- Sana Khoury
- Religious Affairs Correspondent – BBC News Arabic
23 September 2022, 08:01 GMT
The MetaCon project launched a non-replaceable digital business chain, with the aim of adding verses of the Qur’an to the blockchain
Meta’s announcement (formerly Facebook) of its intention to launch a new virtual world project called “Metaverse” prompted the technology, tourism, fashion, business and other sectors to hurry to reserve a space for them in the “new digital universe”. But, if we’re going to buy and sell and travel and build cities in that metaphysic, why don’t we practice our religion there too?
The idea of a virtual universe or parallel reality, is not new, especially in the world of video games. With the development of virtual or augmented reality lenses, it opened up a wide field for players to create parallel characters in parallel worlds.
A famous example is the 3D game “Minecraft”, where players can build buildings, cities, and even mosques. The same applies to the game “Second life”, which is a virtual world game that imagines a second life parallel to our life on earth, in which land can be purchased, houses can be built, and all activities, including prayer, can be practiced.
During the quarantine imposed by the Covid-19 epidemic, all religious institutions were forced to test the technical capabilities available to perform prayers and rituals, which made it easier for many followers of religions to practice their customs even from behind a screen, or through Facebook live broadcast.
However, with our gradual exit from the state of health emergency, the eagerness of people to return to participate in mass rituals in large numbers was evident.
At the same time, some virtual worship initiatives were not positively met, as happened when Saudi Arabia put forward the virtual black stone initiative during the epidemic period, which allows those wishing to touch the stone through augmented reality.
This puts religious groups in front of a problem: if they delay engaging in the updated version of the Internet, as experts expect metaverses to be, they will lose an important space for communication and presence. But how can this be done without turning the subjective spiritual experiences into another video game?
Theological and doctrinal problems may be many, but it is still early to delve into them. Metaverse is a project that is still under construction, and the most optimistic regarding its completion do not expect it to become available ten years or more.
What has been fixed so far is that, unlike the Internet as we know it, which allows us to “browse” it to read, to shop, to hold meetings, or to play, we will be able to “enter” the metaverse, by designing a character or a virtual icon, who may sit in our place in the meeting room, Or wandering to stores to buy clothes, or to visit attractions that we did not visit in the real world.
And maybe, who knows, this symbol or virtual character might visit many places of worship that we cannot actually visit, due to restrictions, such as Al-Aqsa Mosque. Perhaps it will allow us to visit the rugged peaks of Tibet, to indulge in its spirituality, without leaving the living room.
This is not far-fetched. Currently, there are virtual tours available online for mosques, temples and churches around the world, which we can tour even without augmented reality lenses, with a detailed explanation of their history.
Research into the form of worship in metaphysics is still in its infancy, but we can imagine it through experiments that have begun to be completed, within three lines: those who are already trying to pray in the virtual world, those who are working to attract young people interested in building religious groups in the metaverses, and those who are thinking of marriage Between the philosophy of religious architectural design and the modern technologies that a parallel world will provide.
Metaverse is now here
Some churches have already begun to experiment, including the American “Life.Church”, which broadcasts prayers, masses, sermons and singing parties via video technology, to participants from all over the world, to its virtual church.
Reverend Bobby Gruenwald, the Church’s renewal officer, says that the use of technology to enhance the presence and spread of his congregation is not new, as they have previously launched services and applications that allow those wishing to participate in prayer via the Internet.
Gruenewald developed one of the world’s most popular Bible apps, YouVersion, which has been downloaded more than 500 million times on the app stores. He also contributed to the development of his Church Online platform, and the same technology has helped more than 30,000 churches, during the period of the epidemic, to communicate with worshipers.
Gruenewald says that “Live Church” has already begun to revive prayer in the virtual world since December / 2021, via the AltspaceVR platform, by creating a building resembling a church, in which people can gather through their avatars, to perform prayer and exchange discussions.
In his experience, says Gruenewald, praying in virtual reality gives people comfort to share “deep matters or family problems that they are not comfortable saying in person.” In his opinion, this represents a unique opportunity for “churches to open discussion regarding real challenges, and to ask honest questions regarding faith.”
Gruenwald realizes that there will be no impersonators or fake accounts, but that it can be found anywhere else on the Internet.
The American pastor and developer says that many challenges can face churches, especially with regard to some rituals that can only be held by tangible tools such as baptism and communion.
