User:Amnahusain/sandbox

List of all Muslim astronauts
Sultan bin Salman al Saud, a former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot was the first Muslim, the first Saudi, the first Arab, and the first member of royalty in space. During the mission, Al Saud represented the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) in deploying their satellite. He was the Payload Specialist 2 on the STS-51-G, which launched on June 17, 1985.

Muhammad Faris is a Syrian air force pilot and the first Syrian in Space. He was one of three crew members on the Mir EP-1, which launched on July 22, 1987. The expedition travelled to Mir, a soviet space station. He took part in experiments and observations on Syria from space during the daytime.

Musa Manarov was the first Azerbaijani in space. He was a colonel in the Soviet Air force and flight engineer two separate expeditions to the Mir space station. He flew on Mir EO-3, which launched on December 21, 1987, and Soyuz TM-1, which launched on December 2, 1990. He performed 20 spacewalks and spent a combined total of 541 days in space.

Abdul Ahad Mohmand was the first Afghan in space and former Afghan air force pilot. He was a flight engineer on the Mir EP-3, an expedition to the Mir space station, launching on August 29, 1988. His role was to photograph and make observations of Afghanistan from space. He was the first cosmonaut to speak Pashto in space, the fourth language officially spoken in space and is believed to be the first to bring the Quran into space.

Toktar Aubakirov is a retired Kazakh Air Force pilot and the first Kazakh in space. He was a Research Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer on the Soyuz TM-13, the thirteenth expedition to the Mir space station.

Talgat Musabayev was the second Kazakh in space and a former cosmonaut who flew on three space flights. He was a flight engineer on the Soyuz TM-19, which launched on 1 July 1994 and Commander of the Soyuz TM-27, which launched on 29 January 1998. Both were long-duration stays aboard the Mir space station. He also flew as Commander on the Soyuz TM-32, which launched on 6 May 2001 and flew to the International Space Station. This mission carried the first ever space tourist, Dennis Tito.

Kyrgyzstani cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov is the first Kyrgyzstani in space. He travelled as a mission specialist on the STS-89, which carried supplies to the Mir space station, which launched on 22 January 1998 and as a flight engineer on Expedition 10 to the International Space Station, which launched on 14 October 2004. He has conducted two space walks.

Anousheh Ansari, Iranian-American engineer and businesswoman, was the first Muslim space tourist and first Muslim woman in space. She travelled on the Soyuz TMA-9, which launched on September 18, 2006, and transported personnel to and from the International Space Station.

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is an orthopaedic surgeon and the first Malaysian sent into space. He performed experiments regarding liver cancer, leukemia, and microbes on the Soyuz TMA-11. The spacecraft launched on October 10, 2007, during the end of Ramadan. Shukor celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with his crewmates on board the spacecraft.

Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Akanovich Aimbetov flew as a flight engineer on the Soyuz TMA-18M, which launched on September 2, 2015, and travelled to the International Space Station. He was the third Kazakh in space.

Performing the Muslim prayers in space
Ritual prayers, or salat, are one of the five requirements of Muslims. Muslims are required to perform five required, or wajib, prayers daily. The ritual consists of several movements, from a standing position, to a bowing position, to kneeling, and prostration. The prayers are performed at five points in the day: sunrise, midday, afternoon, sunset, and nighttime. Prayers must be performed facing the Ka’bah, the mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca. This direction is called the qibla. A ritual called wudhu, or ablution, must be conducted prior to praying, which includes washing the face and body with running water. The zero-gravity conditions in space pose an obstacle in performing the various positions and ablution required to perform the daily prayers. Space travel also creates difficulties in determining the correct direction in which to face, as well as an issue in timing as those travelling in space often experience several sunrises within a 24 hour period. Fatwas and rulings have been released in regards to these issues. Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council approved a document detailing how to address these issues while travelling in space. In regards to determining the qibla, the direction is based on what is possible, prioritizing in this order: The Ka’aba, then the projection of Ka’aba, then the Earth, then wherever. Performing wudhu or cleansing for any reason can be done using wipes or performing a dry ablution, or tayamum. Prayer times are determined based on where the spacecraft was launched from on earth.

Clerical critiques
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the UAE released a fatwa declaring one-way space travel to be forbidden, or haraam, in Islam. The fatwa was in regards to an invitation by Mars One for volunteers to take part in a one-way journey to Mars. The expedition was declared overly hazardous by the fatwa committee, and forbidden as Islam prohibits unnecessary endangerment of life.

The Quran on space travel
President of Toronto’s Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International, Dr. Shabir Ally declared space travel to be permitted and even encouraged in Islam. He cited verse 55:33 of the Quran, "O you jinns and humans, if you can penetrate the regions of the heavens and the earth, go ahead and penetrate”, and interpreted the meaning of this verse to be that God has given humans the knowledge and ability to travel into space and this ability should be exercised.