One of L Sprague de Camp’s Viagens stories has a Muslim character. At one point, this character is taken into custody for some crime and is being transported by spaceship. Just to be an irritant, this character suddenly “gets religion” and starts pestering the Captain to compute the direction of Mecca for him several times a day. I forget the name of the story or character.
And when Allah receives the prayer that has flown through the sun :eek:
In Jewish law, it is preferable to face Jerusalem in prayer, but not an absolute requirement. So it’s not a major problem, but it is, shall we say, a minor problem, for those who want to pray in the most preferred manner. And it’s not a theoretical problem, merely for future astronauts to Mars, or even current earthbound astronauts. It raises questions even for air travelers and even for ordinary people at home.
This article was written by someone in England, who tried to calculate the direction from Manchester to Jerusalem. The first first problem he mentions is that (unlike the OP’s Mars traveler, to whom the Earth was high in the sky) from almost anywhere on Earth, a straight line to Jerusalem would be a tunnel underground.
The second problem he mentions is the Great Circle or Little Circle problem. This is more easily illustrated for a person in New York. If you look at any map, you’ll find that the Middle East is south of NY, and east of NY, and therefore one would conclude that he should face southeast. (The exact angle is not relevant for this post; hang on for one more sentence.) But if you look at any globe, you’ll find that the shortest route from NY to the mideast starts out northeast along the Canadian coast, then curves towards the east over Greenland, and turns southeast over Europe. (The latter route is called the Great Circle because it has a larger radius than the first route. which is also called a “Rhumb line”.)
It turns out that there’s no consensus yet among the Jewish authorities on this issue, but, as I said, it is only a minor problem at most. The important thing, all the authorities agree, is for one’s heart to go in the right direction.
This this this.
Religions have been adapting to new situations for centuries. Hundreds of years ago, most Christians believed that the world was literally only a few thousand years old. The revelation that this does not appear to be true hasn’t destroyed Christianity. Ways were found to reconcile a billion-year old Earth with the Bible.
If a religion can’t adapt, then it will die out as people abandon it for something that does work.
So, Islam (and other religions) will find some way to adapt to space travel. It has to. If it cannot, then Islam will simply not become a major religion in space. Period.
Oooh, Allah, ooh, Allah, gotta go to space. Space orbit, in my space suit. I’m the farthest Muslim in space. SPAAAAAACE!
My guess is that it would vary.
Some would face “East” or some arbitrary but symbolic direction.
Others would feel the need to know the point in the sky to face. But note that people halfway around the world don’t orient themselves in 3D to point through the center of the Earth.
Wars would be fought over the disagreement.
A remarkably sensible response. Thanks for sharing.