This nifty product is a great dua reminder for whenever you’re travelling in your car. PeaceTech’s “Invocation for the Journey with Other Supplications” is designed to be a simple plug and play device which fits into a car’s DC power out and recites duas from the Sunnah of the Prophet when the vehicle is turned on. In addition to performing its main purpose of reciting the duas, it has functions allowing the user to turn down the volume and switch to an alternate set of duas. The duas last about 40 seconds and the video demo can be seen to see and hear the device in action.

It has a pivot joint allowing for flexibility to fit in comfortably into the car’s power adapter. It slides in firmly but there is no light or LED to signal whether the device is plugged in fully so you might find yourself pushing down unnecessarily just be sure its in. Once its in place, turning the ignition, even if its just till the ‘A/C’ degree, the adapter is powered and begins the recitation of the duas. Consequently, if you go from the ‘A/C’ mode, to completing turning on the vehicle, it will re-recite the duas since there is a subtle break in power to the device as the car turns on.

Since there is no ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ switch, the power it receives from the car battery acts as a trigger for the adapter. There is a slight delay, just a few seconds, after the car turns on before the first verses of the dua can be heard. I have found myself grabbing for the device, impatiently, to ensure its plugged in, but by the time I get to fiddle with it, the recitation would begin. I’ve learnt to give it, its time.

The device has no integration with the vehicle and is an independent accessory. This means that if the radio is on, or if you’re on the phone (via the car’s built-in mic or your own bluetooth headset), the device is completely unaware and does not stop or pause. The only way to turn it off is to pull it out of its jack.

Alternatively, the volume can be reduced. There are only two volume settings, Loud and Quiet. The two buttons on the side toggle between the settings.

The voice itself is monotone and slightly robotic in nature. I have noticed myself grow accustomed to it and sometimes zoning out whilst it plays and not pay attention to the dua or its meaning. This is where the alternate dua has helped change things a bit. If you grow weary of listening to exact same dua recited every time, theres a tiny toggle switch above the volume control buttons which will switch the dua to another one.

In terms of voice clarity though, the words are enunciated clearly so its easy to follow and very memorizable. I have on occasion heard it turn very static-y like the speakers weren’t getting enough power or there was a lot of noise in the signal. Removing and re-inserting the device solved the issue.

In all, I really like having this reminder in my car to make sure every drive starts off with a dua and with the remembrance of Allah swt. I would recommend this product to any drivers who have a tendency to forget or for those looking to learn the dua or teach it to family/kids.

The product will most likely be available at your local Islamic Books and Accessories store. We found one at the Islamic Books and Souvenirs store at the Gerrard India Bazaar in Toronto. Look for the packaging shown in the following photos:

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This article and video review was submitted by Mujtaba Jilani and Mahir Basheer. JazakAllah khair brothers for a fantastic review. Do you have a product you think is cool? Submit it to ProductMuslim!

I love when people come up with new and creative ways to fundraise and give dawah.

I had the pleasure of meeting Brother Qadeer Abdul this year at MuslimFest 2010 where he showed me his Ramadan lawn sign fundraising campaign. He is selling $10 Ramadan signs that are designed to be placed on lawns and other grassy areas. All proceeds from the signs go directly to his local masjid.

It’s a simple idea with a simple message; “Happy Ramadan – Charity, Humanity, Peace”.  What a great way to share the cornerstones of Ramadan with neighbhours. The physical design of the product is even simpler than its message. The sign is made using a thin sheet of plastic that is held up with a metal rod, very similar to those used for political campaigns.

Dawah and fundraising in a simple yet effective form. I love it! The only suggestion for improvement I have is for future signs to include the link to a website rather than an email address. The website could allow people to purchase the signs online or could be one that provides dawah related resources.

I happily bought one for myself and I look forward to putting it on my lawn for Ramadan. If you would like to order your own Ramadan lawn sign, please contact Qadeer Abdul at islamicsigns@gmail.com.

Would you consider purchasing one? What do you think of this product, is it effective? Does the design affect your decision? Any improvements you can suggest?

More photos of the Ramadan lawn sign from MuslimFest 2010 below, click to see full size:

iTaskinator Pro is an iPhone/iPod Touch application developed by ProductiveMuslim.com to help Muslims better manage their time. The application uses a method of task management called “time-blocking” to help users organize how long to spend on tasks and in what order to get them finished.

