Hajj tech impact

Arab News/zawya.com, Technology revolutionizes communication in Haj, 18 Nov 2010

""How can you focus on circling the Kaaba or concentrate on prayers when the guy in front of you is talking to his wife on his cell phone?" said pilgrim Imran Zahid.

""There can definitely be a disturbance. This is a spiritual journey, a journey to develop ourselves from within. All that Internet stuff can wait.""

Smart Phones for Ka`bah

Mustafa Abu Amsha, Islam Online, Smart Phones for Ka`bah, 17 Sep 09 "For millions of pilgrims who visit the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, the ultimate prize of the day is to get the closest to the Ka`bah and be able to hear the heavenly recitation of the Quran by the imam of Al Masjid al-Haram.

"But thanks to modern technology, every pilgrim, even those praying hundreds of meters away from the mosque itself, are enjoying the same through new start-of-the-art sound phones.

"“When you are some three hundred meters away from the imam, it’s very hard to hear the voice and follow him in the prayer,” Sheikh Mansour Al-Amer, manager of Hajj and `Umrah Gifts Foundation, told IslamOnline.net."

Ka'aba Radio Programme

BBC Radio 3, The Black Cube, 1 Mar 09 available on iPlayer for 7 days from original broadcast (shame it wasn't an MP3)

"Broadcaster and film-maker Navid Akhtar talks about the Ka'aba - or the Black Cube - at the heart of the Masjid al Haram Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the holiest shrine of Islam, encircled by millions of pilgrims every year, and is traditionally said to have been built by Abraham on the foundations of the first house of Adam."

I haven't heard this one yet.