The sectarian rift between Sunnism and Shiʿism has been a hallmark of Islamic history early on. Their constant rivalry manifested itself in a number of forms, such as the veneration of the Imams among Shiʿites, including the erection of domes over their graves. The most important focal point in this regard is the graveyard al-Baqīʿ in Medina, where four Shiʿite Imams are buried. When the iconoclastic Wahhabis assumed power in the Ḥijāz, they destroyed these and other graves and thereby laid the foundation of renewed tensions that are reflected in the political history of the Middle East until today.