Virtual Hajj App

[Emerio Boykins]

Usuallymillions travel to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, for five days of worship. The pilgrimage is a core tenet of Islam and it's mandatory for all Muslims to attend at least once in their life, unless they are physically or financially unable to travel.

The creator of Muslim 3D is a company called Bigitec, in Bonn, Germany. Managing director Bilal Chbib says the idea for the virtual experience came to him over a decade ago as a way to blend his love of tech and video games with his religious and cultural upbringing.

"The idea basically came over ten years ago because my background is video game development and I'm a passionate video game player. And at some point, I was wondering why isn't there anything where I can explore my own culture and history," Chbib explains.

"You can relive this event virtually, basically," says Chbib, that's something you can't convey through reading a book. This is something very special in video games that you can really create this immersive experience by visiting these places as if you were there."

"I don't think it will be a substitute for going on an Islamic pilgrimage, because it's part of the ritual itself to be physically there, to wear the clothes, to visit the places that have religious significance for us. But it's definitely a tool to have this alternative to visit this place."

The latest version of Muslim 3D is to be released in September. It includes a free-play mode, where users can explore other major holy sites visited during Hajj, including Mount Arafat, Mina and Muzdalifah.

Meanwhile in the UK, Labbaik VR has developed a mobile app, Wuzu, which gives a high-resolution virtual reality tour of the Kaaba as a solution to Muslims who cannot visit Makkah, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. With this in mind, Labbaik VR developed a full Hajj tour in augmented reality for smartphones but in the near future, wants to develop a more immersive and engaging experience of the same on VR headsets.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj announced that the annual pilgrimage will, despite the worst fears of billions of Muslims around the world, still go ahead this year. It will however only be open to pilgrims (of any nationality) already within Saudi Arabia's borders, which means that for most of the two million pilgrims planning their visit next month, Hajj will not be possible due to travel restrictions.

But this will also open the door to the transformational opportunity of a "virtual Hajj", where live feeds and social media allow more people than ever to participate in the event in some way. Many of those, despite the best efforts of all involved, struggle to afford the Hajj. This means that virtual participation is an important step in widening access to what is a religious obligation for approximately 2 billion Muslims.

Many of this year's Hajjis will have saved for years and have had their plans heartbreakingly disrupted by the pandemic, but will ultimately be supportive of the decision. If Islam's holiest sites became breeding grounds for a new outbreak of the deadly disease, this would be a tragedy for all Muslims. And the decision is not unexpected - Saudi Arabia has been decisive in controlling the outbreak, restricting access to Mosques, shutting down the holy city of Mecca before a single life was lost, and implementing rolling curfews, while carefully protecting the wellbeing of those worst affected by the lockdowns.

At a time when many of the world's borders are still closed, flinging open the frontiers of a country at the heart of the Middle East to pilgrims from dozens of countries would be irresponsible at best, a death wish at worst.

But it is the other three quarters that are particularly significant to Saudi Arabia: pilgrimage contributes $12 billion, or 20 percent of non-oil GDP, to the Kingdom. It is also an important source of soft power for Saudi Arabia: away from politics, pilgrimage allows the Muslim world to get to know Saudi Arabia up close, and be united with their brothers and sisters of faith who are sometimes divided by nation, race, sect and economic status.

The Kingdom has world-leading logistical experience in transport, housing, crowd control, and (crucially) health security that has been built up over decades of year-on-year growth in pilgrim numbers. Much of that logistical knowhow will go largely unused this year, but a growing area of Saudi expertise - tech - will be even more relevant than usual.

Tech is one of the highest growth sectors in the Saudi economy, and is a key part of the oft-mentioned Vision 2030 plan in the Kingdom. As well as Saudi consumers having the world's highest social media usage, the entire economy and government is increasingly digital as part of the current transformation of the Kingdom.

This means that this year's "Virtual Hajj" could be part of the new normal for the world's Muslims, most of whom struggle to afford the trip. In any case, it would take 581 years for all the Muslims alive today to visit due to the sheer numbers involved.

