Here’s another Muslim building for conservatives to worry about: Saudi Arabia is building a giant clock tower in Mecca, and some Islamic scholars hope that “Mecca time” will replace Greenwich Mean Time as the accepted start of each day.
The clock will be at the top of the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, which will be the second tallest building in the world when it’s completed and will include hotels, shopping malls, and conference centers. The clock will begin ticking on Thursday.
Time is very important in the Islamic world because Muslims have to pray six times a day at specific times. Some Muslims carry GPS type devices so they can orient themselves to pray toward Mecca.
Recently Indonesia's highest Islamic authority has said Indonesian Muslims have been praying in the wrong direction.
The Indonesian Ulema Council told the country's Muslim populace in March to turn west when they offered their daily prayers.
Muslims are supposed to face the Kaaba, the religion's most sacred site in the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
At the time, the council thought that the direction of Kaaba from Indonesia laid to the west.
Turns out, it didn't. Africa did.
So, on Friday, the council issued a new edict: face northwest.
"After the first fatwa (edict) a few months ago that stated that the praying direction is west, we have announced that the correct direction for praying is indeed northwest, and we have issued a new fatwa (edict) to correct it," said Ma'ruf Amin, the head of fatwa division in the Indonesian Ulema Council.
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IGiu
Netcraft rank: 10672
http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://rightardia.blogspot.com
