Selfies and Smartphones Hajj 2016

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The biggest spiritual journey of Muslims for their annual pilgrimage has been completely transformed into selfies and smartphones. In the last several years, Hajj has also gone high-tech. More than 1400 years ago the ritual journey performed by Prophet Mohammed and which drew believers arriving on foot and on camels for centuries is today broadcast live through cyberspace.



This year around 1.8 million people have gathered at Mecca to perform Hajj, a tradition in which Muslims from different countries gather for a spiritual tour. Selfies, smartphones and gadgets has transformed Hajj and this has exhibited the light of the Islam faith to non-believers.
Saudis and people from Arab’s are among the world’s most active people on social media. Due to which Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat have been teeming with images of Mecca and the Hajj. 

Many scholars, including mufti’s from Saudi Arab, had earlier warned that taking a selfie during pilgrimage is akin to boasting and thus sacrilegious. While Saudis complain that the proliferation of pilgrims taking selfies while performing tawaf around the Kaaba is causing dangerous congestion.
Saudis are too concerned about using smartphones and taking photos while performing sacred rituals. Last year, a video of a young man circling around the Kaaba on a hoverboard went viral. After few days the authorities in Saudi Arabia banned it.

Technology is part of Hajj. Several innovators believe that technology is part of Hajj and it can’t be neglected at a place where people in millions gathered on a single day. Kamel Badawi, an engineer from Mecca who invented an “intelligent umbrella” in Medina said, “Technology is now part of Hajj”. Pilgrims are also updating their each and every moment with their arms outstretched to broadcast their Hajj live to family and friends by mobile phones.


Last year, there were two deadly disasters taken place during Hajj, the Saudi government has said it will provide electronic bracelets to pilgrims which will contain identification information, such as passport and visa details, as well as where pilgrims will stay in the kingdom during Hajj.
This wearable will be important for pilgrims who don’t speak Arabic, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. A local newspaper reported that the device will be activated with GPS system and will be water resistant. The device can be scanned from smartphone easily will have the name, passport number, home country and a contact number of person tour group.


Lost in Mecca, Tarek AlZubair wandered around Islam’s holy city for 15 minutes a few months ago. He couldn’t find a designated area to carry out ritual washings required before prayer.
The information online was either nonexistent or incomplete. “I thought to myself: why can’t there be a better method?” said AlZubair, 25. So he raced to develop an app, released Wednesday, that acts as a field guide to Hajj, which starts this week.

Technology is transforming the thousand-plus-year-old ritual in ways that are making Islam’s traditions more accessible while also sometimes confounding traditionalists, who abhor selfies.
Zohair Zahid, a 26-year-old technology consultant from London, said he was given a bracelet with a QR code when he arrived at his hotel. The code which can be scanned with a smartphone has his name, passport number, home country and a contact number for his tour group.
He said it was similar to one a friend of his received last year.


“It’s not one of the new ones that they promised with chips inside and GPS tracking,” he said.
Zahid said he’s been posting about his journey. “It’s all about sharing the experience with the friends that can’t be here,” he said. “They’ve been loving it. So apologies if anyone is offended by me taking a 10-second video.” But a funny thing happened to some short video clips he tried to take while circling the Kaaba.
“They magically got deleted,” he said. “I don’t know if that was divine intervention or what.” 

Sajjad Majid, a 30-year-old IT professional from Mumbai said about his journey, “It’s all about expressing their happiness, about the journey. Today’s generation is expressive they share their thoughts, sadness, and happiness on their social media profile. Due to which the young generations love to record one of the best memories of their time”. He further said that if anyone is offended, “we don’t go further making video clips of the holy place”

Sources: Sanatu Zambang, www.bloomberg.com www.india.com

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