate high buildings, I think high buildings are ugly, unnatural, and goes against our fitrah.

6. I would then put millions in preserving the Hijaz and its natural environment.

7. I would make Hijaz an independent autonomous region from Saudi Arabia and give it to the Sunni Ash’ari Scholars of Syria to administer.

His Highness King Abdullah shud also try n look into the accomodation
problems faced by the pilgrims as i hv bn witnessing this problem since
1970. all the pilgrims wish to stay nearest to the Holy Mosque and my humble suggestion that an underground accomodation may b created in
the future extentions to accomodate the pilgrims from the world.

On topic, i am alittle worried about the part of the old walls they want to knock down and rebuild. The design could have been massivley better, i really dont know why the king could not consult all Muslim countries for a public consulation, since we all perform Umrah.

The designs are not as good as they could be.

I’m not gunning down development but what would our Beloved Nabie (SAW) have said? I wonder?