World

‘New Kaaba’: Saudi Arabia Trends On Twitter, Plans To Build Huge New Building ‘Muqaab’ In Riyadh Google Over

February 21, 2023
Sezarr

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently announced his plans to build a massive new building – The Cube – in the middle of a new city center being developed in the capital, Riyadh. Announcing the ambitious project, the Crown Prince also said he would chair the New Marmalade Development Company, which aims to develop “the world’s largest modern city in Riyadh”. The New Marmalade project will feature a museum, a technical and design university, an immersive theater and more than 80 entertainment venues, according to an announcement by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

At the center of the project will be the “Muqaab”, a massive 400-metre-long, wide and deep structure composed of overlapping triangular forms in an architectural style inspired by the Najd region of Saudi Arabia. , Muqaab will be “the world’s first immersive, experiential destination” with “the latest holographic digital and virtual technology”.

However, the announcement regarding the “new marmalade project and muqaab” has drawn mixed reactions from Saudi citizens. While some have reacted sharply to it, others have welcomed the announcement. The controversy stems from the belief that the massive building of the “Mukaab” (or Cube) is identical to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site in the holy city of Mecca. Both words also share a common root word in the Arabic language.

There has also been a huge amount of searches on top platforms like Google and micro-blogging sites like Twitter, where people have mocked the “muqaab” between the most important cube-like structure – the Kaaba – considered very sacred in Saudi Arabia. . Muslims around the world.

During the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, millions of Muslims from around the world come to Saudi Arabia to pray towards the building at the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and circumambulate the sacred structure.

The Intercept reporter Murtaza Hussain said, “Creating a new Kaaba dedicated exclusively to capitalism is a bit on the nose.” Asad Abu Khalil, an academic, tweeted, “It appears [the crown prince] He is building his Kaaba. Will he make it the new qibla for the worshipers?”

However, this is not the first geometrically challenging grandiose project that Saudi Arabia has announced in recent years. The kingdom has previously announced plans to build a ski resort with a folded vertical village, a 170km straight-line city and an eight-sided city floating on water.

There were also reports that several members of the Howet tribe in Saudi Arabia were either arrested or detained for protesting evictions to make way for megacities.

Here are some Twitter reactions on Saudi Arabia’s mega combat project:-