Jannat al-Baqi (جنة البقيع) (also spelt Jannat ul-Baqi) is a cemetery in Medina, Saudi Arabia, located across from the Masjid al-Nabawi, the mosque where Muhammed is buried. This cemetery contains many of Muhammad's relatives and companions. Its name means "The Garden of Heaven". Many traditions relate Muhammad issuing a prayer every time he passed the cemetery. Prior to the twentieth century, many of the graves were covered with domes or other structures.
After the city of Medina was taken by King Ibn Saud, many of these tombs, originally intended to identify famous companions of Muhammad, were destroyed in 1925 in order to prevent people from visiting them in order to seek a means of approach to Allāh (a request for blessings, in this world or for intercessions in the hereafter). This, (tawassul), along with reading chapters from Islam's holy book, The Qur'an, is considered by some as being Shirk, the sin of idolatry. Namely the governors of two, of the three, of Islam's holy places consider these kinds of visits as Shirk, and therefore it should be eradicated in all forms. This is the reason why there exists a threat to the House where the Prophet of Islam was born, and other such places that some consider sacred.[citation needed]
Despite this, the graves of many historic figures continue to be visited by numerous pilgrims, and burials continue at the cemetery up until this day.
After the demolition of 1925, Saudi authorities have stepped up restrictions with regards to visiting graves. Shias come to Jannatul Baqi to pay respect to their leaders, and this often involves invoking the dead and reciting salutations. However, this goes against the principles of the Salafi interpretation of Islam, state-sanctioned within Saudi Arabia, and the result is that often books and maps of the graves are confiscated by the authorities.[citation needed]
Many Shia continue to mourn the day that the House of Saud demolished graves in the Baqi cemetery, calling this day Yaum e Gham, literally meaning Day of Sorrow. They continue to protest the Saudi government's continuous demolition of shrines and ancient mosques in Saudi Arabia built over shrines. The Shia are the only ones who deem this permissible, or the only ones who do this.
Some important personalities buried at Jannat al-Baqi
- Ibrahim – Muhammad's son by Maria al-Qibtiyya, died in infancy
- Fatima Zahra – Muhammad's daughter by first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, in an unknown grave
- Hasan ibn Ali, 2nd Shia Imam, grandson of Muhammad, son of Fatima
- Ali ibn Husayn, 4th Shia Imam, great-grandson of Muhammad
- Muhammad al-Baqir, 5th Shia Imam
- Jafar Sadiq, 6th Shia Imam (as)
- Malik ibn Anas, Islamic jurist
- Imam Shamil, Dagestan leader
- Uthman ibn Affan
- Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad
- All of mothers of the believers, Muhammad's wives, except for Khadijah
- Many of Muhammad's aunts: Safiya and Aatika, and his aunt Fatima bint al-Asad, the mother of Hazrat Ali.
