This got me thinking. Lets say you were in space, orbitting the earth. Which direction would you face to pray namaz and how would know the prayer times since sunrise and sunset in space/orbit are not the same as those on earth.
Malaysia considers Islam in space
A two-day conference on Islam and life in space is under way in Malaysia, in a bid to answer questions faced by would-be Muslim astronauts. Malaysia is due to send an astronaut into space with the Russians next year.
The country’s first spaceman is almost certain to be a Muslim, which raises a number of practical issues.
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.
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Serious discussion**
Malaysia’s science ministry has called together a group of experts to thrash out these and other questions.
It is being billed as the first-ever serious discussion of the issues.
It is in keeping with the Malaysian government’s mission to promote what it calls Islam Hadhari, or civilisational Islam, which encourages Muslims to embrace education, science and technology.
It will doubtless be hoping that a conference of Muslim scientists and scholars debating such cutting edge issues will not go unnoticed in the rest of the Islamic world.
i think they cud have many solutions for a man in space....
the person cud pray according to prayer times back at home....
and he cud face anywhere, if not certain about the direction of kaaba, he can take a guess and start praying in a direction he feels appropriate....
since water is not available, tayammum is already a valid option....
When we are traveling by air, the direction of the Kaaba is not all that easy to figure out so we make the same exception that let Allah swt be the judge of our intentions.
But on a side note - it is good to see that they are exploring such issues.
I think it would be an idea to see what the Ahl Al-Kitaab do in this situation and learn from them if their Ijtihaad does not go against the Qur'aan and Sunnah.
Jews also have to pray Shaharit, Minhah and Maariv facing Bait Al-Muqadas at specific times.
my question: will their niyat would be facing kaaba or facing Allah??
as on earth facing kaaba and in the sky (mai-raj) facing Allah is sunnah.
Kaaba or Allah???
Quran says "*Unto Allah belong the East and the West, and whithersoever ye turn, there is Allah's Countenance. Lo! Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. *" (2:115)
If you're in outer space then the only direction you can face is towards Earth. Theres no other option.
However if you're orbiting Earth, then you can angle yourself to face Qiblah. In other words, towards the closest direction to Mecca.
In terms of ablution, its a tricky one. Tayammum uses soil and I think that wouldn't be possible in space as soil would be floating around (and polluting) the air in a quarantined shuttle or space station.
But water is recycled in the int. space station so it shouldn't be a problem. If it is limited then the atronaut can pray Qaza, thereby limiting the water he uses.
Quran says "*Unto Allah belong the East and the West, and whithersoever ye turn, there is Allah's Countenance. Lo! Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. *" (2:115)
Here, In my town lives an African Muslim guy, some times I ask him to learn, So I asked him about space Namaz, from what I understood (if not lost in translation) is:
On earth (physically connect to it by some means) we face kaa'ba for Namaaz, In the sky (heavens) All face Allah, he gave me example of Mairaj when Rasool (SA) saw Musa (As) praying and Musa was praying facing Allah. I found it interesting and ask the same question here.
