Thirty-Four Mausoleums in Tunisia Vandalized Since the Revolution

Locals inspect the destruction of the Sidi Bou Said shrine earlier this month

Thirty-four shrines of Tunisian saints have been either burnt or partially destroyed since the revolution, according to the Ministry of Culture.

Tunisia’s historical and cultural patrimony finds itself threatened by these incidents, which have caught the attention of the many Tunisians who value the cultural worth of such mausoleums. While the perpetrators are largely believed to be religious hardliners, they are in fact ignorant of the social and religious importance of the shrines they destroy, say historians.

“Islam was able to easily spread because of its tolerance. It did not wreck previous cultures, but absorbed them,” Sophie Ferchiou, a Tunisian sociologist and author of ‘Plural Islam,’ told Tunisia Live.

Had the attackers known more about the nature of the rituals performed in the shrines, they may not have questioned the mausoleums’ compatibility with Islam.

“These saints are Muslim by definition. They have reached a level of wisdom, goodness, tolerance, insight, and perfection that justify their special place,” Ferchiou explained. “They [those who worship at these shrines] are by no means half-believers.”

The Sidi Abdel Qader shrine in Nabel was forcefully closed by alleged religious extremists, who blocked visitors from entering the premises.

The Sidi Yaacoub shrine in Gabes was attacked on May 4, 2012. The perpetrators used a bulldozer to demolish the mausoleum, which, according to the attackers, was contrary to the principles of monotheism.

During an October night last year in the eastern Tunis suburb of Douar Hicher, alleged “Salafists” entered forcefully in the Sidi Bouchoucha shrine. Graves were destroyed and property damaged. The intruders justified the act by the tombs’ incompatibility with the Islamic tradition.

On October 16, 2012, the mausoleum of Sayeda Manoubia in the eastern Tunis suburb of Manouba was burnt. Aisha Manoubia was an Islamic thinker from the 13^th century. Many tales are told of her courage and intellect. During an era unfavorable for women, Aisha Manoubia managed to get an education and join the 40 students of the Sufi thinker Belhsan Chedly. Legend has it that the mausoleum in her honor was built after she gave away to the poor the meat of a bull given to her by her father, who intended that she use it for agricultural purposes. She asked those to whom she gave its meat to return the bones from which she later resucitated the bull. Saint Manoubia figure is not only of spiritual value, but also important as a pioneering name in the Tunisian feminist movement.

On December 9, 2012, intruders broke into Omar Samati shrine in the southern town of Kasserine where they destroyed parts of the building.

New Year’s Eve was not uneventful in the northern coastal city of Bizerte. The shrine of Ali Hacheni was burnt by people with alleged religious, extremist affiliations. The shrine dates to the 12^th century and represented a center of cultural and philanthropic events.

The Sidi Bou Said shrine was burnt on the night of January 12 . The memorial is not only of cultural but also touristic value to the country. The entirety of Sidi Bou Said is included in UNESCO’s list of universal cultural patrimony. Therefore, the damage to its most famous shrine is more than a national loss. The UNESCO issued an official statement condemning the attack and offered assistance to restore the shrine.

The Sidi Ahmed Ouerfelli shrine in the coastal city Sousse was burnt yesterday. The timing was perhaps chosen on purpose given that it was done on the eve of the Prophet’s birthday.

The attacks on mausoleum cannot be religiously justified, Othman Battikh, Mufti of Tunsia, explained to Tunisia Live. As a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, the cultural ethics of Tunisian citizens ought to repudiate attacks on holy places, especially graves, Battikh said.

“A human being should be honored in life and in death. It is unthinkable to destroy one’s tomb,” said the Mufti. “Many of these mausoleums do not include the saints’ tombs. They are simply mosques where God is praised, not the dead.”

According to the Mufti, the people at fault for such vandalism have no religious background, whether they are Sunni or of the ultra-conservative Wahhabi sect.

“These practices do not even happen in Saudi Arabia [known to be a more conservative country than Tunisia],” Battikh stated.

While different sects of Islam treat the issue differently, the overarching rule is that disagreements, such as the one over the Islamic nature of shrines, should be channeled through scholarly means of debate and research rather than destruction, continued the Mufti.

“The rituals that take place in mausoleums are distinctively Tunisian, one of the few pure Tunisian traditions that did not vanish throughout history,” Ferchiou stated. “The aversion towards these traditions is an imported tendency, alien to the Tunisian culture.”

The targeted shrines are but one set of examples of historical sites being vandalized. Former president Habib Bourguiba’s tomb as well as that of Taher Haddad, an Islamic scholar and pioneer of the Tunisian feminist movement, were targeted as well. Questions remain if there are still more attacks to come.

Tunisia is in fact not the only Arab Spring country that has seen its cultural patrimony threatened by instances of burning and vandalism.

Libya has witnessed the partial demolition of the Dahmani shrine near the capital Tripoli as well as the mausoleum of Sufi scientist Abdessalem Asmar. Syrian shrines of the Prophet’s descendants were vandalized too.