Salah is the practice of formal prayer in Islam. It is a ritual prayer, having prescribed conditions, procedures and times. Depending on whether one is a Sunni or a Shia, one must pray either 5 or 3 times each day.
As I understand it, another aspect of the requirement is called Qiblah. This is an Arabic word for the direction one must face when a Muslim prays during Salah.
Additionally, after death, Muslims are supposed to be buried with their heads in the direction of the Qiblah. (Unless they can’t find their heads. I’m just saying…in case, maybe, their bodies were vaporized when a jet plane crashed into a building or something…)
Back to the salah. Every adult Muslim then obeys Qiblah when praying and must face towards Mecca.
This is where it becomes a little problematic. Let’s say you’re one of the great many Muslims in Alaska. Which compass direction do you face when you want to orient yourself towards Mecca? If you look at a Mercator map, Mecca is definitely southeast. However, if you were a pilot and wanted to know the shortest distance from Anchorage to Mecca, you would head almost due north.
I have a third suggestion, however. Because the world is a sphere, I don’t think either direction is appropriate. If you draw a straight line from Alaska to Mecca, either facing southeast or north, the line will take you into outer space.
Therefore, I think any good Muslim in our part of the world ought to do the Qiblah as if he were drilling a hole right through the Earth to Mecca.
I guess that means that North American dead Muslims then ought to be buried in a vertical position, so that their heads can face Mecca properly.
It’s all very confusing.
No comments:
Post a Comment