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Organization planning Mars trip asks that fatwa banning Mars travel for Muslims be lifted

Feb 22, 2014 9:46 am By Robert Spencer

kirk-spock-mirrormirrorMars One is pleading with the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment to allow Muslims to join their Mars colony projected for 2025 — because after all, the Mars colony wouldn’t be any fun without someone there endlessly imagining insults, fabricating grievances, whining about having been offended, and demanding redress and special accommodations.

Yes, I know they didn’t say they wanted someone from Hamas-linked CAIR, but odds are that is the type who would go, just to make sure the trip wasn’t infected with “Islamophobia.”

An update on this story. “Mars One appeal for fatwa against Muslims applying to take part in trip to the Red Planet to be called off by Islamic council,” by Ted Thornhill for the Daily Mail, February 21:

The organisation planning the first manned mission to Mars has asked for the Fatwa issued against living there to be lifted, calling for clerics to remember Islam’s rich tradition of exploration and allow Muslims ‘to witness God’s creation in heaven’.

Mars One is planning on setting up the first human colony on Mars in 2025, but the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) in the UAE declared recently that a trip there would be un-Islamic.

The committee argued that an attempt to dwell on the planet would be so hazardous as to be suicidal and killing oneself is not permitted by Islam.

According to Khaleejtimes.com it said: ‘Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam. 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.’

The astronauts, the committee said, would end up dying for no ‘righteous reason’ and would face the same punishment in the afterlife as someone who’d committed suicide.

The committee, led 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.’

However, Mars One pointed out that the Quran encourages exploration.

In a written response to the Fatwa it highlighted a verse that says ‘and among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know (Quran 30: 22)’.

It said: ‘The Muslim world has a rich tradition of exploration. The verse from the Quran [above] encourages Muslims to go out and see the signs of God’s creation in the “heavens and the earth”. The most influential example of this was the Moroccan Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta, who from 1325 to 1355 travelled 73,000 miles, visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries.’

Mars One also disputed that the mission was tantamount to suicide.

The organisation said: ‘Space exploration, just like Earth exploration, will come with risks and rewards. It may seem extremely dangerous to send humans to Mars today, but the humans will be preceded by at least eight cargo missions.

‘Robotic unmanned vehicles will prepare the habitable settlement. Water and a breathable atmosphere will be produced inside the habitat and the settlement will be operational for two years, even before the first crew leaves Earth.

‘If we may be so bold: the GAIAE should not analyze the risk as they perceive it today. The GAIAE should assess the potential risk for humans as if an unmanned habitable outpost is ready and waiting on Mars. Any progress requires taking risks, but in this case the reward is “the next giant leap for mankind”. That reward is certainly worth the risks involved in this mission.’

It added: ‘Mars One respectfully requests GAIAE to cancel the Fatwa and make the greatest Rihla, or journey, of all times open for Muslims, too. They can be the first Muslims to witness the signs of God’s creation in heaven, drawing upon the rich culture of travel and exploration of early Islam.

‘The lives and journey of the first Mars settlers will tell us more about our place in the universe than any other humans before us. As Ibn Battuta also wrote: “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”‘…

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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 10:03 am

    What? They aren’t concerned about discussing ‘TEMPORARY MARRIAGES’ on the space trip?

    What? They aren’t concerned about MALE BREAST FEEDING on the space trip?

  2. Charli Main says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Sharia law for Mars!!! Women must prove that they are not Islamophobic by having clitorectomies and dressing in especially designed black bin bag spacesuits.
    On arrival, colonists must immediately collect large piles of Mars rocks, to be used for stoning to death anyone found eating pork chops.

  3. joev says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 10:56 am

    This certainly made me laugh:

    “The Muslim world has a rich tradition of exploration”

    Ah, so that’s what they called it in Spain, Byzantium, and the Gates of Vienna?! Just ‘robust’ tourism?

  4. Dane says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 11:00 am

    Non-Muslims should be supporting such fatwas to the max. Mars suddenly becomes a very attractive destination for us.

  5. London Jim says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 11:44 am

    GAIAE said that ”killing oneself is not permitted in Islam”. . So what’s with all the suicide bombings ? Oh, I forgot. .taking a bunch of other people out with ynu lets the bomber off the hook.

  6. CogitoErgoSum says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 12:21 pm

    “The astronauts, the committee said, would end up dying for no ‘righteous reason’ and would face the same punishment in the afterlife as someone who’d committed suicide.”

    But dying for a “righteous reason” is just fine. I wonder how long it will take for the first suicide bomber to reach the Mars colony and show its infidel citizens “righteousness. ” First Mars and then the universe; Muslims spreading Islam among the stars. Fascinating! Consider the logic. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations? No…..not if all religion is to be for Allah. I’m afraid the Vulcan High Command may have a problem sticking to the Prime Directive upon first contact. I recommend this solar system be quarantined until further progress is made by its inhabitants. Beam me up now, Captain.

  7. Buraq says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    Advertising opportunity for the chocolate industry. Islam bars Mars! Geddit?:))

    Clowns!

  8. Martian infidel says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 12:46 pm

    Mars — named after the Roman god of war. Sounds like the first destination for jihadists to me. It’s not like they’d be boldly going where no muslim has ever gone before…

  9. Montedoro44 says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    The fatwa is shortsighted. If an imam inhabits Mars, he can build a mosque there, and once Mars is a place where Islam is practiced, it becomes a waqf, territory rightfully belonging to Islam in perpetuity.

  10. Stephen David says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    I am all in favor of sending Muslims to Mars on a one-way ticket.

