TEHRAN // The Made in China brand has become synonymous with cheap electronics, clothes and toys. But in Iran, officially atheist China has dominated an unusual market: prayer beads.
According to a recent report in the Sarmayeh newspaper, Chinese-made prayer beads now account for more than 60 per cent of the market in Iran.
But it does not seem to bother the country's devout, who use the coloured beads to count off the number of prayers or holy names of God, they recite daily.
"I don't personally mind praying with these Chinese-made prayer beads," said Sedigheh Eftekhari, a middle-aged, veiled woman, as she examined beads in a shop in Tehran's Tajrish bazaar, close to the entrance of the popular shrine of Imamzadeh Saleh, the son of the seventh Shiite Imam.
"What one does with them is what matters, not where and by whom they are made. And I've never heard of any religious ban on them or a need for purifying them before use.
"I wish I could buy better ones but the ones you say are Chinese-made are much less expensive, look better and survive better. God is full of forgiveness and even if there is something wrong with praying on these beads, he'll forgive me," she said.
Prayer beads come in strings of 25, 34, 100 and, sometimes, 1,000.
They come in a variety of colours and shapes and can be made from plastic, baked clay, glass, semi-precious stones, wood, coral, bone or mother of pearl.
Some are studded with silver or inlaid with semi-precious stones.
According to industry businessmen, the Chinese-made beads are of better quality and value than their Iranian counterparts.
"Only the plastic kind is produced in Iran. The machinery for manufacturing glass and stone beads are very expensive," the managing director of a beads factory was quoted by Sarmayeh as saying. "Iranian producers are reluctant to invest in the machinery because competition with the Chinese is risky."
Over the past few years, China has replaced Germany as Iran's number one trade partner, with machinery, clothes and other consumer goods the major imports.
Although most of the beads sold in Iran are made in China, others come from Mecca, the holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Turkey and India.
"Nobody has ever fussed over where the beads are made but some people do ask for certain kinds, like the baked clay ones brought back by pilgrims to the holy shrine of Imam Hossein in Karbala," said Mr Pishbin, who has been running a shop selling prayer beads and other religious paraphernalia in the bazaar for 10 years.
He wears two strings of expensive, sweet smelling wooden prayer beads from Saudi Arabia, one around his neck tucked under his shirt collar and another in his pocket. "I use these only when I'm reciting other prayers after my daily prayers. I don't like carrying them as an accessory like some other men do," he said.
The cheapest plastic beads made in Iran cost about 1,500 rials (Dh0.6), while Chinese-made ones start at about a few thousand, and can reach to millions if they are made with semi-precious stones. Beads from Karbala, made with the baked clay of the holy city, start at about 5,000 rials.
"Some prayer beads we sell are known as Mecca prayer beads and are brought back by haj pilgrims, but most of these are Chinese-made too," said Amir Abbasi, who has a shop in the bazaar. Mr Abbasi, however, is not concerned that the Made in China brand will affect his business.
"I've been in the business for a long time," he said. "I've never seen anyone worrying about where the beads were made or whether beads made by non-Muslims could be used in saying prayers."
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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The%C2%A0specs%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
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AS%20WE%20EXIST
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
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Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The years Ramadan fell in May
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7pm Gates open
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9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
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Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
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Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
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● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
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Sri Lanka squad
Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad.
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Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh12 million
Engine 8.0-litre quad-turbo, W16
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch auto
Power 1479 @ 6,700rpm
Torque 1600Nm @ 2,000rpm 0-100kph: 2.6 seconds 0-200kph: 6.1 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
The specs: 2018 Maserati Ghibli
Price, base / as tested: Dh269,000 / Dh369,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 355hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.9L / 100km
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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