I feel bad every time I see Dr. Sami Angawi on TV speaking about our bulldozed history, raising awareness so we do not neglect what is left of historical locations in Hejaz, especially in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. I feel bad not for the man, as he is a man to be respected and admired and not to feel sorry for, but for ourselves and this miserable situation that we have reached, and for a past that some people have destroyed. Forever.
In addition to the random, and not-so-random, destruction of the houses of the Prophet and Companions, and other important historical locations, it seems that we are moving toward a day when the visitors of Mecca won’t be able to see the Ka’aba unless they are staying at one of the fancy towers which started to surround the holy mosque from every corner. Some would blame the ideology that dominated our country for so long, an extreme ideology even when it comes to dealing with mud and stones; some would blame businessmen and their greediness without any regard to the holiness of the place; and some would blame officials and their corruption which allowed this to happen. I blame all of them, excluding nobody.
Saudi Jeans 
Bro, I agree with you all the way. It’s frustrating.
I’m not Saudi, but lived in Riyadh for about 11 yrs, and believe me when I say that I, together with my family, was very upset at how the old houses around Gasr Al Hukm were demolished and replaced by malls and other modern structures. This is the price that not only Saudi Arabia, but most of the developing world is paying for aping the West.
**Note that aping is different from learning.**
I wish people realize that for the West, skycrapers have a history. There was a reason these giant structures came into being. For us, more often than not, there is no reason for building this kind of stuff.
The Saudis, masha Allah, have done a lot for the two holy sites, but I’ve gotta admit: It’s not enough and at times, it’s not the kind of development that should have transpired.
realy Icant say any thing about that beacauae we are muslems and we must do any thing that God aske as to do rulers musn’t but any roles frome them maind they must retern to holy Quran and show if this roles are allowed or not allwoed to do Ithink women should drive a car if thats nesasery for her family islam said سهلوا ولاتعسروا
I came across your site from an article on the Christian Science Monitor.
Very informative!