Saudi Launches First Multi-Language Hajj App

CAIRO – Aiming to make hajj easier for pilgrims from different nationalities, Saudi Arabia has launched the first ever multi-language mobile application  to guide Muslims during the spiritual journey.

“Internet today is an effective tool for disseminating information. It can be used for educational purpose, for preaching Islam and removing misconception regarding Islam and Muslims etc,” founding member of Jamia Millia Islami Alumni Association (Riyadh), Dr. Shafatullah Khan, told Saudi Gazette on Wednesday, September 2.

“It will continue to affect our day-to-day life until it is replaced by other new technology. We need to make maximum use of it in conveying Islamic teachings to the common people,” he added.

Named “Haj e Mabroor”, the app contains three books on hajj and Umrah, nine speeches, a hajj & Umrah presentation and 21 articles.

The app, which is in Urdu, English and Hindi, was prepared by Dr. Najeeb Qasmi and launched by renowned scholar of Hadith and King Faisal award laureate Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Azmi.

Pilgrims don’t need internet connection to read books, articles and questions and answers featured by the app.

Muslims from around the world pour into Makkah every year to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.

Hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform hajj at least once in a lifetime.

Hajj 2015 is anticipated to fall between September 20 and September 25, taking place from the 8th to the 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Hijri calendar.

Deen e Islam

Another multi-language app, “Deen e Islam”, that offers information about hajj and umrah in three languages was launched too.

Tackling 21 religious topics, the app features 175 articles dealing with different aspects of life, 75 speeches, and seven books.

Both apps are available at Play Store or App Store. Users can simply type “Najeeb Qasmi” or “Hajj e Mabroor” and install them within two minutes.

“Today, anti-Islamic elements are criticizing Islam and striving hard to create doubts in the minds of Muslims about the origin and authenticity of the Qur’an and Hadith,” King Faisal award laureate Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Azmi said.

“Since theses conspiracies by Orientalists against Islam and the Qur’an are being carried out in different European languages, our Islamic scholars are unaware of them and are not able to counter them.

“About 70 organizations in Germany alone have collated currently and are working on a 20-year project of creating doubt in the minds of Muslims about the compilation of the Qur’an and weakening their faith in the authenticity of the Islamic resources.”

The multi-language apps are not the first to be dedicated to hajj.

In 2012, a German Muslim computer scientist developed a smartphone application to help millions of pilgrims to find their way in the holy city of Makkah for hajj and `Umrah.

Last year, a hajj guide app was introduced by the Indian consulate in Jeddah to offer help to thousands of pilgrims in overcrowded hajj rituals.

More recently, a Saudi university developed a new mobile app that keeps track of rounds during the tawaf or circumambulation of the Ka`aba.

Source :  http://www.onislam.net