PATERSON, N.J. — The most ancient traditions of Islam are going high-tech, with a slew of modern offerings for those observing the holy month of Ramadan, which began this week.
Cellphone applications such as iPray or iQuran offer a beeping reminder of requisite prayer times, while the “Find Mecca” and “mosque finder” programs help the Muslim traveler in an unfamiliar city find the nearest place to pray.
“When I saw these applications for the first time, I thought: This is amazing,” said James Otun, who has several Islamic applications on his Apple iPhone and iPad. “Whoever came up with this idea: God bless him or her.”
The applications aren’t just for Ramadan; there are Islamic-themed programs that help users find the nearest Costco offering foods prepared according to Islamic dietary rules, learn the correct Arabic pronunciations in a daily prayer or count how many pages of the Koran they’ve read that day — all on a mobile phone.
There also are applications, or apps, for the holy books of several other religions, including the Catholic Holy Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture.
