Funny Story About Noble Man

Got a good laugh out of this. I mean no disrespect. It is the circumstances that I am laughing about. And the way that they were presented. It is universal humor. It just happened to be about someone who is a practicing Muslim.


The news spoke of Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor being the first Malaysian astronaut and the first Muslim to be in space during part of Ramadan. A comprehensive guidebook was made up by the Islamic National Fatwa Council. It includes info on how to face Mecca from the International Space Station.


The guidebook instructs Sheikh Muszaphar to pray according to a 24 hour period instead of following the sun. People in the ISS experience 16 sunrises and sunsets a day (24 hrs). The radio story said that if he followed the sun he'd be praying over 80 times a day. It was the matter-of-fact way he stated this and the image of someone doing something over and over again with hardly a break. He ended by mentioning that the guidebook said that if there is trouble locating where Mecca is, just face earth.

mission insignia

That said, I feel much respect for the man, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, for his accomplishment. He sounds like a noble person. As well as being an astronaut, he is an orthopedic surgeon. He was born in Kuala Lumpur, home of the Petronas Towers.