will it open my 3rd eye?

Didn't they invent the suicide bomber?

Who says all inventions have to benefit society?

Nominate this guy for a Nobel Prize!
The Arabs certainly need one!

Leave it to the Mossad to rig it so that when a [bigoted word] touches his forehead to the carpet a .45 warning shot goes through it...

/wishful thinking

This is possibly the funniest thing that I have ever read on your site. They are finally coming up with the times.

How hard is it to count to 5?

What does it do? give them a jolt if they doze off?

It's a remote controlled bomb.

Now if he invents a bicycle seat that goes off when Muslim girls sit on it, he'll be rich and can move to Amerika...

LMAO! Oh G-d. 65 k dinars is about $100 grand. What a moron. I could have done the same for about $10 in parts from Radio Shack.

Better hurry to the patent office Fawaz - somebody might beat you to it.

There will be a huge market for these in France very soon. :-)

Probably akin to those devises which wake up a little kid when he pees the bed.
I get the picture these rug ranters fall asleep on their foreheads whilst cooling their blunt ends.

This is really just a device for the muslim governments to read their minds. Every time they touch their head to the ground, their intelligence is slowly extracted out.

#10 evariste

100 grand?! Holy cow. I think a cup of coffee would be cheaper. ;)

Wait a minute. Think about the possiblilties. Put the prayer rug on a damp or wet spot and ZAP, no more Arafat. I can see great potential in this product.

Jordanian: $91,678 to make a buzzer mat

Me: $3.99 for a buzzer, $5.99 for an AC/AC transformer, $2.99 for a full-wave bridge rectifier, $2.29 for a pushbutton switch (all from Radio Shack); $15 for a decent rug from Target; $2 for length of 18-gauge wire for wiring the job = $33.87 (5% sales tax)...maybe throw in $1 to get an electrical cord for the wall outlet.

First Algebra and now this advance, nay, leap in quantum mechanics. You gotta hand it to the A-rabs: They sure know how to make... prayer rugs fitted with an electronic device intended to keep the Muslim faithful alert during prayers.

"...an important contribution to mankind, nevertheless if you consider all the centuries of Western oppression;"--Harry Goldgut, NY Times
"Up there with the polio vaccine."--Khaled ibn Ghouli, Berkeley Daily Star

This inventor watches too many movies. An electronic prayer rug.

Now if he can only re-invent the flying carpet, an invention not seen in the Arab world since Ali-Babba, the devout could get over that pesky Aparheid wall to do what they love doing best -- killing Jews.

#17:

Now add about $99K so that he could get the fatwa so that it wouldn't violate and Islamic religious laws, and you got your budget!

I imagine it would be more complex than a buzzer. Plus the buzzing would disturb nearby worshippers, and there would be no way he would have gotten the fatwa for it.
There must be some sort of IC controlled LCD that silently counts the number of forehead touches. Plus it has to be sensitive enough to register a light head hitting it, but not too sensitive to go off from external sources.
And yes, add $90,000 to get the fatwa :>

I can't wait to see it. I might get one for my Muslim friends.

Fawaz Abu Ragheb

Surely they mean DR. Fawaz Abu Ragheb.

Between this buzzer guy and the geniuses who want to sue the Jews for stealing Egyptian property during the Exodus, how can you tell real news about the Arab world from the Onion?

#14 Lively:

Too late!

how can you tell real news about the Arab world from the Onion?

When people 'splode/seeth/whine, amongst other things.

Yes, what every terrorist Muslim should have is an electric rug. Now all they need is a matching chair. Hopefully, one or the other should have the desired result.

You can't make this sh*t up. Well, maybe lawhawk and E.Nough can, but...

So many... wise-ass comments... flooding... brain... agggh!

But at least now I can finish my Ramadan gift-shopping for the Kaffir Caliph (Gordon) ahead of schedule.

C'mon...this rug thing is a monty Python skit, isn't it?...
it is ..isn't? Too many late night fatwahs...Hi there akmed..we're look for inventors...we'll market and patent your invention call... Abu simbel 8-22-2-much!!

mommydoc-I thought it was iowahawk? Maybe they both do...

Can the power grid in Jordan handle the demand if thousands of electronic prayer rugs are all plugged in at the same time?

The corrupt, evil, infidel West has given us:
electricity, the internal combustion engine, heart transplants, pasteurized foods, computers, airplanes, satellites, radio, the internet, television, brain surgery, nuclear power plants, skyscrapers, men on the moon...

