The Egyptian media, Lamees Al-Hadidi, sparked a great controversy during the past hours on social networking sites, after she asked during her program why the Hajj rituals were not performed using the “Metaverse or Online” technology.
Al-Hadidi said during an episode of her program “One Last Word” broadcast on the Egyptian “On” satellite channel, that the new generations are thinking and some of them may ask their parents about, “Why don’t we perform the Hajj with the Metaverse? Why don’t we do the Hajj online? Or via Zoom?”, adding that they are thinking and asking about The reason why we go there to Saudi Arabia.
And she added that they may ask, “Why should we go around the Kaaba seven times, and this is not my opinion, but rather I am asking questions,” and indicated that answering them that this is what God has commanded and we must do without any discussion, may cause them not to be convinced.
The guest of the episode, Osama Raslan, supervisor of the English Language Unit at the Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism, responded and said: “We are commanded to perform the Hajj as the Prophet performed it… Worships in Islam are mostly linked to a date, and some are linked to a date and place, such as the Hajj.”
He explained that violating this falls under what is called “the abusive”, which is an act that came in the Qur’an in Surat Al-Tawbah, where the verse says, “The abusive is only an increase in disbelief.”
And the “bad” was usually present in the Arabian Peninsula, where some people postponed or replaced it during the Hajj before Islam. Instead of the Hajj in the month of Dhul-Hijjah, another month was chosen, whether before or after it.
On the idea of the Metaverse, Raslan said that Saudi Arabia launched a platform only to educate pilgrims about the rituals and not as an alternative.
During the “Hajj Expo” exhibition in Jeddah, last January, Saudi authorities reviewed “the first metaverse platform to educate pilgrims on the rituals of Hajj, and the technology is used to introduce the pilgrim through a journey since their arrival to his residence in Makkah Al-Mukarramah and introduce him to the entire rituals of Hajj in less than 3 minutes and it is displayed with very high accuracy.” It also acquaints pilgrims with the most important landmarks that they encounter, such as the Holy Kaaba, the Mount of Mercy in Arafat, and the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
A large number of tweeters circulated on Twitter a clip of an interview with Mays Al-Hadidi, and some criticized her greatly, while others defended her, claiming that her speech was taken out of context.
A commentator wrote: “They want Hajj Online, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada to be present.” Another said: “Excellent.
And another account wrote: “Okay, she said that this is a question.
Lamees Al-Hadidi responded via her Twitter account, and wrote: “For those who want to know the truth about Hajj’s attack with the Metaverse..this is the true and complete video..not the cutting and sticking that the Brotherhood made. As for those who want to mislead and believe any need without certainty, we leave them to their ignorance.”
2023-07-01 16:00:13
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