Muslims want to change time
A call was made at a conference held in Qatar, by Muslim scientists and clerics to adopt Mecca time to replace GMT although it will still be called GMT, the meaning will be different; no more Greenwich Mean Time - it will mean Global Mecca Time.
This means that there will be no more time zones around the world - they will be abolished.
They claim that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth. In fact they're claiming that the world revolves around them.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) could be replaced by "Mecca Time," if a group of Muslim leaders get their way.
At the conference, "Mecca, the Center of the Earth, Theory and Practice," Muslim scientists and clerics called for the change, arguing that the holy city in Saudi Arabia is the center of the Earth and should be the reference point for world time, not Greenwich, England, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports.
One geologist at the Qatar conference said Mecca's longitude is perfectly aligned with magnetic north and should therefore replace the English city, which has been measuring time zones since 1884, the BBC reports.
Attendees of the conference also reviewed the "Mecca Watch," an invention by a French Muslim which reportedly rotates counter-clockwise and displays Mecca's direction from any point in the world, the BBC said.
The conference is part of a trend called “Ijaz al-Koran" or "miraculous nature of the holy text," which tries to find precedents for modern science from passages in the Koran, the BBC reports.
But its critics say Ijaz al-Koran confuses spiritual truth — which depends on constant faith — with empirical truth, which depends on ever-changing science, the BBC said.
The entire world should ditch GMT as the universal time standard and instead use Saudi time - the true centre of the Earth, according to Muslim scholars.
Speaking at a conference in Qatar, Muslim scientists and clerics called for Saudi time should be adopted as the new standard, stating reasons such as Mecca being the direction all Muslims face to pray, British broadcaster the BBC reported on Wednesday.
One delegate said that unlike other longitudes Mecca was in perfect alignment to magnetic north, according to the BBC.
Others labelled GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) a colonial relic imposed by the British and said it was high time for it to be replaced.
The conference, 'Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice', is geared around looking for and discussing Koranic precedents for modern science.
Muslim scientists and scholars have called for the world to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with Mecca time, press reports said Thursday.
Prominent scholar, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy, said modern science had provided evidence that Mecca was the true centre of the Earth, the BBC reported.
One scientist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca's was in perfect alignment to the magnetic north, it added.
The scientist further went on to argue that GMT was imposed on the rest of the world by force during the times of the British Empire and said it was about time that changed.
The scholars were speaking at a conference held in Qatar titled 'Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice'.
During the conference, the scholars reviewed what was labeled a Mecca watch -- which rotates anti-clockwise to determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth -- invented by a French Muslim, the BBC said.
Mecca is the direction Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.
This means that there will be no more time zones around the world - they will be abolished.
They claim that the Saudi city is the true centre of the Earth. In fact they're claiming that the world revolves around them.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) could be replaced by "Mecca Time," if a group of Muslim leaders get their way.
At the conference, "Mecca, the Center of the Earth, Theory and Practice," Muslim scientists and clerics called for the change, arguing that the holy city in Saudi Arabia is the center of the Earth and should be the reference point for world time, not Greenwich, England, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports.
One geologist at the Qatar conference said Mecca's longitude is perfectly aligned with magnetic north and should therefore replace the English city, which has been measuring time zones since 1884, the BBC reports.
Attendees of the conference also reviewed the "Mecca Watch," an invention by a French Muslim which reportedly rotates counter-clockwise and displays Mecca's direction from any point in the world, the BBC said.
The conference is part of a trend called “Ijaz al-Koran" or "miraculous nature of the holy text," which tries to find precedents for modern science from passages in the Koran, the BBC reports.
But its critics say Ijaz al-Koran confuses spiritual truth — which depends on constant faith — with empirical truth, which depends on ever-changing science, the BBC said.
The entire world should ditch GMT as the universal time standard and instead use Saudi time - the true centre of the Earth, according to Muslim scholars.
Speaking at a conference in Qatar, Muslim scientists and clerics called for Saudi time should be adopted as the new standard, stating reasons such as Mecca being the direction all Muslims face to pray, British broadcaster the BBC reported on Wednesday.
One delegate said that unlike other longitudes Mecca was in perfect alignment to magnetic north, according to the BBC.
Others labelled GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) a colonial relic imposed by the British and said it was high time for it to be replaced.
The conference, 'Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice', is geared around looking for and discussing Koranic precedents for modern science.
Muslim scientists and scholars have called for the world to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with Mecca time, press reports said Thursday.
Prominent scholar, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy, said modern science had provided evidence that Mecca was the true centre of the Earth, the BBC reported.
One scientist argued that unlike other longitudes, Mecca's was in perfect alignment to the magnetic north, it added.
The scientist further went on to argue that GMT was imposed on the rest of the world by force during the times of the British Empire and said it was about time that changed.
The scholars were speaking at a conference held in Qatar titled 'Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice'.
During the conference, the scholars reviewed what was labeled a Mecca watch -- which rotates anti-clockwise to determine the direction of Mecca from any point on Earth -- invented by a French Muslim, the BBC said.
Mecca is the direction Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.