Islam has given us:
bomb belts, and a buzzing prayer rug

#32 locutus,

Islam has given us:
bomb belts, and a buzzing prayer rug

And they had to steal components from the West to give us those.

If you fall asleep on the way down and hit it too hard, does it break?

What's the warranty policy?

Will the mosques have to be retrofitted with rows of electric outlets?

Gee, and I only had dolls made from handkerchiefs to keep me awake during Church services as a child.

Hi Evariste. *?)

*LMAO

I can think of a couple of other things they could invent for amputees, like when they lose their left hand and arm.

Do we know anyone that would know how the energy grid is set up in Jordan? hrmmm...*evil grin

This surely deserves an infomercial.

"...but wait, there's more!"

turn the power wayyy up

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.

OK let me get this straight. You pray five times a day every day, and you still miss the number of times to kneel and bend over...

Curiouser and curiouser...

This guy must really be a genius.

PDM how about a picture of this wonderous invention. You do have one don't you? Pretty please???

It counts the head bobs or shocks them a little?
I don't get it

Hi quark2!

evariste: No, I think you are right. Brain fart. Thanks. Apologies to iowahawk

Batteries not included.

Fawaz Swift and his electric prayer rug.

And just imagine all those stupid Jew Israelis wasting their time with heart-lung machines and other medical and technological inventions. This guy has just set the world abuzz (well, those who bop their heds several times a day on a rug; not counting the insane). Now the ROP can claim to have invented 0 and a prayer rug buzzer. Wow!! I need more wine to calm down.

Oh, my God (or should I say...Oh, my Allah!)

I have another great idea for Dr. Fawaz Abu Ragheb...an electronic hijab. Listen--this is a great idea and I am sure that he could get a fatwah on this beauty.

If a woman's hijab (that's the rag that Muslim women wear on their heads) shows too much of that seductive hair, then it gives her a nice jolt of electricity...he could even create a three strikes and you're out type of hijab.

This would be a great way to keep order in society...

I am sure he could get a patent on this one! Anyone know his address? He could be my business partner!

Man those Arab universities turn out such great minds. I hear that they are working on an invention that turns camel shit into fuel.

"three strikes, yer out"
*ROFLMAO*

#47 Christine J

he could even create a three strikes and you're out type of hijab.

The visual has me LMAO!

In other news:

Anna Nicole Smith has issued a Twatwa concerning this matter.

"If these [bigoted word]s need to kiss a rug 5 times in a row, I have a carpet they can munch."

Praying five times a day is fucking dumb

#6 LesLein
How hard is it to count to 5?

lol

#47 Christine J

Sounds good so far, but how does it interact with the rays emitted by women's hair that drives men insane? Would that interfere with the function of the electonic hijab?

#54 George W LOL!

Can he build one with nosehair clippers built in.

How can a people that can't count to five handle the holy hand grenade?

You will know that the Muslims have really come along when they design a Whoopie Prayer Rug that makes a fart noise when you touch your head. But I guess it will be a couple hundred years before they enough of a sense of humor to do such things.

I heard they have one that zippers open near the crotch so that Rantissi, Arafat and Yassin can lick the kekkies of those in prayer simulating the sensation one feels with 72 white raisins.

#40 Fay,

I'm not sure if I can make a pic of the invention. But, I'll come up with something nice for you. :)

I'm not sure if I can make a pic of the invention. But, I'll come up with something nice for you. :)

Sorry PDM, didn't mean to put you on the spot. Looking forward to the "something nice" speaking of which, how is that beautiful boy of yours?

Hmmm, I sort of imagine a souped up version of a bug zapper (put your head between two conductive panels and you instantly become a conductor for high voltage-high current) or Jacobs ladder. Remember the wing nut from the movie Buckaroo Banzai who plugged himself in to the wall outlet? Same principle but with better results

#51 - LMAO!!!

Another incentive to 'splode - nobody has to keep track of head bumping anymore in splodeydope heaven. They're much too busy with their raisins.

#61 Fay,

I think I may have something for you. I invented a moveable madrassa and mosque warning sign:
Prayer In Progress

The baby is doing great. Thank you for asking. Can I clog up your mailbox with more photos of him. Only a few months to go before all of that lovely hair comes off.

PDM LMAO!!! Well done as usual. Ah crap. You rock!

"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."

I don't remember the name, but Ann Rand wrote one about a society where every invention had to be approved. The hero discovered electricty, this this was rejected just because the committee had just appoved lanterns within the last 100 years. Talk about life imitating art!!!

