Which Way is Mecca? A Visit to the Chebi Mosque in Cordoba

Sprituality week in the Herald continues today with a visit to the Chebi mosque in the Cordoba sim, which is based on the Great Mosque in rl Cordoba. It is really a beautiful piece of work, from the detailed textures to the great work with light to the lovely call to prayer audio files. According to Mohammeyussif Wikinger, who we met at the Mosque, they are looking to establish a leader or Imam for the mosque. This is really just a photo essay, so enjoy the screenshots. We hope to follow up with a more in depth story on Islam inside Second Life at a later time.

Oh and in case you were wondering, because the Sim is Cordoba, Mecca is due east on the Second Life map.

A shot of the arches in the original Great Mosque of Cordoba.

The arches in the Second Life Mosque.

Prayer rugs are equipped with prayer animations.

My friend Mohammedyussif, who gave me a tour.

Some very nice detail in the textures.

It is so beautiful, you almost forget you are in Second Life. But then you step outside...

Comments

[Prokofy Neva]

That's quite something to see how they arranged to have the light fall just so through the arches.

Yes, it's amazing how people create oases of beauty admidst the ugliness of Second Life, and they are all the more beautiful for it. I think these little mainland triumphs are blessed.

I wonder what the operators of this mosque think about infidels coming in and using the poses. They'd probably be unable to stop that sort of experimentation, which might be viewed as sacrilegious, unless they close the land to a group.

A few weeks ago, I attended this presentation of Catherine Omega's new job, which is a kind of sherpa firm that helps non-profits in SL and with other social software. There was an actual debate about what were the correct poses to use for prayer in the mosques. Apparently one Muslim group has stipulated one set of poses, and another group has conflicted somehow, and is stipulating some other poses. The facts need to be researched on this. The woman from the sherpa firm was asked what she thought about this, and she sort of gulped and said she thought it was a user issue, and that the creators and animators could only meet the customers' demands.

[Kasia Szydlowska]

The mosque sounds really interesting. I'd love to visit, but having been to RL mosques I know I would have to cover my hair, and I can't find headscarves anywhere in SL. Mohammedyussif should have a freebie box of modest clothing available for visitors (kind of like the "wraps" they have at some RL mosques).

[David Cartier]

Are they really insisting that women wear headscarves? When all you have to do is slip into a male av, I can't see it makes much difference. What will they do if someone wearing a hog avatar tries to enter? I suppose they make people take off their shoes, and wash their feet, too.
They are going to have to restrict the mosque to group members whenever it isn't being attended or face a whole lot of irritations. The people who've built churches and temples in SL have learned not to expect any sort of respect or even acceptance from visitors. You are lucky just to log in and not find furries screwing on the altar.

[Julaybib]

You can access a lot of the religious sims (or sims with religious representations) using SLURLs at Second Faith:

http://www.bayyinat.org.uk/secondlife.htm

By the way, the mosque is slightly beaten up at the moment due to technical problems. In its complete state, the atmosphere is incredible. And that's what visitors tell me, not just my own bias view!

Wearing headscarfs and removing shoes in a mosque is a matter of courtesy, of course. Like most folks respect sim rules elsewhere, so Muslim ones too, yeah? Thanks.

[Urizenus]

It's interesting that things like not wearing shoes translates directly from RL to VR. No one asked me to remove my virtual shoes, I just knew it should be done, and I also knew it would be asinine to say they aren't really shoes. If its all about symbolism then it doesn't seem to matter much of the shoes are leather or pixels.

[Kasia Szydlowska]

Women should cover themselves before entering mosques as a sign of modesty and respect. Granted, I haven't seen much of those qualities in SL, but then we're not talking burkhas here. Why would I ever want to "slip into a male av"? It would be easier and more appropriate for me to don a headscarf than go in as a man with a female name - that's just silly.

I think offering to wear a headscarf or remove shoes in SL makes a difference. It's also educational, since these are expected at RL mosques. If someone visits a mosque in SL, then they will know what to do should they ever visit a mosque in RL.

Maybe they should restrict the mosque to group members and hold occasional open houses. That might keep the amorous furries out.

[dmx prime]

Heh. Thats kinda neat. I laffoed at the end with the insane-o SL billboard mess contrast against the pretty mosques.

Any Jewish stuff about. I'd love to check out a jewish temple? I'm assuming theres christian stuff around. Be really neato to get the Jewish and Muslim communitys working together in SL. Always silly unfair tensions in RL, but it dont have to be like that in the metaverse.

Congrats guys. This is how you show the world what islams *really* about, rather than the nasty tripe fed to people on tv.

[TG]

Just a note...

There's a PI by the name of Mecca in Teen SL.

So Mecca really is to the east.

[jd09]

Would Mohammedyussif have asked you to remove your shoes if you hadn't done so?