Toy F-16 Plays Islamic Prayer Chant Instead of Airplane Noises

The Christmas gift bought by Bjorn Thorpe for his three-year-old nephew in Washington, US became the centre of controversy after it was found the “bizarre” noises being played was a prayer used on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

“That’s very, very wrong”, Nadeem Israr, president of the Islamic Society of Whatcom County in Washington, told local television station KING, adding that the mix-up likely happened at the factory where the plane was produced.

WolVol, the company that markets the plane, placed the blame on the toy’s manufacturer. In Saudi Arabia (and I’m guessing several other Middle Eastern countries), you can get practically ANY toy with its sound recording replaced by prayer verses.

Instead, it plays an Islamic prayer in Arabic. Why yes, the sound of prayer in another language is totally freaky, especially if you were expecting something comforting like a “jet rumble or bombing noise”. “THAT is insane”, says one reviewer who posted their review Christmas Day.

Reviews online include Bill Ryan’s from December 27: “Plane has freaky Middle Eastern chanting no jet noises”. However, when the put the batteries in, it didn’t make airplane noises. Following the Paris terrorist attacks by ISIS militants in November, coverage of Islam has been virtually constant and overwhelmingly negative.

Excuse me, what did you just say?

The family´s Amazon-bought Military Fighter Jet Aircraft Toy, however, was not the only one with this technical fault.

“He just wants a plane“, he said.

The toy fighter jet is now said to be “currently unavailable” on Amazon.