"You will know that the Muslims have really come along when they design a Whoopie Prayer Rug that makes a fart noise when you touch your head. But I guess it will be a couple hundred years before they enough of a sense of humor to do such things."

Why? They haven't developed a sense of humor in over 1500 years!

PDM, love it! You are the bestest. And please, clog away...you know I love that boy's hair :-0

Maybe he should design a rug that puts a nice little red laser dot on the worshippers forehead, to help out the IDF and USMC in poor visibility.

Now he has to invent a buzzer warning the devout behind him he's about to pass gas.

I'd like this kind of rug to be used by more terrorists. A buzzer makes for a great detonator. Think "the Engineer"...

Mr Pol #71 -

Ah, I get the warm fuzzies just thinking of the possibilities...

All over the ME, like a huge chain reaction - Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!...

I start to think that Al-Azhar U. serves as Islam's patents office; no wonder the Arabs have not invented anything for 7 centuries. Phew, I am relieved – it isn’t us the Kaffirs;-)

My $.02 for you Mr. Fawaz:
(If Al- Azhar approved) For a small additional investment you could install a mouth deodorizer to make your lovely custom of man-to-man ‘French kissing’ more pleasant. (No doubt your fragrance of choice would be sweet rose.)

Oh come on! I'm serious here, let me make some quick points:

1. The budget is of course massively overrated, it always is when you are trying to sell a new invention: It cost me THIS much to make it!

2. He's selling a freaking PRAYER RUG I dare say that getting approval from religious authorities IS on the "to do" list. I mean if you make religious articles getting the blessing of an authority from the relevant religion seems like a smart thing to do.

3. Instead of making fun of him we should applaud him, this guy has actually assembled something useful and harmless. Here we have a Jordanian entrepeneur that has created a consumer product to cover a perceived need, that kind of thing needs to be encouraged not mocked.

4. A society that makes "Glow in the Dark" Jesuses and Virgin Mary's, and sells little St Joseph Sell Your House Fast kits really don't have any business making fun of someone who makes an electric prayer rug. THIS is an area where equivalency DOES apply, yes an electric prayer rug is DEFINATELY equivalent to Jesus Kitch! :)

In short come on, this is good news, and quite frankly if THIS was the kind of news that came out of Jordan I'd be quite pleased!

2. He's selling a freaking PRAYER RUG I dare say that getting approval from religious authorities IS on the "to do" list.

Then again, having to get permission to make a rug speaks of deeper problems. As does being told how to go to the bathroom.

But you are right, there are some positive ways to look at this, in addition to some damn humorous ones. BTW, will kids be able to pray during the middle of arithmetic tests?

Re #75

He didn't need to get a fatwa to make a freaking rug, he went out to get one to make sure that he could say that his prayer rug was legal for believing Moslems. I mean if I made a prayer rug like this in the west you can be sure that I'd find some nice Mullah willing to write out a Fatwah saying it was perfectly legit for Moslems to use.

Given that his market is, by definition, devout Moslems this doesn't strike me as as oppressive, it strikes me as freaking common sense!

I mean if I were selling Christian books I might want the stamp of approval from the relevant church; if I was making Kosher food I might want a couple of kosher authorities to let me use their stamp on my packaging.

And before you begin to bleat about equivalency, guess what! In this case it IS equivalent! Asking a religious authority to give their stamp of approval on a product made for religous purposes is NOT OPPRESSIVE OR EVEN SILLY!

Note if Al-Azhar would have wanted too much money he could have gone to another Islamic teaching institute, just like I could have gone to a different Kosher authority (not sure if that is the right term but I do know that in the US there are several such ratification authorities) if the one I talked to first was too expensive.

This story is about an inventor and intrepeneur who sees a business opportunity, he buys the parts he needs and starts fiddling till he gets the invention to work; then he seeks out the stamp of approval of a relevant authority to help his marketing campaign; then he begins a marketing campaign, which includes giving interviews to newspapers, telling everyone how much he spent making this invention, and showing everyone the stamp of approval.

OMG! How oppressive! How horrible!

I mean COME ON! Quite frankly I am embarassed and disappointed by you guys!

V. Valberg, be disappointed and embarrassed if you wish. What that says to me is that you are a blowhard and are looking for reasons to react the way you did. Your points make some sense, but your atitude doesn't.
Fact: He had to get permission from SEVERAL authorities to feel safe making and publicizing the thing, which puts the lie to your assertion that this is exactly the same thing as kosher certification. No Jew fears for their life if they claim a product is kosher, and it isn't; no Jew HAS to get a particular kosher certification, they just choose to because other Jews trust these certs. If this guy hadn't gotten all these fatwas as insurance, it is very plausible that some junior sheikh somewhere would have decided to issue a fatwa against it and make him fair game.
I really don't care if you're disappointed and embarrassed. We're making light hearted fun. Nothing for me to be embarrassed about.

