Grappling with digital age in By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff Oct. 07, 2014 1:00 AM

Muslim pilgrims pray as the sun sets at the Plain of Arafat during the annual pilgrimage, known as the , near Mecca, , Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014. Saudi Arabia sought to assure the public that the kingdom was safe and free of health scares as an estimated 2 million streamed into a sprawling tent city near Mecca for the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage.

Hajj, the journey to Mecca and Medina made by millions of devout Muslims, has been going on for centuries. This year, 2 million Islamic faithful will converge on Saudi Arabia. For them, technological changes promise to make the hajj experience safer and more comfortable than ever before.

Much to the dismay of tradition-bound Muslim clerics, however, a proliferation of smartphones has also encouraged young pilgrims to snap photos of themselves. They are photographing themselves kissing the Grand Mosque’s black stone or taking self portraits with other sacred venues in the background.

“Selfie fever has taken pilgrims and visitors to the two holy mosques by storm in recent days,” the Arab News observed. Many scholars and other pilgrims, it said, condemn such “touristy behav- ior.”

1 Is Taking A Selfie Being Modest?

Islamic Studies teacher Zahra Mohammad was quoted as saying that taking a selfie, then posting it on Facebook or other social media was inappropriate. He said it ruined the spirit of modesty and devotion expected during the hajj.

“Taking such selfies and videos defy the wish of our Prophet,” said scholar Sheik Assim al-Hakeem. Hajj, he said, is supposed to be free of “boasting or showing off.”

Mecca is famous as the birthplace of the Prophet , and Medina as his burial place, while both cities contain mosques and sites central to the Islamic faith.

Scholar Sheik Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said the kingdom’s decision to relax a ban on cellphones in the mosques was the source of the problem. The change was intended to provide pilgrims with a means of seeking help in the event of a crisis.

“It is as though the only purpose of this trip is to take pictures and not worship—and when they return home they say: Come look at me, this is me on Arafat, this is me in Muzdalifah!”’ he said to Arab News.

Protecting Pilgrims From Hazards

Still, Saudi engineers and planners are being hailed for introducing new elements of protection and comfort. In the past, the annual hajj has been marred by deadly stampedes, numerous cases of heat stroke and extremist violence.

Under the headline “10 Ways Engineering Rocks the Casbah,” the Albawaba website hailed con- struction and design improvements that are intended to minimize the hazards that accompany the hajj. Among such hazards are the extreme crowding that results when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attempt to walk around the mosques’ interiors at the same time. Extreme weather is also a serious risk. Pilgrims pray outdoors, uncovered, in temperatures that can exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The mataf, the courtyard surrounding the Casbah, has been modified as part of the expansion of Mecca’s Grand Mosque. The mosque is now capable of handling 130,000 people per hour and is accessible to the disabled.

At the Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, 250 giant inverted “umbrellas” have been installed over the courtyard to shade pilgrims from the sweltering midday sun. In the outdoor assembly area of the mosque, sliding domes have been installed. When necessary, they can be used to provide protection from the elements.

2 Tougher Security And Health Screening

The kingdom has also deployed 60,000 security agents and private contractors to protect this year’s hajj. They will be using face-recognition software to spot potential troublemakers and monitoring 1,700 closed-circuit cameras.

Saudi health officials have also installed two medical screening points at Jidda airport. They will be used to check arriving African pilgrims for the Ebola virus to prevent its spread to the teeming hajj sites. Measures have also been imposed to contain the further spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome. The disease has killed more than 80 people in Saudi Arabia in the last two years.

A pilot project has provided 300 pilgrims from India’s Chhattisgarh state with free cellphones. These are loaded with an innovative app that can assist users in locating or messaging one another, navigating the vast sites and translating Arabic. The State Hajj Committee will make the app available to other countries next year.

The first adopters, though, would be well advised not to use the phones for taking selfies.

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