Mecca, We Have a Problem. Muslims in Space!

This is so stupid its funny. A bunch of Muslims are trying to figure out, not how to correctly time those important thrusters, or keep those oxygen tanks mixed, but where to put the prayer rug.

They also plan to blow up visit the International Space Station. But wouldn’t Muslims not be allowed in Space after it was conquered by Henson’s Miss Piggy and her fellow space-faring pigs?

From a South African paper here:

Kuala Lumpur – How do Muslim astronauts pray in space? Malaysia’s National Space Agency is holding a conference to consider such questions as the country prepares to send its first citizen into orbit.

A nationwide competition in the majority-Muslim country has narrowed the field to four astronaut candidates, three of whom are Muslims.

Two will eventually be trained and sent into space by Russia, and Malaysia’s space agency – or Angkasa – said it had been scratching its head over how Muslim rituals could be carried out properly.

Performing ablutions for Muslim prayers with water rationing in space and preparing food according to Islamic standards will be among issues discussed, said Angkasa’s director-general, Mazlan Othman.

The astronaut will also visit the International Space Station, which circles the earth 16 times in 24 hours, so another thorny question is how to pray five times a day as required by Islam, she said.

Muslims also have to turn towards Mecca to pray and working out which direction that will be while hovering above the earth might also be challenging.

This is too stupid. Did some Imam declare a jihad on Space? What happens if they get to to the Space Station and they have a cartoon of Muhammed? IMAO has a hilarious list of additional problems faced by Muslim astronauts here, entitled, “In Space Nobody Can Hear You Scream ‘Allahu Ackbhar!'”

Some of the best nuggets:

• Beheading an infidel with a sword is complicated by the complex locking-collar on most spacesuit helmets.
• Constantly worried about Allah’s aim when he hurls stars at devils (Sura 67:5)
• Tang is not halal. (But it does make excellent body-paint)
• The Palestinian flight-controller keeps wanting to change the rocket’s course to make it smash into Sderot, Israel