List of Muslim astronauts

This is a list of Muslim astronauts who have traveled to outer space. As of 2023, 16 Muslims (12 men and 4 women) have been in outer space and another Muslim man named Alper Gezeravcı from Turkey is scheduled to go to space in 2024.[1] All of them are alive as of May 2023.

Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, the first Arab and Muslim to fly in outer space.

List of Muslim Astronauts
Anousheh Ansari, the first Muslimah and Iranian in space.
Country Name Mission (launch date) Insignia Description
 Saudi Arabia Sultan bin Salman Al Saud[2] STS-51-G (June 17, 1985)
First Muslim, first Saudi, first Arab, first member of royalty in space.
 Syria Muhammed Faris[3] Mir EP-1 (July 22, 1987)
First Syrian in space; second Arab in space.
 Soviet Union (currently  Azerbaijan) Musa Manarov[4] Mir EO-3 (December 21, 1987)
Soyuz TM-11 (December 2, 1990)
First North Caucasian in space. Total of 541 days in space.
 Afghanistan Abdul Ahad Momand[3] Mir EP-3 (August 29, 1988)
First Afghan and Pashtun in space.
 Soviet Union (currently  Kazakhstan) Toktar Aubakirov[3] Soyuz TM-13 (October 2, 1991)
First Kazakh in space.
 Russia (born in  Kazakhstan)[5] Talgat Musabayev[3] Soyuz TM-19 (November 4, 1994)
Soyuz TM-27 (August 25, 1998)
Soyuz TM-32 (May 6, 2001)
Second Kazakh in space. Total of 341 days in space.
 Russia (born in  Kyrgyzstan) Salizhan Sharipov[3] STS-89 (January 20, 1998)
Expedition 10 (October 14, 2004)
First Tajik-Uzbek in space. Total of 201 days in space.
 United States (born in  Iran) Anousheh Ansari Soyuz TMA-9 (September 18, 2006)
First female space tourist; first Muslim woman in space; first Iranian in space.
 Malaysia Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor[3] Soyuz TMA-11 (October 10, 2007)
First Malaysian Malay in space.
 Kazakhstan Aidyn Aimbetov[3] Soyuz TMA-18M (September 2, 2015) Third Kazakh in space.
 United Arab Emirates Hazza Al Mansouri Soyuz MS-15 (September 25, 2019) First Emirati in space; third Arab in space.
 Egypt Sara Sabry Blue Origin NS-22 (August 4, 2022) Suborbital flight. First Egyptian and African in space. Second Arab women in space.
 United Arab Emirates Sultan Al Neyadi SpaceX Crew-6 (March 2, 2023)
Second Emirati in space; fifth Arab in space.
 Saudi Arabia Ali AlQarni Axiom Mission 2 (May 21, 2023) First male Saudi to ISS.
 Saudi Arabia Rayyanah Barnawi Axiom Mission 2 (May 21, 2023) First arab women Saudi in space.
 Pakistan Namira Salim Galactic 04 (October 6, 2023) First Pakistani citizen in space.

Praying Towards Mecca in Space
See also: Qibla § Outer space

Malaysia's space agency, Angkasa, convened a conference of 150 Islamic scientists and scholars in 2006 to address the question, among others, of how to pray towards Mecca in space. A document was produced in early 2007 called "A Guideline of Performing Ibadah (worship) at the International Space Station (ISS)" and was approved by Malaysia's National Fatwa Council.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Alper Gezeravcı". Axiom Space. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  2. A prince in space Archived May 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at Saudi Aramco World, January/February 1986, p20-29
  3. El-Maghraby, Tamer (19 March 2007). "Eight Muslims in Space and Counting". IslamOnline.net. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  4. "Nine Muslims in space" (PDF). The Brunei Times. July 23, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2011.
  5. Bukharbayeva, Bagila (20 June 2004). "Kazakhstan Gets a Bigger Say in Space Launch Site". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. Patrick Di Justo, "A Muslim Astronaut’s Dilemma — How to Face Mecca From Space", Wired, September 26, 2007
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