Spiritual journey to Mecca not complete without a ‘holy selfie’
Muslims on this sacred pilgrimage are carrying smartphones alongside their Qur’ans
Nadia Caidi has never been on the hajj, but armed with her smartphone, she doesn’t have to leave the comfort of her home to experience the annual religious pilgrimage.
That’s because many of the millions of Muslims descending on Mecca this year will carry with them more than simple clothing or copies of the Qur’an.
Unlike generations before who completed the religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia without much technology, more and more Muslims are taking cellphones, iPads and cameras with them, capturing selfies along the way.
Caidi, a researcher at U of T, explored the recent trend with two other academics over the last few years and dubbed the images “holy selfies.”
“People see it like going to the Eiffel Tower,” she said, of the selfies taken while on hajj or umrah — a pilgrimage to Mecca taken outside of hajj season — that proliferate Facebook albums and Twitter feeds. “Why would somebody not do it when they are in this place?”
That nonchalant attitude toward photographing a religious obligation — com- pleting the hajj at least once is a duty required of most adult Muslims — has stirred up controversy. Some feel it is an attack on the sacred nature of the pilgrimage, said imam Yusuf Badat, the main imam at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto and the vice-chair of the Canadian Council of Imams.
“If you’re overwhelmed or obsessed with the selfie, you’re missing the real objective of pilgrimage, which is self-formation and discipline and engaging in meaningful prayers,” said Badat.
His father frowns upon the practice because “he thinks anything religious should be kept away from technology,” but that hasn’t stopped Badat.
“I have taken selfies. I am not going to lie,” he said, of how he’s spent time on the annual pilgrimages he makes.
Years ago, snapping a selfie would have been tougher. Badat says security guards cracked down on camera usage at hajj sanctuaries for many years so “people would hide and take selfies. They would position themselves away from a large crowd.”
In recent years, he said he has noticed security will only intervene when there is a safety concern or someone’s use of technology is impeding the journey.
That’s meant social media platforms have been flooded with selfies of pilgrims in front of the Kaaba, Islam’s most sacred mosque.
Some have packed selfie sticks to secure the perfect shot.
“I have taken selfies. I am not going to lie . . . (In years past) people would hide and take selfies. They would position themselves away from a large crowd.” IMAM YUSUF BADAT ISLAMIC FOUNDATION OF TORONTO
Those images are then splashed across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, sometimes using the #hajjselfie hashtag.
The yearning to share, said Badat, might come from the habit of using social media to post even the most mundane moments like eating a doughnut or a need to remember a trip that, because of its cost, few will make more than once.
He understands the excitement, especially because he takes a group of young Muslims on a pilgrimage to Mecca every year.
The important thing to remember, he said, is “to find the fine balance.
“If they are fulfilling the objective of the pilgrimage and after the completion of a certain ritual, if they are posing for a photo or selfie, I don’t see anything harmful Islamically or immorally.”