The Visa-Free Pilgrimage: How Virtual Reality Dissolves Geopolitical Barriers to Peace
“We get to travel where we always wanted to go, with no visa”—Grand Imam Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad. When diplomatic relations prevent physical pilgrimage, virtual reality enables spiritual connection across hostile borders. Pakistani Muslims and Christians explore Jerusalem’s sacred sites together despite geopolitical impossibility, demonstrating how digital spaces transcend political constraints to enable people-to-people peacebuilding.