Mecca Grand Mosque Siege: The holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia are revered by Muslims across all sects and denominations from all over the world, especially because these cities are closely linked to the life of Prophet Muhammad. Waging war or even carrying weapons inside the holy sanctuary where the holy Kaaba is located, is strictly forbidden, and even considered a great sin in Islam.
However, around 45 years ago, Juhayman al-Otaybi, a Saudi religious dissident, decimated this strict rule, as he stormed and besieged the Masjid-al Haram or the Grand Mosque in Mecca, violating the sanctity of one of Islam’s holiest places. Here’s the story of what happened on that fateful day.
The siege of Mecca’s Grand Mosque
On November 20, 1979, Juhayman al-Otaybi, a Saudi religious dissident and a former-soldier, led over 200 armed gunmen, as they took over and besieged the Grand Mosque of Mecca and held it under siege for two weeks. The incident not only shook the entire Muslim world, but created shockwaves globally as widespread bloodshed took place during the siege period.
Al-Otaybi, a former soldier-turned-religious preacher, was a vehement critic of the Saudi royal family, and had amassed a considerable following over the years. On the fateful day of November 20, 1979, at the beginning of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic Calendar, Otaybi, along with his followers, stormed the holy mosque, took worshipers hostage, and besieged the premises.
According to details, around 50,000 people had gathered in the massive complex of the holy Kaaba for Fajr (morning) prayers, however, the worshippers had no clue as to what awaited them. Soon after the prayers began, Al-Otaybi, and around 200 of his followers, had joined the worshippers, and as the prayers concluded, Juhayman stepped out, pushed the Iman (prayer leader) aside, and ordered people to stay put as his followers opened nearby coffins, revealing a massive cache of weapons they had smuggled prior to the act.
Otaybi and his followers armed themselves and held the people at gunpoint, as the 40-year-old controversial religious took the microphone, asking the hostages to cooperate, claiming that he and his men were doing this to “save” the Kaaba, and Saudi Arabia from the unrighteous.
Even though the attackers warned people not to run away or risk being shot, people tried to get away as they attempted to flee the mosque premises, however, the gunmen opened fire and within an hour, succeeded in taking over the entire complex. The armed attackers climbed the minarets, barred all the doors, thus beginning the bloody siege which lasted for nearly two weeks.
A direct challenge to Saudi king
Experts who have researched the incident assert that the Saudi leadership were initially unable to realize the gravity of the occupation of Mecca’s Grand Mosque and lacked seriousness about mounting a response.
At the time of the siege, then Saudi Crown Prince Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud was on a tour of Tunisia, whole Prince Abdullah was touring Morocco. As the news of the incident broke, Saudi Police arrived at the Grand Mosque but were greeted with a hail of bullets by the besiegers, and had to run away to save their lives.
The assault on the Saudi Police, information about the type of weapons wielded by the attackers, and the manner in which they opened fire on the cops, finally made the Saudi leadership realise that things had gone terribly wrong.
A bloody rescue operation
The Saudi regime and the kingdom’s law enforcement agencies soon realised that the siege had been carefully planned and it would not be easy task to remove the militants from the Grand Mosque and rescue the hostages.
A massive operation was launched as special forces, paratroopers, armored units, along with the Saudi Police cordoned off the area around the mosque, but the task was monumental due to the sheer size of the Grand Mosque, which has long corridors measuring hundreds of meters in length, and numerous buildings around the Kaaba — all of which had been occupied by Otayba and his followers, who were armed to the teeth.
For the first two days, Saudi forces could not even go near the mosque, as the attackers showered bullets on them from strategic positions, which was retaliated, turning one of Islam’s holiest sanctuary’s into a raging warzone.
On day six of the operation, the Saudi security forces managed to capture the courtyard of the mosque as well as the surrounding building, weakening the attackers’ grip on the premises, and forcing them to hide inside rooms and other small chambers as many of them were gunned down.
Eyewitnesses narrating the horrifying ordeal, revealed how water had began to run out, triggering panic among the hostages. even as the rotting bodies of worshippers and attackers lay in the courtyard and different parts of the mosque for days. Ultimately, the siege ended on December 4, 1979 after the Saudi Army and other security agencies killed the majority of the attackers and captured the rest, including the leader, Juhayman al-Otaybi.
Who was Juhayman al-Otaybi?
Born in al-Sajir in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qassim Province, Juhayman al-Otaybi belonged to a Bedouin tribe, Ikhwan, a pre-eminent tribe in the Najd region. Several members of Juhayman’s had taken part in the the Battle of Sabilla during the Ikhwan uprising against Saudi King Abdulaziz, including his father and grandfather.
Members of Juhayman’s tribe believed that the Saudi royals had violated the sanctity of the original religious principles as laid down by Prophet Muhammad.
Growing up, Juhayman struggled to write fluently, but loved to read religious texts. Later, he served Saudi Arabian National Guard from 1955 to 1973.
After his service, Juhayman moved to Medina where he joined the local chapter of a hardline Islamist group known as Al-Jamaa al-Salafiya al-Muhtasiba, and soon gained a considerable amount of followers as a religious preacher.
Juhayman al-Otaybi was sentenced to death by Saudi authorities for his role in the siege of the Grand Mosque, and subsequently executed by beheading on January 9, 1980.
Notably, his son Hathal bin Juhayman al-Otaybi, also serves in the Saudi National Guard, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in 2018.
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