RECTANGULAR PRAYER RUG

Abstract: The prayer rug (1) on which the Moslem has to say his daily prayers whereby kneeling in the direction toward Mecca is made from an antistatic material. In order to indicate the direction toward Mecca, it is provided with an instrument (2) secured to the rug. By means of this instrument the prayer rug will be adjusted in relation to any given place of prayer in such a way that the longitudinal axis of the rug lies in the direction toward Mecca.

Description: Rectangular prayer rug Moslems who say their prayers five times a day kneel when praying on a rectangular prayer rug the longitudinal axis of which should lie in the direction toward Mecca. However, it is not always quite possible for the faithful to precisely ascertain such a direction from a place of prayer which can be far away from Mecca. In order to facilitate the implementation of this religious requirement of Islam, the person praying should get the possibility to adjust his prayer rug quickly and as far as possible precisely in the direction toward Mecca. This object of invention is achieved by a rectangular prayer rug having means secured to the same for indicating in relation to any given place of prayer the direction in which Mecca is geographically situated. The instrument is advantageously a magnetic compass having a card and a needle freely rotating over the card, further comprising a tr nsparent case filled with fluid having a lid disposed flush with the upper surface of the rug, said compass being accommodated within said case. This invention will now be described by. way of example referring to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 shows a schematical top view of the prayer rug according to the invention, Fig. 2 shows a top view of the instrument for indicating the direction toward Mecca and rig. 3 shows a top view of the instrument according to Figure 1 having another embodiment of the compass-card. Figure 1 shows a rectangular prayer rug 1 which is made from an antistatic material and which is approximately 130 cm long, 50 cm wide and approximately 5 - 10 mm thick. Usually, its lower surface is provided with an anti-skid layer 10. The upper surface 11 of the rug 1 on which the praying Moslem kneels has preferentially a green colour. The part of the rug 1 which is to be pointed in the direction toward Mecca is provided with a picture 8 showing the Moslem holy shrine of Kaaba in Mecca. There is provided in the longitudinal axis of the prayer rug 1 an instrument 2 for indicating the direction toward Mecca, in which direction the prayer rug 1 has to be put. The instrument 2 can, however, be positioned also on another place of the rug 1. The instrument is secured to the rug 1 and becomes an integral part thereof. The instrument 2 for indicating the direction toward Mecca is a magnetic compass having a card 3 and a needle 4 freely rotating over the card and pointing to the magnetic north pole of the earth (see Figures 2 and 3). The compass-card 3 and the compass-needle 4 are encapsulated in a case 5 made of a transparent plastic material, which case is filled with a transparent fluid. The lid of the case 5 is flush with the upper surface 11 of the prayer rug 1. There are provided several symbols 6 on the circumference of the compass card 3 representing different prayer places which are preferentially geographically located in one state. The symbols 6 can show e.g. Cairo, Alexandria, Assuan, Matru etc. To enable the analphebets to identify such prayer places, they can be marked with different colours or other signs. There is further provided a symbol 7 on the circumference of the compass-card 3 for indicating the direction toward Mecca. This symbol can have e.g. the form of a minaret. Accordingly, there is --besides the symbols 6 representing the places of prayer also one single symbol 7 on the compass-card 3 for indicating the direction toward Mecca. This symbol lies in the longitudinal axis of the prayer rug 1 or it can be positioned coaxially with the same which depends on the place where the instrument 2 for indicating the direction toward Mecca is positioned on the rug 1. A pocket 9 made of plastic material to contain a list of places of prayer is fixed to the lower surface of the prayer rug 1. When the prayer rug 1 is to be adjusted in the direction toward Mecca, the following procedure has to be adapted: The prayer rug 1 with the direction indicating instrument 2 secured thereto is to be rotated in the horizontal plane so long till the symbol 6 of the place of prayer where or in the vicinity of which the Moslem intends to say his prayer is aligned with the compass-needle 4 pointing to the magnetic north pole, i.e., till this symbol 6 of the place of prayer is covered by the compass-needle 4. Then, the symbol 7 for indicating the direction toward Mecca which lies in the longitudinal axis of the prayer rug 1 or is coaxially positioned to the same shows in direction toward Mecca. In this way it is no more necessary for the Moslem to look after the right direction in which Mecca is geographically situated. He can be sure that the longitudinal axis of the so adjusted prayer rug 1 lies from his place of prayer in the direction toward Mecca.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A rectangular prayer rug on which the Moslem has to say his daily prayers whereby kneeling in the direction toward Mecca, comprising means secured to the rug for indicating in relation to any given place of prayer the direction in which Mecca is geographically situated. 2. A prayer rug according to claim 1, wherein said means comprise a magnetic compass having a card and a needle freely rotating over the card, further comprising a transparent case filled with fluid having a lid disposed flush with the upper surface of the rug, said compass being accommodated within said case. 3. A prayer rug according to claim 2, wherein the card is provided with symbols on its circumference representing different, geographically localized places of prayer, the respective symbol representing a place of prayer being to be aligned with the needle pointing to the magnetic north pole by rotating the rug in a horizontal plane. 4. A prayer rug according to claim 2, wherein the card is provided on its circumference with a symbol the longitudinal axis of which coincides with or is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the rug, said symbol pointing in the direction toward Mecca when the respective symbol representing the place of prayer has been aligned with said needle. 5. A rug according to one of the preceding claims, made from an anitstatic material.

Inventors: KAMOO, JOSEPH N.
Applicants: KAMOO, JOSEPH N.
Application year: 1979
Main classification: A47G27
IPC codes: A47G33, A47C16, G01C17