Categories
Interesting

When you’re in orbit, which way is Mecca?

How can a Muslim astronaut pray five times a day when a “day” in orbit lasts just 90 minutes? Worship in space presents some unique challenges. [Link]

[source digg]

66 replies on “When you’re in orbit, which way is Mecca?”

hmmm…you see, from what I know, when you are travelling, it does not matter which direction you pray IF you don’t know where the correct direction of Mecca is. So I guess praying anywhere in space is acceptable. I mean, think about it. You are not worshipping the earth or the Kabba building. You are praying towards the throne of the almighty. Plus, I dont think scholars need to spend a lot of time in perfecting the “aim” of space praying direction in space! Let’s not forget that God is most merciful and forgiving for when it comes to matters like these. As long as your intentions are clear…all is good!

btw, holla… I don’t think a lot of people share your ignorant and lame sence of humor.

holla if i’ve been readin ur comments and there all offensive..if u have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all. and your comment on the johnny rockets milkshake blog, you said Kuwait Sucks, well if u think kuwait sucks then get out of OUR country! ohh wait if you leave KUwait u won’t have money to freakin keep living ur worthless life JERK!!

ask the saudi prince that went to space in the 80’s, funny thing that he is paralyzed right now, does it have something to do with going to space?

maybe if a muslim country sets up a space program, that question will be answered

God is present everywhere…you just pray to him….just by being in space doesnt means that Meccaa is not relevant or can’t be pointed in your heart for prayers…the important thing is prayers.

Holla, are you in a mental hospital with internet access? I guess so. Your comments are very prvocative and unjustified for. You better watch what you say. Think before you spit out the shit. You use very bad language and if you thing you got some complicated english vocabulary, keep it with you and try to use this bad language with your pop and mom instead…try it on them and try it with us….if you dont like this place and culture, get the hell out of this place….

true_islam maybe you should understand that what i am saying is my opinion and i am not insulting anyone in particular. if you don’t like what i have to say, then you should grow thicker skin. do you drive a stupid black yukon too?

i think wat holla tryin to say is that its bad what ppl r doing to allah name by sticking in on their cars and it’s embarassing to muslims becoz i saw one time a car it was crashed and it had religon sticker on it. it makes a bad image for islam n makes people mock it. also those guys drive really crazy usually!

you know something holla, your right! Everone has the right of freedom of speech and they can say what ever they want. But, everyone needs to respect their boundaries as well and realize that they could be offending people with their comments. Honestly, you know who blogs in this site and yet you did not take their that into consideration. There is a difference between freedom of speech and direct insult.

Considering the islamic tv program that I saw today, where a person asked wether using a conditioner on their hair ruined their wothoo2, I think I’m being pretty serious compared.

The level of discussion on this blog has descent to a new low, I’m very sad to see such comments allowed. anyway as this is not my page i can’t enforce my ideas so I don’t have to read it anymore. Ba bye everyone and it was nice to read you mark and nat. it was great.

oh man i wake up and my comments are deleted. but hahahahaha carlsberg’s m8 you’re post is hilarious. i am only going to stop here in respect to mark and to not shit on his blog.

Personally, I think you should have left Holla’s comments. I saw the first one and didn’t find it offensive at all. I mean, are you going to delete EVERY single comment that offends someone out there? What happened to freedom of speech? We’re censored enough in Kuwait as it is.

And for all the people that went kind of overboard in their reactions: If a comment offends you, don’t read it. It’s that simple.

I dont know what exactly went on above, but im commenting on the topic. I think you can probably pray in any direction and in a 24 hour period while your in space. Thats what I would do. Its simple and gets the job done.

Stinni said

“If a comment offends you, don’t read it. It’s that simple.”

Just for interest, how is this done? How do you know it is offensive if you don’t read it first?

