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Technology Changing Hajj Pilgrimage
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Modern technology has changed the way Muslims experience the hajj pilgrimage, a rite required of able-bodied faithful who can afford it at least once in a lifetime. It has also perhaps changed the way they experience being Muslims, as Islamic militants have popularly seized on the Internet as a tool for publicizing their extremist, often violent, version of the religion.
Dressed in a seamless white robe, Algerian pilgrim Tayyeb Bouguettaya circled the Kaaba several times Monday with a prayer booklet in one hand and a mobile phone in the other, reciting religious mantras in unison with his wife a continent away.
“This is the last tawaf (round). Now recite with me, ‘In the name of Allah, Allahu Akbar,’ “an overwhelmed Bouguettaya, 30, said to his wife, Mina, as he began his final counterclockwise circuit around the sacred black cubic structure.
Outside the holy Kaaba, which Muslims around the world face in prayer five times a day, Bouguettaya was thrilled to have had the technology to share his pilgrimage with his wife, who stayed at home in Algiers.
“I am so happy, it felt like both me and my wife were facing Allah together,” Bouguettaya said, standing in front of Islam’s holiest shrine.
Moments later, his Nokia mobile phone rang again. “It’s my business contact in China,” said the electronics dealer with a smile. “I’ll e-mail you a little later,” he said to the caller, and then returned to his rituals.
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