Grand Mosque seizure - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

#46_years_ago_today_on 20th November 1979... Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, the Holiest place in Islam, was taken over by several hundred Wahhabi extremists in one of the most controversial and heavily-censored events in modern Islamic history. The takeover planned for maximum impact, started on November 20, 1979, the first day of the Islamic year 1400 (which corresponds to 1 Muharram), shortly after the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the preceding month of Dhul Hijjah. The Wahhabi extremists were follow

The Grand Mosque seizure, by the Juhayman group, lasted from 20 November 1979 to 4 December 1979, when extremist militants in Saudi Arabia calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud besieged and took over Masjid al-Haram, the holiest Islamic site, in the city of Mecca. The besieging militia who referred to themselves as the 'al-Ikhwan', in reference to the religious militia Ikhwan that played a part in establishing Saudi Arabia, declared that the Mahdi (a messianic figure in Islamic eschatol

How bloody siege of Mecca Grand Mosque 45 years ago split Muslim world