Hello! The title of the post is The Thomas Edison of Jordan! HA HA HA! Every other post made me laugh. Yours didn't. Thanks anyway, Mr Earnest.

I still think the funniest part is that he's got $100,000 tied up in something any respectable 10 year old could do for a school project. And it's deemed newsworthy.

#74 V. Valberg

A society that makes "Glow in the Dark" Jesuses and Virgin Mary's, and sells little St Joseph Sell Your House Fast kits really don't have any business making fun of someone who makes an electric prayer rug.

If that were all that American society produced, you would have a valid point. Can you name something less...um...worthy of satire that Jordanian society has produced? Internet? Cell phone? Some examples of serious, uselful Jordanian inventions would give this hilarious prayer rug thing some perspective.

First Re #77

Mr Evariste, if I cared about your opinions right now you'd hear the smallest violin in the world playing a very sad song.

Re: #80

You try sitting kneeling on a rug while resiting prayers and at the same time bowing at just the right moment. In fact try to combine reciting something while you are making physical movement and at the same time try to keep count of how many times you've moved.

Why do you think that rosaries were invented? It was so you could keep track of your prayers, keeping count of how many prayers you've made while praying at the same time isn't as easy as it sounds.

The counting prayer rug might sound weird, but if you sit down and think about it, then it actually makes sense.

That said backwards tribal monarchies with theocratic streaks have a tendency to perform poorly in terms of technology. I can't imagine why, I mean I don't see how far better opportunities abroad combined with a group of crazed sword wielding maniacs at home could make an educated man want to leave. However I genuinely fail to see how this is relevant, either a product is ludicrous or it isn't.

Also my credentials as an anti-idiotarian have been proven extensively on my now (somewhat in hiatus) website http://home.online.no/~vvalberg

58 Dar ul Harbarin

Actually, you open a serious theological problem for Muslims -- An important Hadith requires them to remain seated on the prayer rug while the smelly gasses of a fart dissipate. Perhaps the design can include a methane detector that would set off a and a cigarette lighter to burn off the fart...

Well, V. Valberg, as much as I was personally annoyed by your post, I am letting that go. That said, I want to point out that I used to be muslim, and that I never had a problem knowing how many more times I needed to kneel.
It's really not that hard. Besides, what you do if you forget is to overcompensate, because that way Allah is even happier with you. The five-times-a-day thing isn't a maximum. You can pray as much as you want. You say:

You try sitting kneeling on a rug while reciting prayers and at the same time bowing at just the right moment. In fact try to combine reciting something while you are making physical movement and at the same time try to keep count of how many times you've moved.

In the first sentence you make it sound as though it is some feat of precision timing to bow at the right moment. There are five basic positions/gestures. You move from one to the other after reciting the prayer designed for each position. In a mosque it is even easier, because the imam (and everyone next to and in front of you) is giving cues for what to do next.This really is a solution in search of a problem. A worthless knickknack like the clapper. Not something worthy of the sort of spirited defense that you have given it. Though I do not care for your attitude, it's commendable of you to try and see the other side of it. I would like to reassure you that there really is as little to this as meets the eye.

Verbal, sensory (shoulder-to-shoulder) and physical cues, I should point out.
Even at home most families try to pray together and the most senior member of the household leads salat, acting in the place of an imam.

#83 evariste,

Doesn't it become second nature anyway with enough practice?
In Judaism we have a prayer where we take three steps forward at the beginning. At the end we take three steps back. I've done it so many times that I don't even think about it now. Jewish prayer is filled with things like that. I think a buzzer would make it more complicated. It also seems to me that the concentration one puts into prayer is more important than the timing.

OK the product is hokier than Popiel's pocket fisherman with an Islamic spice. Definitely a smile.

But no one on this forum paused to suggest that this product opens dozens of doors in the Arab world for things they badly need: commerce and economic development, modernization and adherence to their faith (the failing to adhere or worse twisting Islam is the problem that created the war in which we find ourselves).

So yer ever lovin' Ayatollah gives a Co Ha Koved to this Jordanian inventor and wishes him 500 more good ideas.

hope this heresy doesn't get me bounced from the blog.

