A Kenyan mosque is tapping into modern technology to silence mobile ringing distraction during prayers and provide a serene atmosphere for worshippers.
"The technology was long overdue but the time could never be better," Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Kidiye, the imam of Ibnul Qayim, said.
"It is a development that has improved the quality of our prayers so that it can be answered."
A Mob Obstruct Instrument is fixed inside the whitish walls of the Ibnul Qayim mosque, located in the heart of Garissa town in the Muslim-dominated Northeastern Province of Kenya.
The instrument, manufactured by a Chinese company, jams mobile phone networks ranging between a radius of 5-20 meters.
Large mosques would require several machines.
The instrument is designed for mosques, hotels, churches, courtrooms and other restricted places.
With its tall minarets stemming from its weighty whitish walls, the Ibnul Qayim mosque is the first to tap into this new technology.
For this mosque and many others dissatisfaction with mobile phone disturbance has grown beyond belief.
Since the inception of mobile phone telephony in the underdeveloped region in 2002, Imams had to deal with increasing disturbances inside the holy buildings.
"Mobile phones brought enormous distraction inside mosques, sometimes you could hear a loud music playing behind your back," notes Sheikh Kidiye.
"For so long, this problem of huge monumental proportion weighed heavily on our minds."
It has taken religious leaders several twists and turns just to provide a worshipping environment free from confusion.
Some have introduced punitive measures including payment of fine to discourage worshippers leaving their phones ringing in the middle of prayers.
But in a region devastated by a searing poverty and where the effect of cyclic and recurring drought is biting like a malevolent snake, payment of fines remained a tall order for imams.
"Many are poor to pay fines, that meant we had to look for alternatives," said Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi, an Imam at Wajir town’s Towba mosque.
"The technology is a timely breakthrough," asserts Sheikh Kidiye.
"A Muslim who is part of my congregation helped us just in time and bought the machine from Dubai for US dollars 300."
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