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Berlin: Every
able Muslim is required to go on a pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi
Arabia — known as the hajj — at least once in their life.
But the journey to Makkah can be an overwhelming experience. Over
a million people from around the world descend on the Islamic holy
sites during the hajj period, and they have to both perform
complicated rituals and find their way around heaving crowds in
often stifling heat.
Now a young German computer scientist has developed a Smartphone
app to help the pilgrims find their way and offer a guide to
performing the rituals that are an essential part of the hajj.
Habiburrahman Dastageeri first had the idea when he went to Makkah
with his family in 2006 to perform the Umrah, another, less
complicated pilgrimage that can be done at any time of year. “I
realized that it was not as easy as I had imagined,” he said. “Of
course my family and I had prepared, but when I was there, I saw
that there was a lot that we just couldn’t have known.”
The 32-year-old, who was born in Mainz after his parents
immigrated to Germany from Afghanistan, was studying computer
science in Stuttgart University at the time. “I thought it would
be interesting if I could have had a navigation device that could
also be a religious guide.”
He soon embarked on a Masters program. For his project, he decided
to develop a prototype GPS system for the hajj.
It took over two years to develop the “Amir” app, named for the
Arabic word for guide.
The hajj rituals vary according to gender, so there is one app for
men and one for women. The user can then choose exactly which of
the different variations of the hajj he or she is doing.
“The first big challenge for a pilgrim is to know what, when and
where the rituals have to be performed” Dastageeri told GlobalPost.
“These are not part of everyday life for most people. They would
not have practiced them before at home.”
The step-by-step guide helps them prepare, with a check list and
interactive tutorials on how to perform the rituals.
Once they are in Makkah, the GPS navigation system comes into
play. Pilgrims can quickly become disorientated in Makkah. A vast
tent city set up for the visitors and a plethora of
similar-looking hotels have led some people to go lost for up to
three days, Dastageeri said, as they try to find their way back to
their accommodation.
The app helps them not only find the exact pilgrimage sites but
also how to get back to their tent or hotel room, and other
meeting points.
He has set up a company and began marketing the apps in December.
The hajj iPhone app costs 19.99 Euros ($26), while the ones for
the Umrah cost 9.99 Euros ($13). They are available in Turkish,
English, Arabic and German so far, and he plans to translate into
other languages soon. He is also working on an Android version.
In December, Dastageeri travelled to Saudi Arabia as part of a
business delegation with the finance minister of Baden-Württember
state, and held talks with officials about how the app could be
utilized in the organization of the hajj. He is also in talks with
several potential investors.
The project took longer than Dastageeri expected because he had
not only had to develop the technology, but also make sure that
the app complied with Islamic thought. To do so, he consulted with
Australia-based scholar Abu Muneer Ismail Davids, who has written
numerous books on the hajj. “It was really important that there
would be neither religious nor technological mistakes,” Dastageeri
said.
For Dastageeri, the chance to combine his tech skills and his
religious beliefs was the main attraction in developing the app.
“As a computer scientist, you learn to find solutions to known
problems, and the hajj has existed for 1,400 years. With these new
possibilities we can now significantly simplify the hajj, and also
help many people. That was my motivation from the start.”
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