Medina is the site of the Prophet Muhammad’s tomb. It’s where the Prophet lived, where he started the Muslim community and where he was laid to rest. It’s a place sacred to all Muslims. The July 4th bombing by ISIS stands out in its horror and desecration (four guards were killed within “striking distance” of Prophet Muhammad’s tomb).
“This is literally the burial place of the prophet of God. This is his mosque, this is his house,” says Jonathan A.C. Brown, Chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University. “To attack it is just a sign that you are attacking Muslims as a whole and the Muslim community as a whole and Islam as a religion.”
One woman tweeted, “Every terror attack is horrific and heartbreaking, but an attack on #Medina is an attack on the soul of the Muslim world.”
“Every Muslim scholar I know of considers ISIS either to be extremist heretics or to be apostates — so they’re not Muslims,” continues Mr. Brown.
