Mecca Mean Time

[Kanastrous]

Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

Published: Monday, 21 April, 2008, 01:31 AM Doha Time

By Nour Abuzant

SPEAKERS at a Doha conference on Mecca's importance said that the holy city, not Greenwich, should become the reference point for world time, reigniting an old controversy that started some four decades ago.
A group of Islamic scholars presented on Saturday “scientific evidence” to prove that Mecca was the core of that the zero longitude passes through the holy city and not through Greenwich in the UK.
Greenwich in England has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. GMT is sometimes called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Greenwich is the place from where all time zones are measured.
In a clear support for the call, Islamic scholar Yousuf al-Qaradawi said Islam, “unlike other religions, never contradicted science”.
The participants recommended the unification of the time in the Arab world to the time in Mecca instead of Greenwich. They also called the Arab governments to abandon the new world maps “because they are forged to serve Western interests.”
They also demanded that buildings in the Arab world be directed towards Qibla.
The gathering also urged to organise conferences to promote the idea of “Mecca as the centre of the world's land” and distribution of CDs to support it.
The conference was organised to introduce Saat Makkah (the watch of Mecca). The inventor of the clock, Yasin a-Shouk, said it runs anti-clockwise in the direction of Tawaf, the rotation around Kaaba.
The Switzerland-based award-winning inventor of Palestinian origin said that his invention met a lot of opposition and it took him four years to win the patent.
The moderator of the event, Rabaa Hamo, who is also the wife of the watch's inventor, said “the West imposed on us the invisible Greenwich line” as the world's reference time.
She hoped that an Islamic country would adopt the project to strengthen the belief that Mecca was the core of the world, not theoretically but practically.
Islamic scholar, Zaghloul al-Najjar, said that the West did not like the scientific proofs that “Mecca was located in the centre of our planet, but nevertheless we will go on our research to establish it as a truth”.
Other speakers talked about the privileges of Mecca quoting verses from the Holy Qur'an and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/a ... rent_id=16


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What fun.

[Darth Onasi]

Translation: Fundie dumbasses think their holy city is important.
Never contradicted science.. yeah, sure.

[[R_H]]

An important issue. Have their "findings" been peer-reviewed, or is that an other imperialist notion?

An what the hell do they mean with "centre" of the world?, if I'm remembering my spherical geometry correctly, the surface of the a sphere doesn't have a centre, the fixed point is the only centre. Didn't they have anything useful to discuss, other than how awesome the Quran and the childraping "prophet" Muhammed is.

How about flipping the calender to 2008 and not the Middle Ages.

[Darth Onasi]

An important issue. Have their "findings" been peer-reviewed, or is that an other imperialist notion?

They only review it needs is that of almighty Allah you oppressive western imperialist pigdog!

[Darth Wong]

I think that the reference point for world time should be moved to my backyard. Unlike Christianity and Islam, my backyard has never contradicted science. Also, through the use of relativity, I can show that my backyard can be defined as the centre of the universe. Especially the part where the barbecue sits.

[Alerik the Fortunate]

Obviously, these people are incapable of understanding that all standards are based on accepting some arbitrary base reference, and are accepted for convenience and facilitating universal communication and exchange. Like post-modernists, they think all facts and conventions are naked political statements, and like most religious people, they don't understand that symbols are not magically connected to the things they represent.

Or they are trying to bolster their economy by forcing everyone to purchase time conversion devices from world to Islamic standard time..

[[R_H]]

If anyone's interested, here's the BBC article about this incredibly important issue.

Muslim scientists and clerics have called for the adoption of Mecca time to replace GMT, arguing that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth.

Mecca is the direction all Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.

The call was issued at a conference held in the Gulf state of Qatar under the title: Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice.

One geologist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca's was in perfect alignment to magnetic north.

He said the English had imposed GMT on the rest of the world by force when Britain was a big colonial power, and it was about time that changed.

Mecca watch

A prominent cleric, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy, said modern science had at last provided evidence that Mecca was the true centre of the Earth; proof, he said, of the greatness of the Muslim "qibla" - the Arabic word for the direction Muslims turn to when they pray.

The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim.

The watch is said to rotate anti-clockwise and is supposed to help Muslims determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth.