What is time-blocking exactly? Keith Rosen from AllBusiness.com describes “time-blocking” as:

Now there are many task management and time management mobile applications available, what makes iTaskinator Pro so special? It’s custom made for Muslims. The iTunes application description of iTaskinator Pro describes it best:

Pretty cool idea to integrate prayer times along with task and time management. The best way to describe the look and feel of the application is through video, here’s the official demo from ProductiveMuslim.com’s YouTube channel:

Application Strengths

• Great idea to automatically include prayer times into the user’s schedule. I really like how the application uses the phone’s GPS to find prayer times for the area that the person is currently in.
• I really like the progress bar on the home screen that shows overall progress through tasks.
• I like the drop down menu that allows the user to switch between different areas of focus on the ‘Schedule’ page

Areas for Improvement

• I’ll be honest, I don’t like the name ‘iTaskinator’. It may not seem like a big deal but the name of the application represents its brand and how people perceive it, perhaps it is just me, but ‘iTaskinator’ just doesn’t feel professional.
• The logo on the home screen for iTaskinator doesn’t serve a purpose and takes up valuable real estate on the screen. Perhaps use that area to list the next 3 to 4 upcoming tasks? Or remove the home screen all together and have the ‘New Task’ and ‘Random Thoughts’ buttons on a toolbar on the ‘Schedule’ page.
• Adding a new task could be faster. Once a user presses the ‘New Task’ button, the keyboard should pop up immediately. Also, the drop down menus used to set the ‘When’ and ‘Duration’ are uncomfortable to use, perhaps use the standard Apple user interface elements that people are accustomed to setting.
• There should be a way to change the prayer times from within the app rather than having to go to the Settings area on the iPhone
• There should be some way to sync the task data from iTaskinator with an online service or a desktop application.

Overall

A great start to an application with a neat idea, I look forward to seeing improvements on the application.
Overall Rating – 3/5

To learn more about iTaskinator, please visit their official website. Click here to download the application from iTunes. Also, make sure to check out all the great projects that ProductiveMuslim.com are working on at their website at http://www.productivemuslim.com/.

This is ProductMuslim.com’s first review on e-Alim Digital Quran.

The device is really cool (I actually ended up buying two of them). Very handy for taking on public transport as well as courses and lectures. Aside from Quran, Tafseer and Hadith Books, it also contains some useful extras like Riyadh-us-Saaliheen and Hisn-ul-Muslim. Makes a great gift. Look forward to your comments!

Design – 4/5 Stars
Usability – 3/5 Stars
Content – 4/5 Stars
Price – 3/5 Stars
Overall – 3.5/5 Stars

For more on e-Alim visit: www.moon-tech.com

I personally find the mobile software space to be fascinating, especially the iPhone’s app store. There are new innovative Islamically centered applications released on the app store every day that can considerably improve Muslim lifestyles. Sophisticated applications like iQuran and iHadith may be the best and most effective ways to read our religious texts digitally. iPray is the easiest way to check prayer times and find the direction of qibla, it even uses the iPhone’s GPS and compass capabilities to customize timings and direction specifically for where you are.  Zabihah Halal uses GPS to display nearby masjids, halal groceries and halal restaurants with reviews and ratings from thousands of users. It’s a very exciting time in the mobile industry and the best applications are yet to come. To make sure I’m always up to date, I always browse through the iPhone app store to see what’s new.

When I came upon iHijab while browsing for new applications I was immediately intrigued and installed it to check it out. The application allows you to choose different styles of hijab that you can place on top of pictures from your photo library. You can zoom and move around the picture you choose so that the person’s face fits the hijab, it’s not perfect but it’s pretty close to faking the look of a hijab. The creators of the application, Fishbone Consultancy, describe the app on their website as follows:

The hijab selection screen, shown to the right, shows the different types of hijabs you can choose. This is where I started to become suspicious, I had no mixed feelings about the application up until I saw this screen. As you can see, some of the photos have ridiculous facial expressions and odd backdrops. Is this making fun of Muslims? I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but I couldn’t get over some of the thumbnails for hijab selection. Take for example, the one with the White House in the background on the far left in the second row. What is the purpose of this picture? It shows the man in the hijab clearly mocking the camera while in front of the White House of the United States. Is this implying that Muslims criticize the U.S. government? And what about the hijab selection in the top right where the man is under a camel?

