Haj selfies: A new trend among pilgrims

MINA: Raising his arm, Yousef Ali hugs his elderly father in front of one of the Haj sites as they pose for a selfie — a new trend that has hit this year’s Haj. But not everyone is happy about young pilgrims from around the world constantly snapping “selfies,” as they carry out the rites of Haj.

Haj is world’s largest religious gatherings of Muslims. It has attracted over two million believers this year.

“As this is my first pilgrimage, it is important for me to document all the events taking place around me,” Ali, 24, told AFP, snapping a picture of himself.

“Wherever I go, I take pictures,” the casually dressed Kuwaiti pilgrim said with a smile.

The increasingly popular phenomenon has sparked controversy among some Muslims.

“When we went for Umrah in the mid-90s, dad nearly had his camera confiscated by authorities. Now, #HajSelfie is A Thing,” wrote one Tweeter.

Another user named Kahwaaa wrote: “Selfies shouldn’t be taken.”

But others said the issue was being blown out of proportion.

“People creating a huge issue about #Hajselfies. What is wrong with selfies?,” asked Abdul Mufeez Shaheed.

“A person taking such pictures is documenting a rare event,” a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many Muslims, he said.

Speaking to AFP by telephone, a professor of Islamic law in Riyadh said that “if photographs are only for personal memory and not for disseminating, then no problem.

“But if they were for the purpose of showing off, then they are prohibited, such as the photography that takes place at the Haj rites.”