How would a muslim figure out which direction to aim himself during prayer if he happened to be on a space station orbiting earth?
I can see how it would be a bit easier if he was say orbiting Jupiter because all he would have to do is know the direction to earth and point himself that way since you could not aim yourself much better than that but in earths orbit you are constantly changing direction so how would you do that task?
Originally posted by sonhouse How would a muslim figure out which direction to aim himself during prayer if he happened to be on a space station orbiting earth?
I can see how it would be a bit easier if he was say orbiting Jupiter because all he would have to do is know the direction to earth and point himself that way since you could not aim yourself much better than that but in earths orbit you are constantly changing direction so how would you do that task?
good question.... lets experiemnt and put a few into orbit
Originally posted by sonhouse How would a muslim figure out which direction to aim himself during prayer if he happened to be on a space station orbiting earth?
I can see how it would be a bit easier if he was say orbiting Jupiter because all he would have to do is know the direction to earth and point himself that way since you could not aim yourself much better than that but in earths orbit you are constantly changing direction so how would you do that task?
As I recall, a similar issue arose with the Israeli pilot who was an orthodox Jew who was one the Columbia mission. There were questions as to which day was rreally the Sabbath as they were spinning around the earth at a much faster rate. There was also the grim task of his remains and proper burial of them.
Originally posted by kirksey957 As I recall, a similar issue arose with the Israeli pilot who was an orthodox Jew who was one the Columbia mission. There were questions as to which day was rreally the Sabbath as they were spinning around the earth at a much faster rate. There was also the grim task of his remains and proper burial of them.
Just shows how trivial all our human customs, traditions and constructs can seem, when viewed from a wider perspective - and not a much wider one at that!
Originally posted by Mister Meaner Just shows how trivial all our human customs, traditions and constructs can seem, when viewed from a wider perspective - and not a much wider one at that!
Yep, just a couple of hundred miles. Less than the distance from Boston to New York City.
As far as I know a muslim is expected to follow such rules as the direction to face when praying and the time of prayer etc to the best of his / her ability. If they do not know the correct direction or time (as may happen for example in situations here on earth, for example in a prison cell, then they just do the best they can. The same applies to many other things such as hallal food. They are expected to do thier best to ensure that what they eat is hallal but if they mistakenly eat food that is not hallal then it is not such a big problem unless it is thier fault eg if they are decieved.
They do already have problems with the exact time and date to celebrate cirtain dates (such as eid) around the world due to time zone differences etc and this can cause divisions in society if two groups disagree on the proper time/date. However they are much less fragmented than the Christian religion. In my home town of livingstone, Zambia, population approx 100,000. there are about 150 different Christian denominations.
Muslims in orbit.
21 Apr '06 17:00
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