Okay Tareq, slow down. I realized I might have been over reacting and I looked for others opinion. I brought the application to my Mother, explained it to her, how to use it and asked her what she thought. “This is so stupid” she said. I asked “Why? Do you find it offensive?”. She replied “Yes, it’s just stupid”. “I asked what if it were an application showing cowboy hats? There are many people around the world that wear them as a part of their culture.” She still felt uncomfortable about the application but couldn’t specifically say why.

I then brought it to my sister, I showed her the application and let her use it. In minutes there was a picture of me in a hijab and giggles all around. She loved it! She didn’t find the application offensive and took it as a joke, she saw no considerable attempts at real mockery.

What started to really intrigue me was not the application itself but rather how people viewed the symbol of the hijab. The application description said nothing about Muslims or Islam, was it really targeting us at all? Is the hijab not much more than a piece of clothing but a sign of modesty and respect? This application could simply be a look into a world that is unknown to many people, it could be seen equivalent as an application that dresses one in a Japanese kimono or an Inuit snow jacket. Would that be offensive? Then again, the hijab is also a very prominent symbol to represent Islam. It is used in marketing to symbolize and stereotype Muslims as much as long black beards and salwars are.

I wanted to see more views on the application so I started looking at customer reviews and ratings on the app store. The average rating was 2.5 stars of 5 star with most ratings being 1 star. Here are some of the reviews:

Again, mixed thoughts. I was still confused and I didn’t know whether I found this application offensive or not. I guess there is nothing wrong with the idea but the selection screen really bothered me. I left the application on my to-do list to review for ProductMuslim and decided I should give it some more thought. The next time I opened the app store I noticed there was an update for it. The description of the update was: “new hijab overview screen”. I installed it and the only change was the selection screen now with attractive women with normal smiling facial expressions. Now why did they do this? It was the only change in the update so they must have considered it significant enough to alter.

The selection screen has changed, shouldn’t my mind now be at ease? I still don’t know. As I mentioned, evaluating my view on this application has more to do with the hijab than the app itself. I realized I’m trying to understand what the symbol means to me. Is it offensive because I’m being defensive? Would I raise this question if it was a religious symbol from something other than islam?

What do you think? Do you find this application offensive? If so, why? Ask others around you, I think you’ll be surprised to hear so many mixed reviews.

Looking forward to hearing what you all think!

Good things come in small Pakis

I sat on my Aunt’s couch in North York checking mail as usual when my cousin walked into the house and threw something at me:

“Check this out. What do you think? I got it at Noor Cultural Centre.”

For a minute I thought I was holding up a rumpled Pakistani flag in my hand and then realized it was a T-shirt that said, in bold white letter across the front:

“Good things come in small Pakis.”

The simplicity in design, effective play with words, and a touch of color genius using deep green and white colors (which immediately made my mind connect with the Pakistani flag) brought a smile to my face.

I don’t think a single day has passed when I’ve worn this shirt (usually at the gym) when people don’t come up to me and say something like:

“Hey, nice shirt dude/man/buddy.”

(surprisingly its not FOBs who come up to me but mostly CBCDs – pardon my acronyms).

After acknowledging undeserving compliments on the shirt for about a year now (I didn’t even buy the darn thing!), the icing on the cake happened when I attended a Muay Thai class in Karachi, Pakistan and I got the same reaction from a local brother. I finally decided that enough was enough – this called for a review on ProductMuslim!

Moral of the story – Hijabman is a genius because his work is universal, catches attention, and stimulates the intellect. Check out more of his work like ‘Make Chai Not War’ and ‘Whoops… there goes my wudu’ on Hijabman.com.

Hijabman, we hope to see more great things emanate from your brand – let us know how we can support you.

Fi AmanAllah!

While on my flight back from Karachi to Toronto I was browsing through the in-flight, consumer product catalogue. Initially my eyes stopped at the Travelling Prayer Mat and Qibla Finder package, not because it seemed like such an awesome product, but because it was the only thing I could really afford! I decided it would be a nice experiment purchase and decided to purchase one. It turns out it was one of the best $5 I had ever spent. The package contained a prayer mat, made out of a fine material that neatly folded up into a small rectangle and a qibla finder that was easy to hang to my car keychain – it is surprisingly accurate. A few months after I landed back in Toronto, a friend of mine saw the Qibla finder dangling from my key chain and loved it so much that he asked me if he could have it (that doesn’t happen much!). 

Anyway, this is an awesome product and could be a great gift for Muslims. I would highly recommend grabbing a few of these when you are on a Muslim airline (I learnt that Saudi Air offers this product as well when I did a google search). They are also useful to keep in the car for when you’re on the road.