He says: “At present we don’t have many answers, we once tried an online Communion, and sent bread to worshipers in their homes to participate. I’m not a theologian, but I think technology is not destructive in itself, but can be a door to good or evil depending on how we use it. to her”.
So far, many have benefited from the Metaphysical Church that the Life Church built. Gruenewald tells us regarding a father who wanted to help his son, who suffers from severe social anxiety, which prevents him from leaving the house and communicating with people. “Going to the virtual church helped the son communicate with others, and contributed to improving his condition, and this applies to others whose health or psychological condition limits their freedom of movement.”
He also tells us regarding an eleven-year-old boy named Zach, who attends the Metaverse Church with his mother, and a friend of his has died of cancer. “Zach noticed that cancer patients undergoing treatment in the hospital are cut off from the world, so he raised money to buy the necessary equipment and 3D glasses for them to use, so they are not prisoners of their family all the time.”
open door of opportunity
In addition to the groups that laid the foundation stone in the parallel world, there are many initiatives that are still finding the way, not necessarily in search of a way to perform worship in metaphysics, but also in an effort to provide spaces that celebrate the culture of religions and strengthen collective bonds between their followers.
One of the Arab endeavors in this field is an experiment from Morocco, which its founders call “MetaCon”, and it seeks to be a parallel virtual universe for young Muslim men and women, who see “Islam as an open and tolerant religion, and are not satisfied with the way the media portrays them,” as the founder tells us Meta Kon” Othman Meziane from Casablanca.
Othman says that the idea of the project was “to find a way to connect Muslims of all races, to do common things in a common place, but the project is open to non-Muslims as well.”
Meziane believes that it is now difficult for anyone to provide a complete and comprehensive definition of metaverse and the opportunities it will present, so the goal of “MetaCon” is to give a platform for innovators and entrepreneurs to help them build their environments with augmented and virtual reality to reach their audience, and address Muslims around the world.
MetaCon’s first initiative is the Preservation Project, a non-fungible token set (NFT), with the number of verses of the Qur’an.
The collection consists of symbolic images representing the diversity of cultures, ethnicities and nationalities among the Muslims of the world, and is divided equally between men and women. When acquiring the image, the technology used allows its owner to add a verse of the Qur’an to the blockchain.
photo released, Metakawn
The project targets young Muslims, who are interested in digital, video games, cryptocurrency, and all the elements that experts today say will make up what they call the third generation of the World Wide Web, or Web3.
Othman Meziane says: “There are many experiences that we are experiencing now – it was impossible thirty years ago, for example, hearing the Friday sermon from Mecca on television. Perhaps, in the future, we may be able to perform the congregation using augmented reality, or circumambulating the Kaaba for the people who They can’t travel.”
You have a life in imagination
We do not know what the digital future may hold yet. The opportunities are undoubtedly many, but can religious experiences in virtual or parallel reality enhance the spiritual experience or distract people from the most important? In the opinion of Australian virtual reality designer Peter Gold, imagination is a fundamental and important concept in Islam, and it can be understood at many levels, and transferred to the virtual world in a way that gives people unique spiritual experiences.
Peter was born in Australia, and converted to Islam twenty years ago, paralleling his entry into the field of design. For him, approaching Islamic arts as if they were traditions from the past, is inaccurate, because the goal of Islamic design, mosaics, and calligraphy, is to bring people closer to the Creator, remind them of the sacred, and motivate them to meditate and reflect on God, and this can be achieved in any context, using any technique.
photo released, PETER GOULD/ISLAM IMAGINED
He says: “People have always had deep spiritual communication experiences online, but I think the Covid stage has accelerated it for many, with the spread of private channels and even religious lessons online, making knowledge that was difficult to obtain widely.”
In his opinion, augmented reality experiences can be a great opportunity to impart knowledge and wisdom and reach a broad audience that can no longer be attracted by traditional religious education methods.
“It is imperative to embrace the possibilities that the age affords us, and certainly a well-designed, high-end AR experience can give people an inspiring spiritual experience, and help them be more present in their real-life diaries.”
Gould argues that prayer cannot be replaced “as a deep, subjective experience, disconnected from the Internet or any other distraction, turning off all devices and bending over to rest your head on the ground, an act that is deep, simple, primitive and more themed than any digital experience.” But he adds: “When we talk regarding merging religious rituals with modern technologies, many people think that we are calling to leave traditional means of worship, to put huge glasses on our heads, and to sit in our places. I do not find that there is a problem in finding integrated experiences in the digital world that complement our real experience. It gives us other perspectives and encourages us to learn and discover new things.”