International Shia News Agency

Live from Mecca – How non-Muslims can now share in Islam’s sacred rituals

SHAFAQNA - Thousands have taken to social media to celebrate the holy city of Mecca as Snapchat released a “story” celebrating Ramadan.

Snapchat’s Live Story feature, released on Monday evening, enabled Muslims to collaborate and share personal videos of Mecca.

The social media giant’s decision was prompted by an online campaign from hundreds of thousands of Saudi Muslims to live stream the event under the hashtag “Mecca_live.”

It allowed a rare glimpse into the holy city for non-Muslims who are not allowed to enter.

On Monday just over a million people tweeted out under the hashtag, celebrating the “live” story which featured worshippers in the city, people in prayer and the joyful atmosphere.

Muslims tweeted their thanks to Snapchat for streaming the event, as non-Muslims celebrated the peaceful and “beautiful” portrayal of the Islamic faith. One tweeted that the story had “changed my perspective of Islam”.

Social media was also deluged by Muslims inside Mecca who tweeted photographs and short clips. Tens of thousands of tweets about Makkah were posted on Monday night, according to analyst website Topsy.

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