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girlwhowaspluggedout writes:
Hoping to be a pioneer on the Red Planet? First seek permission from your local cleric. Dubai's Khaleej Times reports that the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the UAE has ruled that promoting or being involved in a one-way trip to Mars is prohibited by Islam. The fatwa appears to be a response to Mars One's call for volunteers to make the pioneering trip to the red planet.
According to the General Authority, 'Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam. There is a possibility that an individual who travels to planet Mars may not be able to remain alive there, and is more vulnerable to death.' Because of the inherent dangers of the trip, those who choose to go there are likely to die for no 'righteous reason,' thus incurring 'punishment similar to that of suicide in the Hereafter.'
The Khaleej Times further states that the General Authority fears that some of the volunteers, among whom are 500 Saudis and other Arabs, may be interested in traveling to Mars to escape punishment or to avoid standing before Allah for judgment. The General Authority decreed that 'this is an absolutely baseless and unacceptable belief because not even an atom falls outside the purview of Allah, the Creator of everything.'"
[ED Note: Likening the one-way-ticket to suicide does make some theological sense, but I am saddened that the Authority does not consider space exploration a "righteous reason" to risk one's life. In times past, many great explorers hailed from Muslim societies, and were part of what made them great.]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by johaquila on Thursday February 20 2014, @03:14PM
... this were not a new opionion. It could explain why there was never a big tradition of taking one-way boats to the Americas in the Muslim world.
On a slightly more serious note, I would imagine that Muhammad would be quite shocked to learn that his religion is now interpreted by some as forbidding the valiant spreading of the belief in Allah to new human settlements. Historically, it was all about expansion.
(Score: 3, Funny) by melikamp on Thursday February 20 2014, @03:56PM
Taking a one-way plane to Americas seems to be OK with clerics, though.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday February 20 2014, @07:50PM
The summary:
"Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam."
So much has been justified by Islam that I don't know whether to laugh or cry at such a statement.
You can throw that quote out into a crowd of Muslims and watch them break into heated arguments and fights over exactly what true Islam is. It seems anything can be simultaneously banned by Islam and required by it.
After a thousand years, Muslims no longer understand their own beliefs, and have lost control of their own identity.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 21 2014, @05:16AM
The same argument can be used to ban driving a car or eating burger. They can be dangerous compared to walking on the pavement or eating an apple.
(Score: 5, Funny) by mhajicek on Thursday February 20 2014, @05:55PM
To be fair, everyone who set out to discover / colonize the Americas has died.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2, Insightful) by mojo chan on Thursday February 20 2014, @05:58PM
On a slightly more serious note, I would imagine that Muhammad would be quite shocked to learn that his religion is now interpreted by some as forbidding the valiant spreading of the belief in Allah to new human settlements.
I doubt it. When you look at what the guy actually said and did it is quite clear that he was small minded and a bit thick, as well as being mostly interested in consolidating his own power and wealth. The main reason for spreading Islam was to get more people to follow him.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by isostatic on Thursday February 20 2014, @06:31PM
expansion through conquering, slaying the men, and bedding the women (hence the 4 wives thing)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by iNaya on Friday February 21 2014, @07:40AM
This might be marked flamebait, but Mohammed did encourage that.
But I guess it's better to lie to oneself and not be offended, than to be offended by the truth.