Joel 8/25/2003 05:26PM PST

Man those Arab universities turn out such great minds. I hear that they are working on an invention that turns camel shit into fuel.

We don't want to rush them. They've just now figured how to turn camel feed into camel shit.

#80 - Juliette -

If that were all that American society produced, you would have a valid point.

You hit the nail on the head. It's not that this nifty little example of entrepreneurial invention is, in and of itself, ludicrous or pointless (although some on the thread have found it to be just that); it's that the entire Arab world is making such a minuscule contribution to the world's advancement and store of knowledge (choose any area you wish: medicine, techology, literature, science, economics, etc., etc.) that this product is being trumpeted as worthy of discussion as some sort of tremendous advance in something or other.

It's funny because it's so incredibly pathetic. That this kind of thing is all that the Muslim world can muster as indicating "progress," merely emphasizes the sheer backwardness of the entire culture.

As for having to get the imprimatur of the Muslim religious authorities, I agree that that is merely common sense (although also probably necessary) as part of a marketing scheme for an item whose only intended use is by the religiously observant.

But, while merchants need to certify products as kosher or glatt kosher in order to market them to their intended consumers, I don't think that Vatican approval is required for manufacturers of glow-in-the-dark Jesuses or rosaries or crucifixes.

The Jewish kashrut certification is needed, because the goods being certified are actually being taken into the bodies of observant Jews, a process with far more serious implications than merely kneeling on a rug or wearing a crucifix on a chain around one's neck. Church approval is not needed before marketing Catholic chatchkes, because such items do not go to the core of the faith.

The fact that the Muslim faithful probably wouldn't buy this product without the approval of a religious authority speaks volumes, too.

PDM-Yes, it does become second nature with practice. And muslims have ample opportunity, over 1500 times a year, every year of their lives. Sorry, I thought I had mentioned how automatic it can become, but apparently I only thought it.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it reminds me of something I read in the Chronicles of Gor, a long time ago.

It was a mattress that got cold when it was time to get your ass out of bed.

If this guy gets a patent, so does John Norman.

Ronco should start selling this thin.

Doesn't it become second nature anyway with enough practice?
In Judaism we have a prayer where we take three steps forward at the beginning. At the end we take three steps back. I've done it so many times that I don't even think about it now. Jewish prayer is filled with things like that.

Actually in Jewish prayer ( I cannot remember the two terms) it is as important to actually think about the meaning of the prayer as it is to recite it prefectly. Going into a trance during the prayers is not the goal.

Juliette and Amy: As usual, you cut right to the heart of the matter. Thank you.

The Jewish kashrut certification is needed, because the goods being certified are actually being taken into the bodies of observant Jews, a process with far more serious implications than merely kneeling on a rug or wearing a crucifix on a chain around one's neck.

To be honest, Amy, it all sounds like superstitious hokum to me, but I've seen enough of the world to understand that all kinds of folks believe all kinds of bizarre and irrational things even though in most other respects they're perfectly sensible.

It just gets a little absurd when they start suggesting that their medieval claptrap is better than other people's medieval claptrap.

Dealing with "Rug Merchants" now takes on added complexity, now the rugs come with valuable extras.

Stop dissing the electric prayer rug! It's probably the best sex devout Wahabbists will ever get! ;)

Well excuse for saying this, but I happen to like glow in the dark Jesuses. I'm from a small midwestern US town that was determined in the latest US census to have on a per capita basis more home decorations of a truly tasteless variety than any other town in America.

In the 1960's our town came up with the big mirrored shelf that hung on the wall that held 20 or 30 salt shakers mothers would buy on vacations. In the 1970's we progressed to bells celebrating the bicentennial. In the 1980's every home began collecting dolls, dolls in pretty dresses, dolls dressed as farmers and doctors, dolls doing things.

Then in the 1990's our town began having home parties. Christmas Around the World. Copperware. And of course Avon which I still can't stand. As a result, every single inch of wall space is taken up with cutesy pictures of girls in wheat fields and fluffy rodents. Every stair landing has become a hazard with tables set up with Farmer Brown and his animals. And dolls everywhere, on every lamp table, on the coffee table, on the floor even standing on custom pedestals. All in very poor taste. (Yes mom, very poor taste and I don't care how much they gave you free for just throwing a party inviting your friends who felt morally obligated to buy some of that crap just so they could reciprocate and invite you to their party).

But I don't feel that glow in the dark Jesuses necessarily fall within that category. To me they give reassurance and a feeling of security when I see them at night. And they remind me that I'm not alone.

Now if you said Elvis on velvet, you might had make a point with me.