#Mecca_Live and the power of social media

As Ramadan draws to a close for another year, something caught my eye on the internet this week. On Twitter, to be precise. It was the hashtag “Mecca_Live”, and it caught my eye because it sounded like an interesting concept – a live stream of video from Makkah (anglicised spelling “Mecca”) in Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest site. But why was it trending on Twitter all of a sudden?

In the interests of protecting the sanctity of the Grand Mosque of Makkah, authorities do not permit entry of non-Muslims to the city. Even the number of Muslims travelling there is tightly controlled, with every nation allotted a set number of pilgrims per year; local Muslim organisations then organise a ballot amongst the community (in Muslim-majority countries, this is often organised by a government department). So it’s easy to understand why Makkah inspires intrigue among outsiders – it’s not somewhere you can just ‘drop by and see’.

Masjid ul-Haram from above (Image: Wurzelgnohm, Wikimedia Commons)

#Mecca_live was a hashtag generated by Snapchat – an instant messaging application that allows users to view content immediately, but just once only – no saving of pictures or videos. On the evening of the 13th July 2015 (the 27th night of Ramadan), hundreds of thousands descended upon Makkah for Laylat-ul-Qadr, the “Night of Decree”, the evening when the Qur’an was first revealed to Muhammad ﷺ. Those carrying a smartphone were encouraged to type about, photograph or video their experiences for the world to see.

(Images: Snapchat)

And the world saw, and loved it. The hashtag #Mecca_live was registered over one million times, and while Laylat-ul-Qadr and the Snapchat event are officially over, the hashtag is still being mentioned fairly regularly. The world watched as people prayed, broke their fast and circled the ka’aba. There were touching moments: pictures of pilgrims carrying their parents or children on their shoulders or pushing them in wheelchairs, of pilgrims feeding water to stray cats, of an aerial view of the Grand Mosque by night, in all its glory.

(Images: Snapchat, Twitter)

(Image: Snapchat)

And there were fun moments too; friends together, selfies after a ritual shaving of the head, and an (accurate) claim of Mecca being “the city that never sleeps”.

(Image: Snapchat)

The response was phenomenal; ordinary people from around the world who were given a glimpse into what it is that Muslims do, and why we do it. Many people were overwhelmed by the devotion and love shown in Makkah, and some were brought to tears. Some even said that they wanted to become Muslim.

(Images: Twitter)

However perhaps what #Mecca_Live was most successful at doing though was humanising Muslims. In a time when we are flooded with news stories of cheap, simplistic associations (“Christians = Christmas”, “Hindus = big weddings”, “Buddhists = peaceful”, “Muslims = terrorists”), the hashtag #Mecca_live brought real people to the fore, at a time when they were arguably closest to their religion.

(Images: Snapchat)

(Images: Snapchat, collage by Adweek)

Real people, doing real things, with real emotions, and real love. It sounds way too complex for a simple hashtag to convey, but somehow, it did.

(Image: Snapchat)

Wishing everyone around the world a happy Ramadan, and Eid Mubarak in advance ♥

If you would like to read more about Makkah (Mecca), check out our interview with Jameela from Diary of a Serial Expat, published earlier this month to celebrate the start of Ramadan. James lives in Jeddah, 80 kilometres from Makkah, and chose the holy city as her favourite city in the world.