The ancient pyramids are both an Egyptian landmark and one of the proclaimed Seven Wonders of the World. Tens of millions of people flock to visit them each year, and few of the world’s school curriculums are void of them, or the stories of the rich and ancient culture that erected them so long ago.
Many people were alarmed when radical Jihadist Murgan Salem al-Gohary, during an Egyptian TV interview, Saturday, called for the destruction of the Sphinx and Pyramids in Giza. Al-Gohary was previously jailed twice, one of which ended in a life sentence for violent crimes, but he was let out under the new government regime and supposedly joined the Taliban. He was quoted as stating, “All Muslims are charged with applying the teachings of Islam to remove such idols, as we did in Afghanistan when we destroyed the Buddha statues.” He added that the act was, “Something the government failed to do.”
The incident he refers to is the horrific demolition of the 2,000 year-old Buddhist statues carved into the Hindu Kush Mountains in the central province of Bamiyan, Afghanistan in March, 2001. An international outcry went out, calling for the preservation of the historical and priceless site, including pleads from France, The United States and UN General-Secretary. None of the petitions were answered and the mountain was fired upon using anti-aircraft missiles and tank fire before the mountain and remaining statues were destroyed with dynamite. One of such statues was the world’s tallest standing Buddha of its time, measuring 50 meters (165 feet) in height.
The Pyramids and surrounding landmarks are currently maintained by the Egyptian government. The sites are argued to be the main driving forces to Egypt’s tourism industry, which documented nearly 11 billion dollars in revenue in 2008 alone. To destroy these sites would cost an innumerable amount not only for its demolition and removal, but costing the country an untold amount in revenue from its tourism industry – such numbers that do not include the hotel industry or the jobs tourists provide to approximately 12 percent of Egypt’s population.
The archeological worth of the Giza Pyramids, as well as the Sphinx, is priceless. Digs and site preservation for research continue to this day, and we search for answers about the ancient Egyptian culture. It comes as a shock that many would support such an outlandish claim that the Sphinx should be destroyed, with such historical and cultural value. This is not the first time, though, that the monuments have come under attack. Many extremist rulers of Egypt have been recorded as defacing and damaging the Sphinx, including Mohammed Sa’im al-Dahr in 1380, who damaged the ears and nose of the Sphinx and supposedly was subsequently lynched for such an act.
But self-proclaimed Taliban Jihadist, al-Gohary, has stated that The Prophet calls for all idols to be destroyed. To simply and peacefully retort the claims that sites sacred to non-Muslims are to be sought out and destroyed, the passage of the Qu’ran 5:48 fits well. Muhammad stated to a group of individuals arguing over which religion had supremacy over the other, “If God so willed, He would have made all of you one community, but he has not done so, in order that he may test you according to what he has given you; so compete in goodness. To God shall you all return, and He will tell you the truth about what you have been disputing.”
-E.L.Lockhart
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