How this tech device may help Muslims with their prayers

Sensor technologies have evolved in almost every aspect of our lives to provide us with a better experience and make some tasks more efficient and trackable. One example is Salatcard, a small device initially designed to count the number of Rakats performed in prayers. The goal of the device is to help people who have memory problems such as Alzheimer’s disease (assistive tool), children who are still learning how to pray (teaching tool), or anyone who is performing prayers and wants to focus on the experience itself more than on counting.

Behind the idea is Kuwaiti entrepreneur Raed Arrar, who was raised in Egypt and studied international finance at San Diego University in the 1980s before moving to Brazil, where he then stayed for over 25 years.

In Sao Paulo, he worked on different projects in the food industry. One of his projects was the development of small units that could be placed in supermarkets to make yogurt in front of the client. “I gave it [the idea] to a big company in Brazil; we got 70 percent of the market in one month,” he told Wamda in a phone call. “But we had an agreement with other competitors not to expand so it doesn’t threaten them. So we had to stop it two years later.”. Then Arrar worked in the beauty industry and became involved in emerging technologies. In 2008, he designed his own motorbike before moving into a totally new sector a year later – Islamic technology.

Making prayers trackable

Arrar first thought of developing a prayer device after his mother wondered why there wasn’t any technology that can help Muslims count the number of Rakats (the movement of standing up and bowing) they perform while praying.

Original article by Reine Farhat

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How this tech device may help Muslims with their prayers