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Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
→Facing Toward Mecca
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====Facing Toward Mecca==== | ====Facing Toward Mecca==== | ||
The Qur'an tells all Muslims to face in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca when they pray. However, even if you suppose that alligning yourself with a great circle around the globe counts as facing the direction of Mecca, you are simultaneously facing opposite its direction as the circle can be traced behind you. Even worse, on the opposite side of the Earth every direction is equally facing towards and away from Mecca. Astronauts in Earth orbit or (one day) on the Moon and Mars would require even more contrived solutions. The author here presupposes a small world, local to Arabia, that is flat. Only in that world view can people everywhere face Mecca. | The Qur'an tells all Muslims to face in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca when they pray. However, even if you suppose that alligning yourself with a great circle around the globe counts as facing the direction of Mecca, you are simultaneously facing opposite its direction as the circle can be traced behind you. Even worse, on the opposite side of the Earth every direction is equally facing towards and away from Mecca. The Americas are mostly in the hemisphere of this antipode. There, the rhumb line method is often preferred because the great circle method lines across the continent diverge before they start to converge when they enter the hemisphere of Mecca, causing people north and south to face away from each as they pray. Astronauts in Earth orbit or (one day) on the Moon and Mars would require even more contrived solutions. The author here presupposes a small world, local to Arabia, that is flat. Only in that world view can people everywhere face Mecca. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|149}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|2|149}}| | ||