The meeting in Qatar is part of a popular trend in some Muslim societies of seeking to find Koranic precedents for modern science.

It is called "Ijaz al-Koran", which roughly translates as the "miraculous nature of the holy text".

The underlying belief is that scientific truths were also revealed in the Muslim holy book, and it is the work of scholars to unearth and publicise the textual evidence.

But the movement is not without its critics, who say that the notion that modern science was revealed in the Koran confuses spiritual truth, which is constant, and empirical truth, which depends on the state of science at any given point in time.

One geologist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca's was in perfect alignment to magnetic north.

Proof please?

He said the English had imposed GMT on the rest of the world by force when Britain was a big colonial power, and it was about time that changed.

Hey, kinda like Arab shitheads imposing their retard religion on the rest of the world, with get this, force. Oh, the irony. Perhaps it's time to change that too. Fucking grow up.

A prominent cleric, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy, said modern science had at last provided evidence that Mecca was the true centre of the Earth; proof, he said, of the greatness of the Muslim "qibla" - the Arabic word for the direction Muslims turn to when they pray.

Again where's the fucking proof, you backward twats? Oh jeez, the direction is important now. Now, to my infidel ass, that sounds like an idol. Congratulations, you've idolized the fucking direction you pray in.

The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim.

The watch is said to rotate anti-clockwise and is supposed to help Muslims determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth.

Wow, awesome!! Yay for capitalising on dumb religious shit.

The meeting in Qatar is part of a popular trend in some Muslim societies of seeking to find Koranic precedents for modern science.

It is called "Ijaz al-Koran", which roughly translates as the "miraculous nature of the holy text".

Wow, instead of actually doing science, you come up with magical connections between the Koran and real science...instead of actually, doing science for the sake of knowledge. Oops, forgot there, Allah and the Koran are the only things that matter in the world. I mean, fuck trying to do anything worthwhile without one or both of those. Sure, it's miraculous when you get stoned and bludgeon your brains out, but that's not something all of us are into.

The underlying belief is that scientific truths were also revealed in the Muslim holy book, and it is the work of scholars to unearth and publicise the textual evidence.

[Darth Wong]

One geologist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca's was in perfect alignment to magnetic north.

So is a cheap compass that I can buy at the dollar store.

He said the English had imposed GMT on the rest of the world by force when Britain was a big colonial power, and it was about time that changed.

He honestly doesn't seem to understand that the zero-point is an entirely arbitrary choice, and it makes no material difference except that a change now would waste enormous amounts of money for no discernible gain other than Muslim pride.

[Kanastrous]

Since magnetic north wanders constantly, even if Mecca is 'perfectly aligned' with magnetic north right now, it wasn't a while ago, and it won't be, in the future.

Unless Allah wants it to be, of course.

[Darth Wong]

Since magnetic north wanders constantly, even if Mecca is 'perfectly aligned' with magnetic north right now, it wasn't a while ago, and it won't be, in the future.

Unless Allah wants it to be, of course.

Even if the pole was perfectly static, I don't see how it could be so aligned when Mecca is just a location anyway, unless he means that all of the north-south walls of the buildings in Mecca are perfectly aligned. In which case they would not be perfectly parallel

[Kanastrous]

It's some kind of weird-ass MC Escher condition.

Allahu Akbar!

[Admiral Valdemar]

Given London is often referred to as the gateway to the world, I find even without the empire it is still justified having the dateline in Greenwich. Not only would it save the hassle of changing anything, it has a nice observatory there too. And I guess these people can always call it UMT if GMT pisses them off.

But I don't see us moving the dateline to some asteroid remnant people wank to once a year.

[[R_H]]

Or they are trying to bolster their economy by forcing everyone to purchase time conversion devices from world to Islamic standard time..

I'd hope the rest of the world would tell them to go fuck themselves and fellate the Koran by themselves...probably more politely though.

But I don't see us moving the dateline to some asteroid remnant people wank to once a year.

Isn't the Kaaba an idol, and qibla idolatry?

[Kanastrous]

Isn't the Kaaba an idol, and qibla idolatry?

The Kabaa was used to store pre-Islamic idols.

In the Islamic period it was re-consecrated and a legend was attached to it, suggesting that it had been built by Abraham and Isaac.

