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MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Not all Muslims in Saudi Arabia are happy with a new $390 million luxury timeshare facility looming over Mecca, where Mohammed was born 1,400 years ago.
The ZamZam tower offers a week's lease on a studio-size unit with city views for about $6,800 in the slow season but the same size unit with views of the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, costs about $175,000 to lease during the month of hajj, a correspondent for The Guardian reported.
Hajj is when Muslim pilgrims from around the world travel to Mecca.
But the new timeshare angers historian Irfan Ahmed al-Alawi, also co-chairman of the Islamic Heritage Foundation, set up to protect sites of cultural and historical interest in Mecca.
"This timeshare is the exploitation and commercialization of a holy city," he said. Marble flooring and five-star accommodation will not enhance your pilgrimage or make you a better Muslim."
The ZamZam was built by the Binladin Group, the construction firm founded by Mohammed bin Laden, the father of terror leader Osama bin Laden, the report said.
The ZamZam tower offers a week's lease on a studio-size unit with city views for about $6,800 in the slow season but the same size unit with views of the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, costs about $175,000 to lease during the month of hajj, a correspondent for The Guardian reported.
Hajj is when Muslim pilgrims from around the world travel to Mecca.
But the new timeshare angers historian Irfan Ahmed al-Alawi, also co-chairman of the Islamic Heritage Foundation, set up to protect sites of cultural and historical interest in Mecca.
"This timeshare is the exploitation and commercialization of a holy city," he said. Marble flooring and five-star accommodation will not enhance your pilgrimage or make you a better Muslim."
The ZamZam was built by the Binladin Group, the construction firm founded by Mohammed bin Laden, the father of terror leader Osama bin Laden, the report said.
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