The pilgrimage to Mecca has been suspended and limited during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Saudi Arabian authorities launched this Monday “The Virtual Black Stone initiative”, which consists of a simulation of the main Muslim pilgrimage sites in Mecca that, from now on, can be visited from home thanks to virtual reality .
In a statement, the Presidency of the Affairs of the two holy mosques in Mecca announced the launch of this initiative “with the aim of using virtual reality and digital experiences to simulate” the sensations of visiting these holy places for Islam.
According to the president of the organization, Abdelrahman bin Abdulai Al Sudais, “as many senses as possible are simulated, such as sight, hearing, touch and even smell, so that (the pilgrimage to Mecca) is accessible in all parts of the world through the virtual world with all clarity and honesty ”.
Great pilgrimage to Mecca, but only for a small group due to COVID-19
He also indicated that the two holy mosques, the Great Mosque and the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad, “have great religious and historical treasures that must be digitized so that they are accessible to everyone.”
In this way, the Kaaba can be seen and touched virtually from home, a cube-shaped construction in which “the black stone” is embedded, considered by Muslims a broken piece of paradise.
During the ritual of the pilgrimage to Mecca or “hach” – one of the five pillars of Islam together with the profession of faith, prayer, fasting and almsgiving – the faithful go around the Kaaba seven times and at the end of each one of them, they try to touch the black stone.
This initiative has been promoted at a time when Saudi Arabia is developing a series of important projects related to virtual reality and artificial intelligence, mainly aimed at making smart cities.
Likewise, the pilgrimage to Mecca has been suspended and limited during the coronavirus pandemic, so that millions of faithful have not been able to carry out this pillar of Islam that every Muslim must do at least once in their life, as long as their health and the economy will allow it. (I)
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