Pretty much you can. My Muslim colleagues can’t just stop their train and pray at the right time so they don’t. They also have the issue of not knowing in which direction Mecca is because they are underground and the tunnels are mighty twisty. But the reality is that it is impractical to do so.
I see some of the guys praying around the office buildings when it’s time but obviously it’s much easier to stop work for five minutes in that environment. I must ask somebody if they skip it outright when they have to or if they make it up later. I suspect it’s the former (like medicine really).
As far as fasting and not fasting during Ramadhan goes, there are certain conditions under which one is exempt from keeping the fast (at least in my branch of Islam):
Travellers
Pregnant women
Mensturating women
Those with a recognised medical condition where fasting would be hazardous to one’s health (e.g. if one is a diabetic).
Categories 1 and 3 must make up their missed fasts after Ramadhan, whilst 1 and 4, although completely exempt from the physical abstenaince from food, must adhere to the other restrictions of Ramadhan. However, this does vary from sect to sect.
As regards missed prayers, if you’re in a position where praying at the prescribed time is not feasible, you should make up the relevant prayers later.
Exactly. Muslims living here in the Oslo area, for instance, would have a very short fast when Ramadan falls in the winter months - and would not physically survive when Ramadan falls in the summer and it doesn’t get dark for weeks. In general, the imam in each mosque will suggest reasonable fast times for the community he leads, as well as reasonable times for daily prayers. They’re often meant to be close to the times in Mecca, I’m told, not only because of the religious aspect but because it lies at a much more practical latitude for such things.
Similarly, the small Jewish communities in Oslo and Trondheim have figured out ways to work around the challenge of sunset falling very very late during the summer and inconveniently early during the winter. It’s an old problem.
Okay, prayers are easy. How about the hajj? Imagine a Muslim astronaut on Mars, with a 2-3 year transit time. That’s got to put a major wrench into the pilgrimage.
AKAIK the hajj is only actually required once in one’s lifetime and only if one is able to make the journey in the first place. I once read a sci-fi story set on a colonized Mars where this problem was solved by Muslims transporting a piece of the Black Stone to Mars and founding a “New Mecca”.
By the way, the Malaysian astronaut who inspired the article in the OP is extremely good-looking. I recommend checking him out: Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. He’s a doctor, an astronaut, and a model, and he’s single, ladies.
