Regarding Simfan's posts on this page: As I said recently in another thread, at least we can trust the people in charge of Iran not to bulldoze Persepolis to build a parking garage or something.
Well, that may certainly be true nowadays, but it's not for lack of trying by some. However it certainly does not compare to the apparently serious consideration currently being given to the idea of demolishing the tomb of Muhammad and re-interring him in an unmarked grave (as king Abdullah has been), an idea endorsed by the Saudi Grand Mufti and the late khatib of the Masjid al-Haram, and something Wahabists have been trying to do since the early 19th century.
The Wahabis already destroyed most of the artifacts of the Prophet's time: Muhammad's birthplace, his house in Medina, the tombs of his mother (which they doused in gasoline and burnt), father, wives, and daughter, to name a few. From a historiographical perspective it is a tremendous loss, an act of mass vandalism; from a religious perspective the toll must be incalculable. I'm surprised that you don't hear more about it, even from Islamic sources. It's the same thing al-Qaeda did in Bamiyan, Ansar Dine in Timbuktu, and what Da'esh is now doing in Iraq and Syria, and for the same reason.
While not the real reason, the Saudis have cloaked a lot of the damage they have done to Mecca under the guise of being able to handle the swarms of pilgrims that come each year. Given the deaths that regularly occur as pilgrims rush to complete their tasks in the limited time allotted, that's not entirely unfounded. Indeed, something had to be done. The only alternative to some program of massive construction would have been to even more limit the numbers allowed than is currently the case. The advent of air travel has profoundly affected the hajj by making it possible for many more people to make the pilgrimage than had previously been the case
