Dhahran is basically a small town. Viruses and certain kinds of news, gossip, and even fads of one form or another spread quickly. The latest thing making the rounds is the iPhone/iPad app called iPray.
It uses GPS to determine your exact location and you can also program in additional cities of your choice. Then it will tell you to the minute when the next muslim prayer begins. You can even set alarms (which are the call to prayer chants, not regular alarm clock sounds).
And why, you ask, would we all be downloading this app? Not because we care about Islam in any meaningful way. In fact, it is the opposite of that. We all have this app now because planning our shopping trips around the prayer times, when all the stores close, is a fine art. Prayer times in KSA are a terrible inconvenience. If you want to have dinner in town, you want to be in the restaurant and seated before the next prayer time. All the wait staff leave during the prayer (even if they aren't muslim), but at least you are allowed to stay, and even continue eating. You usually have to leave stores but if you are in the mall, you can wander around the mall itself. You want to know, is this the short evening prayer or the long one? Can I make it to a particular store and complete my shopping before prayer? How soon do I need to start heading for a checkout line so that I don't get trapped inside Ikea for the long prayer? If I catch the 9am shopping bus instead of the 8:30am shopping bus, will I have enough time to complete my shopping before prayer time?
Wondrously, all these questions are answered by iPray.
It uses GPS to determine your exact location and you can also program in additional cities of your choice. Then it will tell you to the minute when the next muslim prayer begins. You can even set alarms (which are the call to prayer chants, not regular alarm clock sounds).
And why, you ask, would we all be downloading this app? Not because we care about Islam in any meaningful way. In fact, it is the opposite of that. We all have this app now because planning our shopping trips around the prayer times, when all the stores close, is a fine art. Prayer times in KSA are a terrible inconvenience. If you want to have dinner in town, you want to be in the restaurant and seated before the next prayer time. All the wait staff leave during the prayer (even if they aren't muslim), but at least you are allowed to stay, and even continue eating. You usually have to leave stores but if you are in the mall, you can wander around the mall itself. You want to know, is this the short evening prayer or the long one? Can I make it to a particular store and complete my shopping before prayer? How soon do I need to start heading for a checkout line so that I don't get trapped inside Ikea for the long prayer? If I catch the 9am shopping bus instead of the 8:30am shopping bus, will I have enough time to complete my shopping before prayer time?
Wondrously, all these questions are answered by iPray.
1 comment:
ROTFLMAO!!!!!
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