The digital pilgrimage between facilitating rituals and the obsession with intimacy



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  • Sana Khoury
  • Religious Affairs Correspondent – BBC News Arabe

Pilgrims to Mount Arafat 2021

published photo, AFP

A digital bracelet, smart cards, health apps and robots … this is what visitors to Mecca will experience this year, in the second season of Hajj in light of the Corona outbreak.

This year, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia took a digital approach to overcome health barriers caused by COVID-19.

In the latest issue of the official Hajj magazine published by the ministry, Hajj Deputy Minister Abdel Fattah Mashat states that “technology is a strategic direction for serving Rahman pilgrims.” “The current Hajj season will be completely digital,” he adds.

This trend is not new, but it has become an urgent necessity with the urgency imposed by the epidemic. In recent years, smart screens have accompanied the pilgrims’ journey, and each pilgrim has been able to provide a very personal account of their spiritual experience through messaging apps and social media accounts.

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