MOSTI conference to probe how Muslim astronauts pray

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This is an interesting oneā€¦ :smiley:

Source: http://www.jeffooi.com/2006/04/mosti_conference_to_probe_how.php

MOSTI conference to probe how Muslim astronauts pray

I saw Jonathan Kent on BBC News last night, interviewing our space science expert, Dr Mazlan Othman. This issue is unprecedented for Malaysia.

You see, Malaysia is due to send an astronaut into space with the Russians next year. Our first spaceman is almost certain to be a Muslim. That raises a number of practical issues, according to BBC News. Quote:

For instance, Muslims wash before they pray but not only is water a precious commodity in space, but it is also impractical in weightlessness.

Likewise, the faithful face Mecca. However, that will mean pin-pointing a moving location while in zero gravity.

And Muslim prayer times are linked to those of the sunrise and sunset, but in orbit the sun appears to rise and set more than a dozen times a day.

In order to thrash out these and other questions, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has called together a group of experts to a two-day conference on [url=http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=30173]Islam and life in space. They will deliberate to answer [url=http://www.inform.kz/txt/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=141381]questions faced by would-be Muslim astronauts.

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this ppl i think they dont know much about muslim, for instance about washing before pray, its not necessary using water, dust, powder, sand non alcohol perfume and etc also can be useā€¦ hehehe i think its not a problem its just like when travelling by plane, its also almost imposible to pinpoint the kiblan but still can do prayer. Just that this astronaut need to learn more regarding prayer in such condition if he is muslim, and one thing to think about is do this guy pray or not? hehehe if not why it should be an issue. lol

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im more interested to see the ouitcome of their conferenceā€¦hehe. :lol: