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Today is the third day of Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. It will run from 4 to 9 June. So far, more than 1.5 million Haj pilgrims have reached Mecca. Taking a lesson from previous accidents, this time in Mecca, security arrangements have been made for security.
The Saudi government is specially worried about the safety of Mecca due to an incident in Mecca 47 years ago. Then about 300 attackers captured Mecca. He took thousands of pilgrims hostage. Read about this incident in detail…
Date- 20 November 1979
Place- Mecca, Saudi Arabia
1400 years of the Islamic calendar were completing and the new Islamic century was starting. On this special day, millions of Muslims from all over the world reached Mecca to perform Haj. Around 1 lakh people completed the prayers of Fajr in the holiest Grand Mosque of Muslims at 5:15 am.
A few minutes later, a radical leader and 300 armed supporters captured the mosque. He took thousands of pilgrims hostage. They were demanding the removal of the Saudi ruler from power.
For the first hours, the Saudi government did not understand what to do. Eventually he decided to take action against the terrorists. There was a fierce fight for two weeks in the world’s largest mosque. Hundreds of people were killed. Eventually the Saudi army re -controlled the mosque.
Who were these fundamentalists entering the Grand Mosque, why did they try to coup in Saudi, how did the government fail it and how much this one incident was affected on the whole world including Saudi?
A picture of the Grand Mosque during the siege of maize in 1979.
Friends, we have captured Mecca, Medina and Jeddah. We announce the arrival of Imam Mahdi today… He will rule with justice and equality on this oppression and injustice -filled earth.
Thousands of people present there were surprised when Juhaman al-Utababi announced this on the microphone. Juhaman was an ex -soldier of the Saudi Army, who had now become a radical. He believed that the Saudi government had deviated from Islam and it is necessary to remove it.
He declared his brother-in-law Muhammad Abdullah al-Khatani as ‘Mahdi’ after capturing the Grand Mosque. In Islam, Mahdi is called a person who comes on the day of doom and saves people.
Send weapons taking advantage of construction
The Saudi government had been furthering the premises of the Grand Masjid since the 1950s keeping in mind the convenience of the Hajayatris. This work was completed to a large extent by 1979, but construction work was still going on in some places.
Juhamanm took advantage of this. When the Islamic new year was about to begin and people were praying in the mosque, many pickup trucks entered without any hindrance. There was a large amount of ashalas in them. Some weapons were also hidden in the coffins. These were the same coffins who are brought to the mosque for the last rites.
It is forbidden to carry some kind of weapon in the Grand Mosque. Even the security personnel present there used to have sticks. In such a situation, more than 300 armed fighters captured the mosque within a few minutes.
Juhaiman announced the arrival of Mahdi
Juhaman announced that her fighters had captured Mecca, Medina and Jeddah. (The matter of capturing Madina and Jeddah later turned out to be false.) Then he announced that Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Khatiki, who is present with him, is the ‘Mahdi’, that is, the person who has been predicted in the hadiths, who comes to eradicate evil from the world.
Initially, the Saudi administration also did not understand how to deal with the situation. When Raja Khalid was given this news in the morning, he immediately ordered the Defense Minister and the Home Minister to be sent to the mosque. By 9 am, the Governor of Mecca and the rest of the big officials had reached there to take stock of the situation.
On the other hand, the National Guard and Saudi Army slowly began to surround the mosque. According to reports, no one seemed to be such a serious matter at that time. Actually, he did not know the number of terrorists. Apart from this, he was confident that no one would believe in things like Mahdi.
At 8 am, when a police officer reached the mosque, a sniper was injured. Shortly, bullets started firing from around the mosque. Eight security personnel were killed and 36 were injured in the attack. The authorities then came to know about the seriousness of the case.
After this, King of Saudi first called the Ulema i.e. Islamic religious leaders. Actually, Prophet Mohammed had clearly said that there could not be a fight in the mosque. Therefore, strength could be used only when Ulema allowed it to rescue the mosque from possession, but it took 4 days for the religious leaders to take this decision.
Saudi army armored vehicle in the event of alert outside the Grand Mosque.
America and Iran are embroiled in maize Meanwhile, the American newspaper The New York Times reported on 21 November that the attackers had come from Iran, he was sent by Ayatollah Khomeini. On the other hand, Khomeini also made a statement that this could be the US conspiracy behind the attack, so that it can be divided among Muslims.
Ayatollah Khomeini had an immediate effect. On 21 November, people attacked the American embassy and set fire in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. It killed 4 people, including 2 American soldiers. The US embassy was also set on fire in Libya.
Now it was not just a terrorist attack, but had become a religious, political and international crisis. To stop these rumors, on November 22, Saudi Arabia announced that America, Iran or any other country have no hand in the attack on Mecca. The attack was carried out by only one gang that has deviated from the path of Islam.
Angry people burnt the US embassy in Islamabad.
Action started on third day
The two days of the occupation of the terrorists on the Grand Mosque were completed, but even after several attempts, the Saudi Force was not able to enter the mosque. In such a situation, he decided to take a new path.
He planned to enter from the part of the mosque that connects the hills of Safa and Marwa. This place is very sacred for those who perform Hajj, as they circle here seven times. This route was 380 meters long and so wide that even armored vehicles could go inside from there.
