Clearly The Rules Of Islam Were Invented Before Spaceflight....

[BlooInBloo]

http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2007/09/mecca_in_orbit

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor has a problem. Two problems. The first is that Mecca keeps moving.

Well, not really. It's Shukor who'll be moving. As Malaysia's first astronaut, he's scheduled to lift off October 10 in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a nine-day visit during the holy month of Ramadan to the International Space Station.

He's a devout Muslim and when he says his daily prayers he wants to face Mecca, specifically the Ka'aba, the holiest place in Islam ("Turn then thy face towards the Sacred Mosque: wherever ye are, turn your faces towards it .... " The Quran, Al-Baqarah, 2:149).

That's where the trouble comes in. From ISS, orbiting 220 miles above the surface of the Earth, the qibla (an Arabic word meaning the direction a Muslim should pray toward Mecca) changes from second to second. During some parts of the space station's orbit, the qibla can move nearly 180 degrees during the course of a single prayer. What's a devout Muslim to do?

EDIT: Notice also the idiotic reporting "Well, not really. It's Shukor who'll be moving". Sheesh.

[Xipe Totec]

1. What's a devout Muslim to do?

Follow the rules religiously...

[daninthemoon]

2. Being weightless, maybe he can start himself spinning...

[haele]

3. Easiest answer - face Earth.

The space station is high enough in orbit that N-S-E-W has very little meaning when viewing earth.

Haele