Tradition meets innovation: Haj goes hi-tech

Haj has gone high-tech. A 1,400-year-old religious ritual, first performed by Prophet Mohammed, which has drawn millions to the holy site on foot for centuries is today being broadcast live through cyberspace.

“Technology is now part of Haj,” the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia, said Kamel Badawi, an engineer from Mecca who invented an “intelligent umbrella” with Palestinian colleague Manal Dandis.

Among its features, the umbrella uses solar energy to cool the user.

Pilgrims are also walking around with arms outstretched to broadcast their Haj live to family and friends by mobile phone.

While others have their eyes fixed on prayers they have downloaded.

It’s a change that seems irreversible and dramatic. Until recently, cameras were not even allowed into the Grand Mosque. But now the mosque is fully air-conditioned.

Souvenir photos are uploaded, and imams (or prayer leaders) dispense guidance via the Internet.

If the pilgrims need clothing advice, or even diabetic information, that and all sorts of other support is available on Internet sites and apps. The spiritual is also the virtual, affecting all aspects of Haj.

The interior of the pilgrimage routes through steep mountains are now eased with escalators. There is even a train to move the pilgrims from site to site. An interactive app — “Wussul (arrival)” — lists roads that traditional GPS doesn’t recognise.