    Send ’em all!

    But I don’t buy Quran 30: 22 as justification for exploring anything. All it is saying is that Allah (PTOOEY!) uses heaven and earth for signs. What does that have to do with any form of exploration???

    • Aardvark says

      Feb 22, 2014 at 6:07 pm

      You beat me to it, David!

      I was about to say that I fully support sending ALL mohammedans to mars, as soon as possible!

  11. livingengine says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    Livingengine’s “Fatwa” – Do Not Get On Board This Thing.

    About Mars One –

    So what makes Mars One so confident of success at a task that NASA has struggled with since the 1970s? Cofounder Bas Lansdorp’s plan is to pull in tremendous public interest by playing the entire mission as a “reality TV” experience, getting folks attached to Mars One contestants candidates just like they do to American Idol hopefuls. The process has already started: the Mars One applicant site already lets people rate applicants. From there, you can pick out your favorites and vote them up.
    http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/more-than-20000-people-apply-for-one-way-ticket-to-mars/

    Thousands of people have applied for the trip, in spite of the fact that the project as it’s currently outlined has neither the money nor the technology to get off the ground.
    http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/02/one-way-mars-one-mission-detractors-now-include-some-muslim-clerics/

  12. citycat says

    Feb 22, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    They go only where there is someone to enslave or murder.

    Allah must have its fix of souls.

  13. ApolloSpeaks says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 4:18 am

    MARS SHOULD BE

    a suitable planet for Moslems as it’s named after the Roman god of war.

  14. Theo Prinse says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 9:14 am

    After reading the full comments by Mars One Bas Lansdorp I reject my support for him and prof. Gerard ‘t Hooft and their mission.
    The people of MarsOne fully bow their head for islam and they dont understand that islam does not want the exploration and colonization of planets (by them) and that Islam will not accept any compromise …

    Instead I reassert the promotion of my plan to Terraform Mars by heating it with super greenhouse gasses and perhaps Venus by putting Venus in the shade with the development of the Super Combustion Ramjet (SCRamjet) and the Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) engines.
    SCRamjet and NTR combined will decrease cost of space travel by 100 to 1.000 fold.
    The NTR has been developed from 1959 to 1973 and has flown successful in space by the Russians.
    Development of the SCramjet has cost the US 250 million thus far and will reach tech level 10 for 3 or 4 billion in a few years.

  15. profitsbeard says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    If the retrograde malignancy of Islam can at least be confined to one planet that we have a chance to ultimately and logically eradicate it by exposing its central Lie:

    that the Koran was given to humans by Allah in its current, perfect form.

    Tthe “Yemeni Koran fragments” and the word of Mohammad’s child bride as well- who said that some of Mohammad’s saying were lost because those who memorized them died in battle before they could be written down- show this claim of “perfection” to be the Big Lie that undermines Islam utterly, entirely, and renders the Koran a pious, malignant fraud.

    If it starts to spread beyond the Earth, God help us.

    Keep Islam earthbound!

    • veggiedog says

      Feb 23, 2014 at 1:59 pm

      No please, send it all to outer space, I don’t care if they land or not.

  16. gravenimage says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Organization planning Mars trip asks that fatwa banning Mars travel for Muslims be lifted
    ………………………………….

    What an utterly grotesque spectacle—those seeking to expand the boundaries of human knowledge begging dark-ages Imams to let violent Muslims go along for the ride. *Ugh*.

    It should come as no surprise that retrograde ignorance exists alongside the forward-looking spirit of discovery—what is disgusting is when the latter plays lickspittle to the former, as here.

    Several posters have mentioned that the Mars One project itself seems a tad flaky—but unless one is personally thinking of signing on that is essentially irrelevant here.

    I imagine the Fatwa would be much the same if the mission were being planned by NASA or the ESA, as well.

    More:

    The organisation planning the first manned mission to Mars has asked for the Fatwa issued against living there to be lifted, calling for clerics to remember Islam’s rich tradition of exploration.
    ………………………………….

    Grimly laughable. I suppose they mean Islam’s rich tradition *of conquest*…

    More:

    The most influential example of this was the Moroccan Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta, who from 1325 to 1355 travelled 73,000 miles, visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries.’
    ………………………………….

    This is pretty iffy. There is no corroborating evidence from any contemporary source, even though he is supposed to have been an honored guest of many prominent courts during his wanderings—the only account of his travels is his own, written down by a scribe named Ibn Juzayy near the end of Ibn Battuta’s life.

    The scribe clearly copied passages from a 12th-century account by Ibn Jubayr, and most of his descriptions of places in the Levant were copied from an account by the 13th-century traveller Muhammad al-Abdari.

    Interestingly, too, this account was not popular or well-known in the Muslim world.

    Instead, it was discovered and popularized by *Europeans* in the wake of the French and English entry into north Africa in the early 19th century.

    To this day, most of the interest in this figure is among Infidels.

  17. veggiedog says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    Is it just a coincidence, for those that believe in coincidences, that Muslims and Islam have become even more brazen with the man who now sits in the White House?

  18. lugger says

    Feb 24, 2014 at 12:24 am

    well if the muslims don’t want to go to mars, then I guess we’ll have to count on the jews to open the falafel and shish-ka-bob restaurants when the franchises get handed out.

  19. profitsbeard says

    Feb 25, 2014 at 4:03 am

    The meme must be spread that:

    All Muslims must emigrate to Venus …to fulfill a cryptic Koranic verse.

    (Yeah, that’s the ticket~!)

    >B>[ONE WAY]

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