Jakarta - It looks like any other MP3 player, but there won‘t any Avril Lavigne pumping out of the headphones of this device.
The "Digital Koran" is currently enjoying growing popularity in stores selling Islamic merchandise in Jakarta.
With nearly 220 million people, Indonesia has the world‘s largest Muslim population. Nearly 90 percent of the population is Muslim.
As the Koran is written in Arabic, a language foreign to most Indonesians, devotees must practice in order to recite the scripture.
But many of the books of the Koran are thick and heavy, making the printed version an unattractive option. To make it easier to carry the scripture, a store of Islamic books and drawings in Jakarta decided to start selling Digital Koran last year.
The devices, which are manufactured by Chinese and South Korean companies, are also sold in the Middle East. According to a South Korean manufacturer, however, demand in Indonesia is sharper than elsewhere.
Among the dozen or so models, the lightest weighs only 60 grams, which means it can fit in a shirt pocket. Prices range from the equivalent of several thousand yen to about 20,000 yen.
The most popular models are those that show Indonesian language translations on the screen while users listen in Arabic.
Some models have summarized chapters for beginners, while others carry only chapters to be recited on pilgrimages to Mecca.
Despite moves in the late 1990s to embrace democracy, Indonesia remains riddled with corruption.
As a rejection to this, a growing number of middle-class people, especially those who are highly educated, are said to be seeking moral and spiritual satisfaction through Islam.
"Company employees and others who are earning high salaries are buying the equipment in order to study the Koran on buses or trains when they go to or come back from their workplaces," Maryono, 25, a store clerk, said.
However, he added, "I cannot buy one because my salary is not high enough."
Source: www.asahi.com (15 September 2007)
