The holy month of Ramadan began for Muslims across the world with the arrival of the new moon this week and one man will be observing it from space.
Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is the first Emirati working aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where he will be staying for the next six months.
‘Ramadan Mubarak. Wishing you all a month filled with blessings,’ tweeted Al Neyadi on Thursday, along with a video of his spectacular views of the Earth, moon and Venus from the ISS.
‘Sharing the beautiful night time scenery from the International Space Station Station with you all.’
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating or drinking anything from sunrise to sunset. So will Al Neyadi be fasting in space?
As an astronaut Al Neyadi fits the definition of a ‘traveller’, excusing him from attempting to observe Ramadan at the same time as Earth-bound Muslims.
‘Fasting is not compulsory if you’re feeling not well. So in that regard — anything that can jeopardize the mission or maybe put the crew member at risk — we’re actually allowed to eat sufficient food to prevent any escalation of lack of food or nutrition or hydration,’ he told reporters at a press conference in January.
Alneyadi also told reporters during a news conference in Dubai in February that he could fast according to Greenwich Mean Time, or Coordinated Universal Time, which is used as the official time zone on the space station.
‘If we had the opportunity, definitely Ramadan is a good occasion to fast, and it’s actually healthy,’ said Al Neyadi. ‘We’ll wait and see how it goes.’
The Emirati is only the 11th Muslim astronaut to go to space.
In 2007, Malaysian astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor became the first practising Muslim aboard the ISS.
Since his time in space coincided with Ramadan, Malaysia’s space agency, Angkasa, convened a conference of 150 Islamic scientists and scholars in 2006 to create special guidelines to guide his and future Muslim astronauts’ practices in space.
According to the guidelines, Shukor’s fasting could be postponed until he returned to Earth or he could fast in accordance with the time zone of the place from which he had launched.
He was also relieved of the obligation to attempt to kneel while praying — a difficult feat in zero gravity.
Another challenge in space is attempting to face Mecca, as Muslims must during Salah or daily prayer. This was left to the best abilities of the astronaut, according to Fatwa Council guidelines.
So far, less than a dozen Muslim men have been in space.
Al Neyadi was part of SpaceX’s Crew 6 and is currently on the first-ever long-duration mission flown by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut.
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