FRANCE: The mosque-in-a-box: a new alternative for those short on time who need to pray

Record ID: 798038

  • Title: FRANCE: The mosque-in-a-box: a new alternative for those short on time who need to pray
  • Date: 16th September 2010
  • Summary: VILLENEUVE-LA-GARENNE, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) HASSEN BOUNAMCHA IMAM OF AUBERVILLIERS PRAYING WITH PORTABLE MOSQUE DRAWING ON MIHRABOX VARIOUS OF HASSEN BOUNAMCHA INSTALLING MOSQUE VARIOUS OF HASSEN BOUNAMCHA PRAYING IN MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (French) CREATOR OF MIHRABOX HASSEM BOUNAMCHA SAYING: "The prayer is the nourishment of the soul. To have a well nourished soul, one has to be in the right position to arrive at a the right level of concentration in one's prayer. If I'm someone who doesn't have the right concentration in my prayer... With all the media that there are these days -- with games on the internet, with Wii, with everything, sometimes one can't just pass from the Wii or the film one is watching, or the documentary that one is watching or the paperwork that one's doing straight to prayer. INSIDE MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (French) CREATOR OF MOSQUE HASSEM BOUNAMCHA SAYING: "It creates a little atmosphere, let us say preparative, for prayer. Especially for women or children. Us men, we go to the mosque so we have an environment to pray in. But does one have that same surrounding at home?" VARIOUS OF HASSEM BOUNAMCHA READING KORAN CORAN WITH BACKGROUND SOUND CALL TO PRAYER
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA4BMQOYDVHZR3Y1CKAR7VGHVIR
  • Story Text: A Tunisian businessman and Imam of a large mosque north of Paris on Wednesday (September 15) unveiled to the media what he hopes will be the ultimate gadget for those too busy with a modern lifestyle to go to prayer: the mosque in a box.
    The two-metre-high cardboard structure recreates what Hassmem Bounamcha hopes will be the perfect environment for prayer and thought.
    "With all the media that there are these days -- with games on the internet, with Wii, with everything, sometimes one can't just pass from the Wii or the film one is watching, or the documentary that one is watching or the paperwork that one's doing straight to prayer," he said.
    Composed of several panels, it unfolds from a wall, creating and atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
    "It creates a little atmosphere, let us say preparative, for prayer," Bounchama said of the makeshift mosque.
    Bounamcha's boxes retails from anywhere from just under 70 euros (90 U.S. dollars) to 450 euros, depending on whether one wants the basic polystyrene version or the more upmarket one.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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