Technology
will only be used in large mosques in Kuwait
Report
by Abdul Rahman Saad, IOL Kuwait correspondent
KUWAIT
CITY, June 2 (IslamOnline) - To prevent disturbing worshippers while
they perform their prayers, the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic
Affairs in Kuwait have began using a special technology in the
city’s mosques to block mobile phone reception.
These
technologies will be used during the times of prayer initially in five
mosques in the Al-Ahmadi area as an experiment and eventually will be
used in all other big mosques, which reach nearly 200.
Speaking
to IslamOnline, Abdullah Shihab, the director of the Al-Ahmadi mosques
department said that the experiment has proven its success. He
explained that the equipment consists of small boards which are fixed
on any part of the mosque and can cover areas reaching 500 to 600
meters square. This means that all cellular phones and pagers in the
mosque will be stopped.
This
is not the first time that Kuwait tries out this technology. In the
National Parliament, it is used through out all sessions and was also
used in the chest diseases hospital in Kuwait.
Because
the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs have announced that it
will use it, it has received several offers from many companies to try
their products.
Shihab
said that there are no negative effects on the worshippers from the
usage of these equipment. He said that they will be used in the
popular mosques and in the mosques where the Friday prayers are held,
since they are expensive.
The
imams will not have to repeat his request for worshippers to switch
off the mobiles and pagers and the ministry will not have to put up
boards requesting people to do so.
