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Salah: Difference between revisions
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==Direction of Prayer== | ==Direction of Prayer== | ||
According to the Qur'an<ref>"''We have seen the turning of thy face to heaven (for guidance, O Muhammad). And now verily We shall make thee turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah which is dear to thee. So turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and ye (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces (when ye pray) toward it...''" - {{Quran|2|144}}</ref> Muslims must pray towards the [[Kaaba|Ka'aba]] (qiblah being the direction that one has to face in order to do this). If the [[earth were flat| earth was flat]], this | According to the Qur'an<ref>"''We have seen the turning of thy face to heaven (for guidance, O Muhammad). And now verily We shall make thee turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah which is dear to thee. So turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and ye (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces (when ye pray) toward it...''" - {{Quran|2|144}}</ref> Muslims must pray towards the [[Kaaba|Ka'aba]] (qiblah being the direction that one has to face in order to do this). If the [[earth were flat| earth was flat]], this results in the problems such as[[The Ramadan Pole Paradox|one of the problems]], a problem which can be obviated inside of the text if it is understood to believe in a flat earth. | ||
===Problems=== | ===Problems=== | ||
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====Praying from a Sphere==== | ====Praying from a Sphere==== | ||
Due to the sphericity of the earth, a prayer in any direction will point towards the sky/outer-space, not Mecca. | Due to the sphericity of the earth, a prayer in any direction will point towards the sky/outer-space if a straight line is followed, not Mecca. As such the modern calculations of qiblah usually use the shortest distance to Mecca as the bird flies to be the "direction" of the qiblah from any given geographical point on the earth. | ||
====Praying from | ====Praying from the Antipode==== | ||
There would also be one location on Earth where a Muslim could be standing at the opposite side of Earth in relation to the Ka'aba (for example if the Ka'aba was at the North Pole and the Muslim was standing on the South Pole). This is known as the antipode, and for many centuries the apparent logical absurdity of the existence of antipodes to people who did not understand the theory of gravity was used to argue for a flat earth. For this location, any direction for all 360 degrees would be facing 'towards' Mecca and consequently, there would be no one direction that would be the correct one.As with every point on earth, an antipode for the Ka'abah does exist. | |||
There would also be one location on Earth where a Muslim could be standing at the opposite side of Earth in relation to the Ka'aba (for example if the Ka'aba was at the North Pole and the Muslim was standing on the South Pole). For this location, any direction for all 360 degrees would be facing 'towards' Mecca and consequently, there would be no one direction that would be the correct one. | |||
==Hadith== | ==Hadith== | ||