“I didn’t find what hola said offensive either but some muslims did. I am not pro censorship but religon is a touchy subject.”
…………so you are pro- censorship mark!

tj thats not how democracy works. according to your thoughts if someone calls a black person a nigger here then I shouldn’t delete that comment? Come on, since when does democracy allow you to discriminate and be racist?

tj
There is a difference between freedom of speech and direct insult. What ever happened to respecting the audience and knowing your borders? I personally felt insulted so I had to comment, that’s freedom of speech. Letting the guys who wronged you KNOW he crossed the line and to watch what he said or take it back. holla knew he was being disrespectful and yet seemed to throw more wood in the fire abuot a touchy subject and that’s wrong, that’s not freedom of speech.
And honestly Mark, you should’ve not deleted holla’s comment but should’ve maintained order from the start and a put a stop to this argument. I know that keeping a blog site could be stressful sometimes, but order should be present to limit the issue from growing into something else.

Tweez I do have a life other then this blog so I am not going to sit here all day and monitor who posts what. People post fucked up things and they get deleted when I see them. If I am not fast enough then I am not fast enough. Its not the end of the world.

“tj thats not how democracy works. according to your thoughts if someone calls a black person a nigger here then I shouldn’t delete that comment? Come on, since when does democracy allow you to discriminate and be racist?”

Its a good questoion and something I think about a lot. I agree with you 100% but in answer to your question: “since when does democracy allow you to discriminate and be racist?”

http://www.bnp.org.uk

And I DO NOT in any way, shape or form believe in anything these bastards say. Thats the point. In a democracy I can call them bastards and their ideas a load of crap….. but do they still have the right to exist?? I really dont know……. but you asked…

Tweez, Can you see Mecca when you’re praying?

Unfortunately, I missed Holla’s comments, so I have no idea what he said, but it was probably interesting 😀

Anyway, for those who are bitching about comment moderation, you could always boycott mark and his products, like Mr.Kuwait mal awal.

lol Carlsb3rg! The reason why I said that it’s because nobody can see a black hole. And in the event that you do, if they exist that is, youll be sucked in and God knows what’ll happen.
Of course I can’t see Mecca, but I know where it is because it exists and it’s possible to pray towards it. No hard feeling dude, just something I picked up from astronomy class.

btw, I just realized that a day in space is only 90 minutes, lol! SO yeah, praying in space could be pretty hard. How about combining them all in one?!

”
“If a comment offends you, don’t read it. It’s that simple.”

Just for interest, how is this done? How do you know it is offensive if you don’t read it first? ”

Read it, and then ignore it. I think that’s what he meant.

I like how all these monkeys rag on kuwaitis and muslims but still want to live in their countries and take their money…

and they complain about censorship. If you dont like it, go to your home countries provided they offer you the same perks you’re getting here. If its not your country, fark off. If it is, complain all you want.

Bloody idiots

Sigh.. do I have to do all the work?

“Cygnus X-1 (often abbreviated to Cyg X-1) is an X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus, and considered to be a black hole.”

KEYWORD > considered! Not known or IS! AHA, now that’s another story. I know I’m gonna take this topic to another new low, depending on how people comprehend it, but why should I worship a black hole IF im in space?! You know what Carlsb3rg, I think these topics are endless and I know I’m not gonna shut up because I have nothing better to do…for now at least. soooo, black holes it is, for you at least :p
But you know something else? Black holes are speculated to be dying stars. When a star dies, it kinda warps into the space-time continuum and is reborn again by popping out of a…white hole, for a lack of a better word! This also kinda supports the time traveling theory. HOLLY SHIT! I think i just solved our space praying dilemma! Just pray all five prayers towards a black hole and you theoretically prayed forever!

I Think this topic was created to attract more comments and is meant to stir up discussion and get more traffic.

yea… let’s see if anyone can come up with some comment which will stir things up again…

Who’s game for making this post, having the most number of comments ? Hopefully, might beat the whole shark post…

“Isn’t thats the idea behind every post.. to generate a discussion and get more traffic?”

It’s a good idea to present something useful to discuses, not post some information that is utterly useless and all it can do is generate hatred. Yah why not post something about Islam, and allow comments that make fun and ridicule the religion. Where is the benefit behind this dissection? There is none just bunch of people taking cheep shots at Islam. Enjoy your traffic, and when ever you hit a slow month of traffic post something about Islam it’s always there to help you boost your visitor count.

