a serious question for muslims?

Question

I am educated in muslim customs and practices, but on reading about Muslim astronauts, I just have to ask this.... I know that Muslims all over the world when they pray face Mecca. Where I live that would be generally east southeast. In space there really isn't much for directions, so, I must ask, in space, how would a muslim hep the 5 prayers and what direction would the astronaut face? Or in space does it really matter as it would be quite dificult to achieve the proper positions for prayer?

The question is not about if it is morraly correct to pray facing any particular direction, to answer one on these answers, but to question the prayer mechanics of islam in space since i have learned that there has been a practicing muslim in space and 2 more scheduled to fly for an experiment on ISS concerning "pulled tea". I was simply curious on how the prayers might be accomplished as I do know the workings, theories and teachings of Islam as they apply on earth.

Answer 1

I'd like to take a stab at this if you don't mind a non-muslim taking a stab at it.

The first idea of the direction of prayer is, as you say, to pray in the direction of Mecca. In this, a muslim astronaut is likely to have enough mathematical skill to calculate, with some precision, the precise line of 'sight' towards Mecca given his/her position in space relative to the center of earth and the axis of its rotation and the time of day in Mecca.

However, as the shuttle orbits the earth every ... 90 minutes I believe, the line of 'sight' would constantly be changing. Thus, it would not be entirely possible to make it through the prayers and still be aimed towards mecca without a machine continually doing the calculations and re-aiming the supplicant. At this point, I would consider this -- from space, Earth is the birth place of Mohummad, and Earth is from whence he ascended, and therefore, any genuine attempt to direct one's prayers to Earth should suffice.

I'd love to see an Imam's ideas on this, definately an intriguing question! Thank you for thinking about this and sharing the question with us.

Answer 2

As any astronaut is well trained in Astrophysics, Mathematics, and other related sciences, I would think that they would very well know at what point the float into position over Mecca, head DOWN. Wouldn't the slight gravitational forces inherent in the orbit keep the worshiper in the correct orientation for at least as long as the prayers last?

Answer 3

He should save all of his prayers until he is at about 955 miles east of Hawaii. That is the point on the earth directly opposite Mecca and any direction he faces, as long as he's remotely right side up to the earth below, could be considered equally as facing his beloved holy city most directly.

Answer 4

first and fore most 'what exactly do you mean by saying muslim astronauts? ok a muslim will definately look for a root cause, to see which direction is the space ship facing, before deciding to prostrate .though theres no gravity in space, so its a bit difficult for one to stand in one place for the prayers. so mainly one would just make an effort to pray the way they are. instead of looking for the quibla prostration facing mecca .coz god is every where, just like christians how would one look at them when christians are praying ,so i dont see any reason to look into what exactly your question stands for.for every human in this world god is the existance ,be it a christian, hindu ,jew ,bhudist any religion. for all there is one god .beliefs may differ, but remember the grave is one, you came into the world through one passage, and youll go through another passage ,so i dont see anything wrong, in praying facing mecca .

Answer 5

very interesting, I don't think that issue has been addressed in the Islamic literature, at least I have not seen it yet. I know places like busses, trains, planes we are just supposed to make the best guess and just do our prayers. The concept is to
1. pray five times a day
2. face Qiblah to the best of our knowledge feel free to email me with any questions!

Answer 6

They would still try to face Mecca. The most important part of the prayer is worshipping God, not geography.

Answer 7

LOL I love your pic and name. But to answer your question, they pin up a picture of Mecca and use that as a reference point to pray at. (Just a guess)

Answer 8

I'm not a mouslim,, but I think that they will draw the calculations on a paper and find the best angle and all that stuff......