A Saudi woman and a French-born jewellery designer who converted to Islam are creating one-of-a-kind prayer beads made from rare stones. Customers believe the beautiful handiwork can add a new spirit and dimension to the act of worship.
The beads are black coral and amber and too big for everyday use. But then everything about this handmade misbah is larger than life, including the price - Dh22,000.
Somewhere between a prayer aid and a fashion accessory, the designer misbah - also called a subha - has found a growing market, with collectors prepared to pay tens of thousands of dirhams for the most sought-after examples.
"When I come to chose a misbah, I feel it chooses me as well," explains Saied Layla Azia Al Marzougi, who describes herself as a fashion-conscious wife and mother from Al Ain.
"It's not a typical misbah you can get from anywhere," she says. "It's the start of a relationship."
Mrs Al Marzougi is referring to the strings of prayer beads produced by a unique collaboration between a Saudi woman and a French jewellery designer who has converted to Islam.
The Zahrat Al Madina collection is the work of Mariam Fatima Gouzon, who last month brought her latest designs to Abu Dhabi for her growing client base in the UAE.
Originally from a village in south-east France, Ms Gouzon already had a reputation as a high-end jewellery designer when her architect husband was posted to Jeddah in the late 1980s.
She continued her work, and after two years moved again, this time to Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammed.
By then she had converted to Islam - "by the grace of Allah" - and changed her name from Danielle to Miriam. "Long before I became a Muslim - since childhood - I was interested in antique jewellery and stones," she says.
In Medina she saw a misbah made from beads of kahraman, a rare and precious type of amber. "So I started to make one, putting it together from old necklaces." While at prayers she showed the beads to friends, who "loved it."
After making more sets for her friends, a new business idea began to evolve. Eventually she set up Zahrat Al Madina with a close Saudi friend, Zainab Abdullah.
The success of the venture means she has spent much of the past three and a half years on the road visiting Austria, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Yemen.
Her clients number several members of the Saudi royal family, including Princess Maha Bint Prince Turki Bin Abdul Mohsen and her mother. The most popular sets have 100 beads, although male customers prefer a single string with 33.
What makes the beads unique is the way the stones are chosen. "We buy the stones from very different places around the world," says Zainab Abdullah.
The gemstone known as "Ageeg Al Yemani" is imported from Yemen "and is rare because it is the one element and stone that brings together the traits of all the stones. Even the Prophet Mohammed had a ring made from it."
"There are certain stones that are the creation of God, with certain traits that balance out what your body needs, " she says. "When you use it in prayer, you just make that experience deeper."
Other stones come from Brazil and India, with turquoise imported through Iran. One stone, found in the south-western United States, is so valuable that it is used by on special request.
A set made for a sheikha in the UAE cost Dh45,000. "It was the most expensive we ever sold," says Ms Abdullah.
The most expensive misbah in the current collection is made from black coral inlaid with silver, while at the other end of the scale, a subha made from freshwater pearls sells for a more modest Dh900.
Black coral, Ms Abdullah says,is known in Arabic as "Yusur", meaning ease.
"One subha takes so much time to do," she says."It's like music, a rhythm. If we did two alike, it would be more of a business, but we don't see it like that. To us it is our feeling."
The months Shaban and Ramadan are the business partners' busiest time, along with Haj.
The two women visit customers in their homes, with each misbah marked with a 21-carat gold-plated silver tag bearing the name of the Prophet on one side and the company's initials on the other.
Asked if it is appropriate to spend so much money on a simple tool for praying, Ms Gouzon answers: "We are always buying expensive stuff for everything, whether bags or even shoes. Isn't it more important, if we have the means, to spend on the act of worshipping?"
All her customers so far have been Muslims.
If a non-Muslim asked to buy one of her sets, she says, "I would ask them first; why do you want to buy a Muslim subha? It's precious and it should be in the hands that would treat them well and for what it is valued."
Mrs Al Marzougi says she had worried that spending so much money on a misbah "might seem like showing off."
She recently "fell in love with a pearl misbah" which became her most expensive purchase, but that the designer explained that "pearls are from the strong stones that can bear the heavy meaning of the name of Allah. She told me, 'With time you will understand'."
"I have bought many misbah in my life from many different places. With this collection it's different. You know for a fact that these were made with good intention and purpose.
Mrs Al Marzougi says the French-born designer has added "a new spirit and dimension to the world of misbah. You feel you have a relation with it, as if it is alive and talking to you."