On the morning of 22 November, on the third day of possession, the Saudi army started an attack on the mosque, but they did not use big bombs, but raised bombs that used to make strong lights and loud sounds so that the inner militants were confused. In this environment, the soldiers reached the eastern part of the Safa-Marwa gallery. They were trying to break the al-Salam gate, but many soldiers lost their lives in it.
The Saudi army later blew the Marwa Gate with a bomb and managed to enter, but as soon as the soldiers entered, they were shot. Even on the third day, the Saudi Force could not liberate the mosque.
Permission to fight in the mosque was allowed
The next day was Friday. For the first time in history, no teachings were given from the world’s holiest mosque. On Friday evening, Ulema issued the fatwa that the king approached. The fatwa said that if terrorists do not surrender, violence can be used against them in the mosque. It is completely Islamic.
The loudspeaker was then announced in the mosque to lay down the terrorists, but when they refused, the soldiers fired rockets on the towers, which could remove the snipers. The cannons pierced the mosque wall and the armored vehicles were sent inside. Many areas of the mosque were evacuated after several hours of fierce battle.
Meanwhile, the terrorists went under the mosque where more than 225 rooms were connected. Here he came with good preparation. They had plenty of food, water and ammunition. The soldiers also used tear gas to remove them, but it did not affect.
Saudi soldiers trying to put masks inside the mosque.
Help was taken from France to end the attackers Juhaman and his people knew every corner of the mosque very well because they had studied there. Because of this, they were overshadowing the soldiers. After trying for several days, it became clear that a lot of life can be learn in the room-by-room fight. Hence a new strategy was made.
On 2 December, a special team from France reached Mecca. They brought a special gas with them, CB gas. This gas used to hurt breathing and could also be fatal when he was in contact for a long time.
Since they were not French Muslims, they could not go to Mecca. He trained the people of the Saudi intelligence agency to use gas and also gave them chemical security suits and masks. Some reports also claimed that non-Muslim commandos also entered Mecca. However, he had to accept nominal Islam for entry.
On the morning of 3 December, the Saudi army pierced the floor of the mosque and threw this poisonous gas in the basement. These basements were like labyrinth of many rooms and corridors. With the help of gas, an attempt was made to take out the terrorists, but the rooms were so connected among themselves that this method was not completely successful.
The last hideout was also broken on 4 December. In a small room, 20 remaining terrorists were found. There was also Juhaman in them. They were tired, hungry and were very dirty due to the fight.
The attackers survived alive in the Grand Mosque. He was hanged a few days later.
Puts could be rescued from the mosque after 15 days The final action took place on 5 December when the body of his ‘Mahdi’ i.e. Mohammad al-Khatani was found. It was learned that he had died long ago. However, it was never known how he died.
Some reports say that during the fight, he became pieces with a grenade and died after suffering. Some believe that Juhaman killed him so that he would not be caught alive.
Two days after the incident, the mosque was again made worthy of namaz. On 6 December, King Khalid himself reached the mosque, he kissed Hazar al-Asvad, tawed the Kaaba and drank Jamjam water.
The next day on Friday afternoon, three weeks later, thousands of people came to the mosque to offer Namaz. Some people stayed outside the mosque all night so that they could become part of this historical moment. This Namaz was shown live in many Islamic countries of the world.
Mohammad al-Khatani’s body was found in this condition in the mosque.
26 hostages died, Indians also involved in this In this entire battle, 127 soldiers were martyred and 451 were injured. Many hostages were saved or escaped, but 26 hostage were killed. Apart from Saudi citizens, there were also pilgrims from Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Egypt and Burma. More than 100 people were injured.
Out of 260 attackers, 117 were killed. Of these, 90 died and 27 later died in the hospital. On 9 January 1980, the Saudi government said that 63 people who attacked the mosque were hanged in eight different cities.
The aim was to show that this is not just a case of a city, but the whole country is related to it. Among those killed were 41 Saudi, 10 Egyptians, 7 Yemeni, 3 Kuwaiti, and one each Sudani and Iraqi citizens. The government made it clear that none of these foreigners had come at the behest of their government, but they did so due to wrong religious thinking.
In Mecca, 15 people were hanged, 10 in Riyadh and the rest were hanged in cities like Madina, Dammam, Buraida, Abha, Hell and Tabuk. The death sentence of 19 people was converted into a jail sentence. Out of 23 women and children caught, women were sent to a reform home for two years, while children were kept in child protection institutions. The attack leader Juhaman was also hanged in Mecca on 9 January.
Saudi Arabia on the path of bigotry After this incident, the Saudi government was forced to reconsider its religious and political policies. Women were stopped showing on TV. Famous singers such as Fairus and Sameera Taufik were also forbidden on TV.
Former Arab News Editor Almina said that the atmosphere completely changed after the incident. He believed that Juhaman may have lost the battle, but he won the battle of ideas.
This attack pushed Saudi Arabia to the path of hardcore Islam. The royal family included Ulama in governance to strengthen their power, withdraw social reforms and gave more rights to Islamic moral police. Saudi Arabia spent millions of dollars to promote staunch Wahhabi ideology worldwide.
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