Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious project Vision 2030 aims to build a highly modern city called New Murabba in the center of Riyadh. The city will have a museum, technology and design university, a giant theater, and other entertainment and cultural venues. The centerpiece of the city will be a building named Muqabla, which will be 400 meters high, wide, and long, making it one of the largest buildings in the world. The building will be cube-shaped and use the Najdi architectural style.
However, the cube-shaped design of the building has angered many Muslims who see it as a replica of the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site in Mecca. People on social media are criticizing the Saudi government, saying that Crown Prince Salman is creating a separate Kaaba for entertainment. The criticism is also fueled by a prophecy prevalent in the Najd region that states that one day the horns of the devil will come out.
Some Muslims see the project as a move to shift the identity of Saudi Arabia from the Kaaba in Mecca to Riyadh. Sami Al-Hachimi Al-Hamidi, managing director of International Interest, a global risk and intelligence firm, said in a video on Twitter that Saudi Arabia is moving its identity from the Kaaba in Mecca to Riyadh. However, others argue that many cube-shaped buildings exist in Saudi Arabia and that they should not all be considered replicas of the Kaaba.
The project is expected to provide 334,000 direct and indirect jobs, and the economy of Saudi Arabia is expected to benefit by around 50 billion dollars. However, the project is not without controversy. Muslims have been critical of Saudi Arabia's mega-projects, including the NEOM project, a future smart city that will span 170 km and cost 500 billion dollar. The NEOM project has been criticized for its impact on the environment and for displacing the tribes settled there.
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