Trending #hajjselfie fever not going down well with clerics

The News Minute | October 5, 2014 | 05:33 pm ISTThose visiting Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year have been bitten by the selfie bug. The selfie fever is apparent from the influx of the #hajjselfie on various social media sites. But this has not gone down well with many, including Islamic clerics, for whom the selfie craze is nothing short of enraging. Zahra Mohammad, an Islamic Studies teacher in Riyadh, told Arab News, â€œI have seen pilgrims in Masjid Al-Haram taking selfies with the Kaaba in the background and this selfie is then posted on Facebook making it a social media event and ruining their act of ibadah by ‘humble-bragging’,” she added.The report also states that the rules for carrying camera phones inside holy mosques, which was prohibited until a few years ago, have been relaxed to some extent over time. And this could be one of the reasons behind the spurt in selfies during the Hajj.  Those taking selfies, however, feel that the photographs are a way of documenting their trip and sharing it with friends and family. One user on Twitter wrote, "Seems like a distraction. But it's an important moment in ppl's lives. I understand wanting to save the memory". Another wrote "People creating a huge issue about #hajjselfies If photos are allowed during Hajj then what is wtong with selfies?"Here are few of the #hajjselfiesLoading View on Instagram*/Loading Rabbim tekrar kavuÅŸturdu bu mübarek beldeye.. Ä°nÅŸallah mebrur eylesin.. HerÅŸey yolunda; dualarınızı iletiyorum.. Sevgiyle.. View on Instagram*/Loading View on Instagram*/#NotInMyName #Mecca #Hajj #١٤٣٥ #الحج #مكة_المكرمة #HajiBackpacker #hajjselfie #Hajj2014 @saifuddinabd pic.twitter.com/LHSnQEGGOt— Nur Iman (@iimandesu) October 1, 2014#selfie #qurayyat_scout #iscout #Makkah #Hajj2014 #qurayyat pic.twitter.com/I8OTmcMjNU— كشافة تعليم القريات (@qurayyatscout) October 2, 2014Snap: #hajjselfies gain popularity during #pilgrimage#EidulAdha pic.twitter.com/WsFaxKVsTj— Lone Survivor (@lone_survivour) October 5, 2014Watch this video about Hajj selfies uploaded by AJ+ on YouTube.