1997. The two opinions resulted in a period of debate about the correct qibla. Eventually most North American Muslims accepted the north/northeast qibla with a minority following the east/southeast qibla. Outer space The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the earth at high speed—the direction from it to Mecca changes significantly within a few seconds. Before his flight to the ISS, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor requested, and the Malaysian National Fatwa Council provided, guidelines which have been translated into multiple languages. The council wrote that the qibla determination should be "based on what is possible" and recommended four options, saying that one should pray toward the first option if possible and, if not, fall back successively on the later ones: the Kaaba itself the position directly above the Kaaba at the altitude of the astronaut's orbit the Earth in general "wherever" In line with the fatwa council, other Muslim scholars argue for the importance of flexibility and adapting the qibla requirement to what an astronaut is capable of fulfilling. Khaleel Muhammad of San Diego State University opined "God does not take a person to task for that which is beyond his/her ability to work with." Kamal Abdali argued that concentration during a prayer is more important than the exact orientation, and he suggested keeping the qibla direction at the start of a prayer instead of "worrying about possible changes in position". Before Sheikh Muszaphar's mission, at least eight Muslims had flown to space, but none of them publicly discussed issues relating to worship in space. See also Ad orientem, a comparable concept in traditional Christianity Mizrah, the equivalent in the Jewish Faith Qiblih, the equivalent in the Baháʼí Faith Spatial deixis Notes References Citations Bibliography External links Salah Mosque architecture Islamic architecture Islamic architectural elements Arabic words and phrases Kaaba Salah terminology Islamic terminology Orientation (geometry)