The metaverse fever gave rise to a controversial discourse, namely the Hajj in the metaverse. What is the opinion of scholars?
Metaverse is moving our world into a virtual world. Everything we do in the real world, can be done in cyberspace through avatars. Starting from buying virtual land to office meetings.
However, what about matters of worship? Well, in the Middle East there is still a lot of debate about the discourse of the pilgrimage in the metaverse. How did it start?
Compiled by detikINET, Tuesday (8/2/2022) the discourse on Hajj in the metaverse began when the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque was already present in the metaverse. The Kaaba in this metaverse was officially created by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Middle East Eye reported, this metaverse project is called the Virtual Black Stone Initiative which was launched at the end of December 2021. The Grand Imam of the Grand Mosque Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Sudais was the first to visit this metaverse Kaaba with Virtual Reality (VR).
The Kaaba in the metaverse was initiated by the Saudi government through the Exhibition and Museum Affairs Agency in collaboration with Ummul Quro University. The goal is to give Muslims the opportunity to touch the Black Stone virtually.
You know, in the real world they have to fight with thousands of other people. Or, we can't touch it at all because of the Corona pandemic.
Because of that, in the Middle East the idea emerged, if the Kaaba is already in the metaverse, what if the Hajj is also performed in the metaverse.
But quite crowded in Middle East. How do scholars respond? Apparently, it was the Turkish clerics who spoke first.
Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reported, the Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) after reviewing it for a month, issued a decision: Visiting the Kaaba in the metaverse is not considered a pilgrimage.
"Hajj in the metaverse cannot take place. People can visit the Kaaba in the metaverse but it will not be considered as worship," said Diyanet's Department of Hajj and Umrah Services Department Director, Remzi Bircan.
They decided Hajj should be performed in the real world. Kaaba through VR is considered the same as VR services in a number of world museums.