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One-way trip to Mars prohibited in Islam
One-way trip to Mars prohibited in Islam Ahmed Shaaban / 19 February 2014 Fatwa committee under the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the UAE says such a journey poses a real risk to life. Promoting or being involved in a one-way trip to the Red Planet is prohibited in Islam, a fatwa committee under the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the UAE has ruled. “Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam,” the committee said. “There is a possibility that an individual who travels to planet Mars may not be able to remain alive there, and is more vulnerable to death.” Whoever opts for this “hazardous trip”, the committee said, is likely to perish for no “righteous reason”, and thus will be liable to a “punishment similar to that of suicide in the Hereafter”. The committee, presided by Professor Dr Farooq Hamada, said: “Protecting life against all possible dangers and keeping it safe is an issue agreed upon by all religions and is clearly stipulated in verse 4/29 of the Holy Quran: Do not kill yourselves or one another. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.” Late in April 2013, Mars One, a Dutch company, invited volunteers to fly and live on the Red Planet, but there is no technology so far that would enable a return trip from Mars to Earth. The company is planning the first such trip to Mars in 2023 and another crew every two years afterwards with the goal of establishing a permanent human colony. The applicants must be aged between 18 and 40 years and in good physical condition. They have to pay only $38 for the trip. Thousands of volunteers, including some 500 Saudis and other Arabs, have reportedly applied for the mission which costs $6 billion. The committee indicated that some may be interested in travelling to Mars for escaping punishment or standing before Almighty Allah for judgment. “This is an absolutely baseless and unacceptable belief because not even an atom falls outside the purview of Allah, the Creator of everything. This has also been clearly underscored in verse 19&20/93 of the Holy Quran in which Allah says: There is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant. (Indeed) He has enumerated them and counted them a (full) counting.” Echoing the same, Islamic researcher Dr Shaikh Mohammed Al Ashmawy said there is no debate in this issue. “Almighty Allah said in verse 2/195 in the Holy Quran: Do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction.” Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf, Imam of the Amena mosque, said: “Man’s life is not his or her own property; it is God’s creation, and therefore suicide is prohibited in all religions, and of course by law.” ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com . For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Shaikh Hamdan’s ‘1971’ online quiz to gift Dh50,000 each to 71 winners
Shaikh Hamdan’s ‘1971’ online quiz to gift Dh50,000 each to 71 winners Staff Report / 19 February 2014 During the online quiz competition, 1971 questions will be asked about the UAE’s history in a three-year-long campaign. The ‘1971 Initiative’ ordered by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, to coincide with ‘Education Day’, will start its first three-month edition on March 3. During the online quiz competition, 1971 questions will be asked about the UAE’s history in a three-year-long campaign. In each year’s edition, there will be 71 winners, who will get Dh50,000 each. In total, Dh3.55 million could be shared by the winners in the three editions in three years. The competitors must be UAE nationals or Arab-speaking residents. They have to visit on www.mubadara1971.ae to register by entering their identity numbers. The participation will be open to all from the age of 16. The organising committee of the initiative will set the contest criteria. The Board of Directors of the ‘1971 Initiative’ announced the details of the contest at a Press conference on Tuesday. In accordance with the directives of Shaikh Hamdan, the Board of Directors of the initiative was formed to plan and supervise all editions under the chairmanship of Dr Abdullah Mohammed Al Rais. The board said the mass information contest will kick off on March 3. The event will be widely covered by mass media. (With inputs from Wam) For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Musharraf at court for the first time for treason hearing
Musharraf at court for the first time for treason hearing (AFP) / 18 February 2014 He was first ordered to appear before the tribunal on December 24, but had missed repeated hearings since then due to bomb scares and health problems. Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf arrived in court on Tuesday for the first time to face charges in a treason case he has denounced as a score-settling exercise by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The 70-year-old arrived in a heavily protected cavalcade of at least half a dozen vehicles at the National Library in Islamabad where the court has been holding hearings, an AFP photographer said. No former military leader has appeared in court before, and the trial is seen as a test of the supremacy of civilian rule in a country governed for more than half its history by the army after three coups. Musharraf faces possible treason charges, which can carry the death penalty, over his suspension of the constitution and imposition of a state of emergency in 2007 while he was president. He was first ordered to appear before the tribunal on December 24, but had missed repeated hearings since then due to bomb scares and health problems that saw him complain of a heart ailment. Musharraf has challenged the civilian court’s right to try a former army chief, saying he is entitled to be dealt with by a military tribunal. He has accused Prime Minister Sharif, whom he ousted in a 1999 coup, of waging a “vendetta” and has asked for permission to go abroad for medical treatment, which has been refused. Sharif came to power after elections in May last year in the first transfer of power from one elected government to another after a full term. Musharraf has endured a torrid time since returning to Pakistan in March last year on an ill-fated mission to run in the general election. Almost as soon as he landed he was barred from contesting the vote and hit with a barrage of legal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule. The charges against him include the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007. So far, nothing has come of rumours that a backroom deal would be struck to get Musharraf out of the country before trial, to avoid a destabilising clash between the government and the powerful armed forces. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