Firstly you don’t seem to understand how web traffic works. A post like this doesn’t effect traffic at all because its a subject that isn’t controversial. Usually controversial subjects generate traffic or porn related posts.

Secondly the post was actually very interesting, if it didn’t interest you.. well it didnt interest YOU.

Not with a name like vineeth (thankgod)
other than that, i prob have seen more than you have but i cant make that judgement till i know more about you…
care to fill me in?
originally from? the southeast i presume?

dude, that’s like a 3rd grade come back! lol, saying that i’m talkin about me when im talking about you. dude….chill!

Where I’m from is not the object here.

Now, like you claim… say that you’ve been out of this country, ever. In that case, I’m sure you must’ve also noticed certain differences in other countries policies which you wanted to be changed.

For instance: The whole danish cartoon affair.
(I’ve no issue’s there, no complaints & I didn’t even bother looking those pictures up)

Now, why did all the M.E countries tell Denmark to apologise, even when the country was just following it’s policies of free speech, & journalist’s rights.

All I’m saying is, the reason people complain about issues like censorship & etc SHOULD NOT be, because of religion, but for a better way to live life. If that is so, then the complaints & asking for reforms would’nt be such a bad thing.

saying the way i put your lack of understanding for sarcasm in wikipedia links is lame, and then using the exact same way to tell me I’m lame, is a 3rd grade monkey see monkey do behaviour, and hence logicaly makes you lame.

a lot of people’s lives revolve around religion. You can’t just expect people to dispose any insults that portray their religions in a bad way for the sake of freedom of speech. Not everybody is “open minded” and accept this right as a way to get away with insults. These create various forms of stress and hatered that kinda makes it impossible to live a better life. How do you expect the Arabs or Muslims to be like that when they are constantly being targets of foreign media?

It’s not fair for humanity to be revolving around religion. I’m sure our lives are a lot more than that.
But I guess, I’ve to accept that a huge percentage of the population do.

By the way, Comment no. 62
(Not so far away)

Vineeth, i dont think you have the right to impose your thought or opinion on anyone else…hence the fact that you presume your life is a lot more than revolving around religion remains your and only your belief. You try to bash religion but in fact do the same that it does, attempt to impost itself on those not willing to accept it.

Do you worship cows? statues? nothing? Great. Whatever it is, awesome im happy that youre happy. But dont go around bashing simply because you disagree.

“hence the fact that you presume your life is a lot more than revolving around religion remains ”
??????
if you read my above comments, u’ll notice that i don’t believe in religion. I do believe in god, but not in religion.

& i love beef & pork… so, no… i dont worship cows.

& another thing, i’m not imposing any of my opinions. I was just disagreeing to one of the statements u made, regarding people complaining although it’s not their country.

sorry.. made a slight mistake earlier… misread ur comment…

QUOTE“hence the fact that you presume your life is a lot more than revolving around religion remains ”

It’s true… I believe life is better than that

A man came to the Master, cursed at him, and struck him. The Master said nothing. The man cursed and struck again, demanding a response. Again the Master said nothing. A third time the man cursed and struck him, this time with a stick leaving a large black bruise across the Masters shoulder. The Master did not respond. As the man turned to leave the Master finaly spoke to him “when one man gives his brother a gift, but the brother will not take it, who does the gift belong to?” The man responded that it belonged to the giver. The Master returned “likewise I refuse your gift and now you must carry it, and it will cause you great sorrow in the days to come..”

Violence is the way of the weak. It is the way of those who would force their wills on others, and it can only cause pain. Mahatma Gandhi once said “you may hit me, beat me, even kill me, and then you will have my dead body. Not my cooperation.” This is the essence of true freedom. A person who is not master of their own will can never be free, and a person who has mastered it can never be enslaved, regardless of their circumstances. We do not choose the easy route, but it is the only route that can lead us all to a world without oppression, hatred, and authority.

Leave a Reply to Ozy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *