Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development (for the record, Malaysia is second to Indonesia in the list of largest Muslim countries – there are slightly fewer Muslims in Malaysia than in the entire Arab world) was so concerned about the first Malaysian to go into space that they took it upon themselves to issue a 20 page booklet concerning how he should fulfill his obligations as a good Muslim while he’s up there.

Among the recommendations: the JKMIA has defined a day as a 24-hour period, because the day-and-night cycle of the International Space Station would require prayer 80 times in an earth day instead of the usual 5, thus making it difficult to get anything else done. The JKMIA also “hopes” that the astronaut will choose to continue the Ramadan fast while in space even though he could almost certainly get away with claiming the exemption for those who are ‘traveling.’

… and now you know.

Tags: Asides, islam, islamic-law, malaysia-space-program