A buzzing good idea
2003-08-25 22:12
Amman - A Jordanian inventor has contrived a special prayer rug fitted with an electronic device intended to keep the Muslim faithful alert during prayers, the state-run Jordanian news agency Petra reported on Monday.
Like many Muslims, Fawaz Abu Ragheb used to miss the number of times he had to kneel and touch his forehead to the rug during the five daily prayers that all devout Muslims must perform, the agency said.
So he came up with the idea of fitting a sheet of metal equipped with an electronic device on the prayer rug on the spot where the forehead touches the carpet.
Abu Ragheb said the device cost him 65 000 dinars to make but that he intends to commercialize it a price that would be "affordable" to all, according to Petra.
He told the agency he was granted a special fatwa, religious decree, from several Muslim organisations including the Islamic research center of Al-Azhar, the Cairo-based authority on Sunni Islam, to ensure his device did not violate Islamic principles.
- SAPA