Edict ‘Mars’ plans to visit Red Planet

DUBAI: Are you Muslim and looking forward to a one-way trip to Mars? Here’s some bad news for you.
A fatwa issued by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the UAE says a trip to the red planet is prohibited, local media reports have said.
“Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam,” the committee said. “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.”
The committee warned that those who participate in the “hazardous trip” would likely die for no “righteous reason,” causing them to be liable to a punishment of those who commit suicide.
Over 200,000 applications from 140 countries volunteered to participate in the mission, including 500 Saudis and other Arabs. The second round of selection will start in 2014, where a Mars One Selection Committee would interview the candidates in person.
The Islamic committee expressed disdain that some volunteers want to leave the planet in order to escape punishment or evade standing before Almighty Allah for judgment.
The one-way journey to the distant planet, which is reportedly costing the Dutch company $6 billion, is set to take off in 2022.
Applicants for the unorthodox trip were required to be between 18 and 40 years old and in good physical condition, said an Al-Arabiya report.