Development of Smart Masjid Display Using Raspberry Pi

The five daily Muslim prayer times namely Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha vary from place to place and from day to day and are uneven for locations with same time zones. The exact timing of each of the prayer is important, because it is obligatory for every Muslim to perform these prayers at the correct time. This paper presents a novel idea to develop a controlling unit using Raspberry Pi that can be connected to a TV or computer LCD monitor through VGA or HDMI port to convert it into a smart mosque (masjid) display. The smart masjid display is capable of displaying the prayer times, date, day, time and temperature. The prayer time schedule can be set and calculated based on the GPS coordinates of the place or the city. Moreover, it differs than the traditional dot matrix Masjid displays since it can display from time to time several Islamic prayers (Adzkar) of morning and evening, and audible and visual announcements as pictures and videos. Furthermore, the Imam of mosque, especially in the Taraweeh prayers, can display the pages of the Holy Quran on the smart display instead of carrying the Holy Quran by hand. The developed smart masjid display can be remotely controlled using a remote controller wearable as a ring on the finger of user/Imam which allows him to remotely flip the Quran's pages presented on the display even during the prayers. The developed controlling unit which convert any TV/ computer monitors to smart masjid display is a unique product, compact, portable, and most suitable for the special requirements of the Muslim communities throughout the world and can be placed in mosques, Islamic institutions or centers, schools, and universities and anywhere in the world have Muslim people.