Now, here’s an interesting use of technology. Islam Online have created a ‘virtual Mecca’ in Second Life that people can visit and interact with, as a tool for teaching people about the hajj.
Have you ever dreamed of being able to be part of the full hajj experience without leaving your home? Today, that is possible with the launch of IslamOnline.net’s educational hajj program on the virtual world of Second Life.
I think this would be an unparalleled experience for anyone who is going to go to hajj and is unsure of what should and should not be done,” says Breathe Swindlehurst, IOL’s coordinator in Second Life.
Rather than reading through a course or watching a video, people can actually go through all the steps of hajj with all the details of the journey from beginning to end.
“We have setup points throughout the island that can direct any visitors through the whole experience,” said Swindlehurst.
“In addition to that, we plan to have special, preannounced sessions where visitors can go through the hajj under guidance of counselors from the IOL Shari`ah department who will teach the group everything they need to know about hajj.”
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There is so much more than Hajj possible in SL. Virtuality creates a form of presence not apparent in other forms of Net communication, with people investing a degree of personhood in their avatars that is still not quite understood - e.g. some people feel physical discomfort if their avatar’s bodyspace is invaded. The theoretical aspects of 3-D sociality are being investigated by UoC Irvine anthropologist Tom Boellstorff (book due out April 08, insha Allah)- interestingly, a career break from his previous specialism: Islam!
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