Mars Fatwa Issued By UAE Imams: General Authority Of Islamic Affairs Prohibits One-Way Travel To Red Planet

A fatwa committee under the United Arab Emirates' General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment has issued a proclamation against travel to Mars, shattering the dreams of hundreds of aspiring Emirati Muslim astronauts (not really).

“Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam,” the committee said, according to Khaleej Times. “There is a possibility that an individual who travels to planet Mars may not be able to remain alive there, and is more vulnerable to death.”

Islam forbids suicide, and Islamic researcher Dr. Shaikh Mohammed Al Ashmaway cited scripture with regards to the ruling, saying, “Almighty Allah said in verse 2/195 in the Holy Quran: Do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction.”

The Mars One mission is currently soliciting applicants from the civilian population for a one-way trip to the Red Planet, and 1,058 finalists have already been chosen. The Dutch nonprofit organization hopes to establish the first human settlement on Mars, and they will continue evaluating candidates until the final 24 begin the 10 years of training necessary for the mission.

Sheikh Mohammad Yusuf, Imam of the Amena Mosque, told the Khaleej Times, "Man’s life is not his or her own property; it is God’s creation, and therefore suicide is prohibited in all religions, and of course by law.”