[Sidewinder]

Instead of trying to get the Muslim nations to waste Allah knows how much money to change the location of the International Date Line, shouldn't these people ask their governments to reform the welfare system to benefit more people, or the education system so they won't be so backwards compared to the West? Hell, even the military is a better investment than what's needed to change that. (Resetting or replacing clocks, redrawing the maps, revising education on geography, reprogramming or replacing navigational equipment... Anyone have an estimate on how much are the associated costs of changing the International Date Line?)

The conference was organised to introduce Saat Makkah (the watch of Mecca). The inventor of the clock, Yasin a-Shouk, said it runs anti-clockwise in the direction of Tawaf, the rotation around Kaaba.
The Switzerland-based award-winning inventor of Palestinian origin said that his invention met a lot of opposition and it took him four years to win the patent.

Maybe it's because somebody had ALREADY designed a watch that runs counterclockwise. (See the backwards Goofy watch. Maybe Disney should sue for a patent or copyright violation?)

And as a Palestinian, wouldn't a-Shouk's time be better spent lobbying for foreign aid and investment in his homeland?

[Kanastrous]

Maybe it's because somebody had ALREADY designed a watch that runs counterclockwise. (See the backwards Goofy watch. Maybe Disney should sue for a patent or copyright violation?)

Disney inexplicably failed to defend their Mickey Mouse copyright against HAMAS' infringement (Farfur, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow's_Pioneers) so I doubt they'll pursue this, either. Somehow being an Arabic-speaker seems to immunize you against Disney's legal department...

And as a Palestinian, wouldn't a-Shouk's time be better spent lobbying for foreign aid and investment in his homeland?

Never missing an opportunity, to miss an opportunity. Same as always...

[PeZook]

So...when will they introduce a new standard measurement system, based on dimensions of that fucking rock?

I say they should go all the way, and better yet - shoot anybody who doesn't use the new time and measurement systems!

This way, they will destroy their civilization in one fell swoop

[Vendetta]

Especially the part where the barbecue sits.

I am fully in support of Barbecue Mean Time.

[TithonusSyndrome]

I think that the reference point for world time should be moved to my backyard. Unlike Christianity and Islam, my backyard has never contradicted science. Also, through the use of relativity, I can show that my backyard can be defined as the centre of the universe. Especially the part where the barbecue sits.

I gotta call DR6 here and insist on proof.

I don't know why any Muslim would care about whether or not global mean time is shifted to Mecca or not, it's just some infidel time convention that has bugger all to do with the Quran. If Allah really thought it important, then he would have added it in one of Muhammed's fits- er, visitations.

[Kanastrous]

I don't know why any Muslim would care about whether or not global mean time is shifted to Mecca or not,

Extraordinary gigantic hugeaceous inferiority complex...?

[The Vortex Empire]

Islam hasn't contradicted science? You mean there's a magical man up there in the sky? Wow. And I think that the time zones should be based in my bedroom, as it has never contradicted science.

[Simplicius]

The meeting also reviewed what has been described as a Mecca watch, the brainchild of a French Muslim.

The watch is said to rotate anti-clockwise and is supposed to help Muslims determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth.

Oh god. Has anyone here ever read Guy Gilpatrick's "Mister Glencannon" stories? And, if so, is anyone here reminded of the one where our intrepid Scottish engineer goes to Indonesia, tells a local that he's praying in the wrong direction, sells him a cheap compass at a steep price, and then narrowly escapes a crowd of angry Muslims hell-bent on revenge?

Oh, how I wish I had the passage on-hand to quote!

[Tsyroc]

Given London is often referred to as the gateway to the world, I find even without the empire it is still justified having the dateline in Greenwich. Not only would it save the hassle of changing anything, it has a nice observatory there too. And I guess these people can always call it UMT if GMT pisses them off.

Fuck GMT, UMT and most especially MMT.

It's ZULU Time baby!

[Tanasinn]

Hardly a big deal. No one cares what some religion-wankers in the third world want. I'm surprised they're wasting their time even arguing for it.

[Lord Poe]

I can't wait for the rash of firings of Muslims from their Western jobs who use their "Muslim Watch" to tell time, instead of the time everyone else uses.

"But I'm not late!"

"Yes you are. You were supposed to be here yesterday morning."