Barbed Journalism

Every year The Independent recycles the same story regarding the destruction of Madinah Munawwarah, Makkah Mukarramah or the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam’s tomb:

2011- http://t.co/c9fjNaSQKV
2012- http://t.co/hcaWIbzZE8
2013- http://t.co/Joad5uuCws
2014- Article seems to be missing from The Independent’s site

Here are some points to note on this misleading journalism from MuslimMatters.org:
1. Divisively worded to bring about an intended response, almost all of the facts in the article are not only out of context, but embellished or completely untrue.
2. The source mentioned in the article, Dr. Irfan Al-Alawi, represents a polarizing organization called the Center of Islamic Pluralism based out of Washington DC.
3. The entire story plays off the words “proposal” and “plans.” The reality is, there was no such proposal, and there were no plans.
4. The Independent article makes the claim that Dr Al-Shabal called for the removal of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to Baqi cemetery. This a lie. Dr Al-Shabal called for the “separation” of the grave from the masjid structure.
5. The Independent calls him a “leading Islamic academic.” The reality is he is not a leading academic. He does not represent any kind of scholarly decision-making body.