It looks like digital worship is here to stay, with the Muslim world leading the way but Europe and North America following suit. One in four Brits attended an online religious service during lockdown, including a third of 18 to 34 year olds. The younger generation want to Zoom to the Church or the Mosque, and our institutions are catching up.

Live streaming and social media participation has become commonplace since the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps particularly amongst Muslims, whose faith is inherently social. Prayers and Ramadan iftars have already gone digital. A virtual Hajj is a natural progression.

Perhaps one day, digital faith services will be as commonplace as printed books of Islamic teachings, and there could be billions of 'virtual Hajjis' each year, rather than just the 2 million physical ones.

Everything can be more beautiful when experiencing it with others! In Phase 3 we are planning to add online features, which will allow you to meet others in the virtual world of Muslim 3D!

One thing did go wrong: my visa status in the U.S. needed to be renewed and when I applied for renewal, I was told that it would take some time and no one was able to tell me how long! I explained my plans and that we had bought the tickets but to no avail. There was nothing they could do for me. I had to wait and see. In that moment of losing control, I submitted to Allah (swt). I was reminded that Hajj is a divine invitation and if Allah (swt) had invited us, we would go no matter what difficulties and obstacles were there. Despite my sadness and sorrow over the possibility of not going to Hajj, my submission saved me. I let go of my control and waited to see what Allah (swt) had decreed. AlhamdulilLah, one month before our travel date, I received my U.S. visa renewal and we scrambled to get the visas for the kids. Allah (swt) had extended His invitation for us to go and so we went.

Nonetheless, my greatest moment of submission to Allah (swt) came during طواف الإفاضة. This is the tawaf (circling around the Kaabah) one does following the day of `Arafa. It is currently the most difficult part of the Hajj experience since the Saudi Government (may Allah bless their efforts on behalf of the hujjaj, those performing Hajj) have expanded the areas for Jamarat and Sa`iy. To get an idea of what occurs during this tawaf, one needs to understand that all 2 million plus hujjaj have to perform this nusuk within the span of 2-3 days. Most of the hujjaj do it on the first day of Eid Al Adha immediately following the day of `Arafa. Imagine thousands upon thousands converging to Mecca to encircle the Kaabah in the ritualistic 7 laps of tawaf. The space is limited despite the 3 levels. A friend of mine told me that when she did this tawaf she could not move; she became part of the mass that is the crowd and was propelled along with everyone else. I remember listening to her and in mind wondering how that could be. I even thought to myself she must be exaggerating! And then I experienced it myself.

As a virtual mosque, we strive to provide a safe space for learning and discussion. We would like to invite our readers to join this process. Everyone has a reflection to share, expertise on a specific topic, or a new idea. We hope, by opening up submissions from guest authors, that we can highlight the work of new, talented writers in our virtual community.

Today, one can go to Mecca in a few hours from anyplace in the world. In the past, most Muslims had to fulfill strict conditions in order to make the journey. In effect, they had to be prepared for death.

IMAX, is a leading entertainment technology that specializes in creating immersive motion pictures. This immersive movie experience is capable of taking viewers up close and personal to places they may never have an opportunity to visit -- from the highest mountain of the world to the deepest part of the sea and to the outer boundaries of space. Recreating the ancient journey of Hajj which continues till today as the longest running congregation of humans annually on planet earth, is definitely a unique experience for the medium.

The film is produced by SK Films and Cosmic Picture in association with National Geographic. Jonathan Barker the CEO of SK Films who produced this film is one of Canada's most experienced film and television industry executives and a world leader in producing and distributing Giant Screen 3D and 2D films. Mr. Barker has been responsible for the production and distribution of some of the most successful 3D films of all time, including Bugs! and Into the Deep.

In the IMAX presentation of Journey to Mecca: In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta, viewers will have the opportunity to follow the travels of Ibn Battuta, the famous traveler whose journeys are documented in the Rihla of Ibn Battuta. Originally setting out only to complete the Hajj (the Pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca), Ibn Battuta did not return home until 29 years later. Among the places he visited are West Africa, Spain, India, and China, and many places in between, spanning some 75,000 miles -- three times more than Marco Polo.

3a8082e126