It's Mecca Time!

At least that is what Muslims want the world to say.

From ArabNews.com:

Many scholars are of the opinion that Makkah Time can provide the world an alternative to the GMT. These people have scientific arguments to back their contention, as Makkah is situated in the center of the world.

At a conference in Doha in 2008, Muslim clerics and scholars presented “scientific” arguments that Makkah time is the true global meridian. They said that Makkah is the center of the world.

In other words, the scholars they are talking about are religious scholars--and the whole argument about Mecca being the center of the world is a purely religious one.

Well actually, there is a scientific argument:

According to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric known in the Muslim world for his popular television show Sharia and Life, Mecca has a greater claim to being the prime meridian because it is "in perfect alignment with the magnetic north. "

This claim that the holy city is a "zero magnetism zone" has won support from some Arab scientists like Abdel-Baset al-Sayyed, of the Egyptian National Research Centre, who says that there is no magnetic force in Mecca.

That was beginning to sound persuasive--until I read the next paragraph:"

That's why if someone travels to Mecca or lives there, he lives longer, is healthier and is less affected by the earth's gravity," he said. "You get charged with energy."

In any case, the magnetic North Pole is actually on a line of longitude passing through Canada, the US, Mexico and Antarctica.

Glad we got that settled.

For the occasion of Ramadan, they are putting up a new clock--and naturally we are not talking about just any clock: it's going to be six times the size of Big Ben, making it the largest clock in the world.

The clock will also have more apps than your iPhone:

The tower featuring the world’s largest clock also includes a Lunar Observation Center and an Islamic Museum. While the Royal Clock will announce daily prayers, the Lunar Observation Center and Islamic Museum will serve to protect the heritage for future generations. The observatory will also be used to sight the moon during the holy months. On special occasions, 16 bands of vertical lights will shoot some 10 km up into the sky.

It all sounds very impressive. Obviously the Saudis have put alot of work into having Meccan time surpass Greenwich Mean Time!

Oh, and before I forget--one more thing:

GMT itself is no longer referred to by astronomers, having been superseded by Coordinated Universal Time in 1972 after the development of more accurate atomic clocks.

Maybe we should wait until Ramadan is over before we break the news to the Saudis.

Technorati Tag: GMT and Greenwich Mean Time and Mecca+Time.