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If You’re Praying Toward the West, You’re Doing it Wrong
Dessy Sagita | July 15, 2010

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marko1
11:15am Jul 15, 2010

Actually they are all wrong due to the curve of the earth.........if you wish to face directly at mecca you must look to the ground on 8 degree angle........If you face the west you will be looking at the constellation Orion and if to the northest the planet mars..........

Roland
10:59am Jul 15, 2010

This issue came up already a few months ago - still no solution?

Oh, now the blame game starts and the marathon discussions to find a solution to this world shifting issue!

Just live a good and decent life, be humble, be respectful to others, don't do to others what you don't like others might to you, teach your children to be equally decent to all humans (and animals), regardless of sex, age, race, religion, how about that? Mumbling prayers is not the solution, regardless in which direction, as long the human interactions do not reflect these prayers!

SirAnthonyKnown-Bender
9:58am Jul 15, 2010

"The country’s highest Islamic authority is refusing to take the blame for issuing an incorrect edict in March, which stipulated that worshipers had to face westward in order to be praying toward Mecca.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) announced on Wednesday that Mecca was actually to the northwest of Indonesia, and not to the west as it said earlier. "

Just worked that one out did they?


padt
9:31am Jul 15, 2010

A little bit of history. When the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) arrived in Medina, he and his followers were poor and without support. He sought assistance from the Jewish tribes in the city because they were the most affluent. To try and obtain their support he directed that prayers be said facing Jerusalem and imposed a fast on one of the major Jewish festivals -Yom Kippur. However, the Jews did not support him and so after a time he decided to change the direction of the daily prayers and oriented them towards Mecca. He also chose from the Arab calendar a month during which fasting was to be observed. The new orientation of prayer (qibla) would eventually be accepted by his followers.

Behind everything we do there is a history and so what we do today should be evaluated in the light of history. That does not mean that God has nothing to do with it. On the contrary, God directs, works through and is ultimately, the explanation of history. We are mere (yet important) specks on history's pages.


Artemus Jones
1:51am Jul 15, 2010

Have these people not ever seen a world map...? I mean, seriously, a third grader would have less trouble pinpointing Indonesia's position in relation to Mecca.

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The country’s highest Islamic authority is refusing to take the blame for issuing an incorrect edict in March, which stipulated that worshipers had to face westward in order to be praying toward Mecca.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) announced on Wednesday that Mecca was actually to the northwest of Indonesia, and not to the west as it said earlier.

“Just because we revised our edict doesn’t make the previous ruling completely wrong,” MUI councilor Umar Shihab told the Jakarta Globe.

“We’re just fine-tuning it to make it more precise.

“It’s not a big problem, as not all Indonesian mosques are incorrectly oriented,” he added.

“Many have pointed toward the wrong direction for years.”

Mecca is located on the 21st parallel north, while the northernmost point of Indonesia is on the 5th parallel, Umar said.

He called on local worshipers not to be too concerned about the change, saying their previous prayers would “still be valid”. He also made assurances that mosques would not have to be renovated to reflect the change.

Intentionally praying in the wrong direction is considered a sin in Islam, while unintentional mistakes are not.

“There’s no need to change the building structure,” he said, adding the MUI would officially inform mosque managers through an edict.

“Just make a minor adjustment by rotating the prayer mats slightly,” he said.

Said Aqil Siradj, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s biggest Islamic organization, said the MUI’s edict in March was a regrettably poor decision by the body.

“They shouldn’t have rushed to such an important decision,” he said. “Anything concerning public law should be made after a long contemplation.

“It’s good that the MUI realized their mistake and took steps to rectify it, but let this be a lesson to them not to churn out edicts in such haste.”

Said added that top NU scholars would meet in the near future to discuss the issue.

In January, Islamic scholar Mutoha Arkanuddin claimed that anything between 50 and 80 percent of the country’s mosques and graves were not properly oriented toward Mecca, drawing the ire of conservative clerics.