The Guardians

The Mosque in Madinah, which houses the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed himself, is second only to Mecca as the holiest point of pilgrimage in the Islamic world. The Prophet was born in Mecca and died in Madinah in the seventh century. The great Mosque has grown around his tomb and continues to spread at the heart of the city. For centuries the tomb has been watched over by a group of Guardians, brought originally from Abyssinia, who form their own closed society and exercise authority throughout the Mosque, carrying the keys to the tomb. The current generation of Guardians will be the last: they will have no successors and a tradition almost as old as Islam itself will be replaced by modern forms of administration. Adel Al Quraishi began this extraordinary project by taking portraits of the Guardians, after which he was allowed to photograph the keys and finally, to photograph through the enclosing iron grill into the chamber itself. This unprecedented access led to this remarkable photographic record.