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Malaysia ponders: How will Muslims pray in space
Outer space is haram for the Profit's (peanut butter upon ham) followers. You'd best stay home and go to the mosque and beg forgiveness. |
 KUALA LUMPUR: How do Muslim astronauts pray in space? Malaysias National Space Agency is holding a conference to consider such questions as the country prepares to send its first citizen into orbit. A nationwide competition in the majority-Muslim country has narrowed the field to four astronaut candidates, three of whom are Muslims. Two will eventually be trained and sent into space by Russia, and Malaysias space agency - Angkasa - said it had been scratching its head over how Muslim rituals could be carried out properly.| Not really a good sign when your space agency (and when did Malaysia get a space agency?) has to include Kaaba coordinates into their contingency planning. |
Performing ablutions for Muslim prayers with water rationing in space and preparing food according to Islamic standards will be among the issues discussed, said Angkasa Director General Mazlan Othman. So far, Angkasa has not discussed these matters with Russia because the candidates have not been decided and the needs of Malaysian astronauts have not been determined, Mazlan was quoted as saying by the state-run Bernama news agency. We have to make preparations to discuss with Russia when the time comes, she added.
The astronaut will also visit the International Space Station, which circles the earth 16 times in 24 hours, so another thorny question will be: How to pray five times a day as required by Islam, she said. Working out the direction of Mecca while hovering above the earth will also prove challenging. The two-day Islam and Life in Space seminar will begin next Tuesday, bringing together 150 scientists, astronauts, religious scholars and academics.
Posted by: Fred 2006-04-20 |
