Technology could be bringing a group of settlers to Mars in just 10 years, but Muslims may not be able to come along on the journey.
A fatwa committee has preemptively banned Muslims from taking the future trip through a project from Mars One, a Dutch company that intends to send colonists to the Red Planet as soon as 2023, CNET reported via the Khaleej Times of Dubai.
Mars One, which could be taking more groups a few years afterward, would be a one-way trip since technology that would allow the explorers to return isn't yet available.
Issued by the committee of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the United Arab Emirates, the fatwa forbade Muslims from going on the trip based on the religion's stance toward suicide.
"Protecting life against all possible dangers and keeping it safe is an issue agreed upon by all religions and is clearly stipulated in verse 4/29 of the Holy Quran: Do not kill yourselves or one another. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful," the committee said, according to the Khaleej Times.
While the committee isn't against space exploration, the religious leaders view a one-way ticket to another planet as "tantamount to committing suicide," CNET reported.
"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 said.
Around 500 Saudis and other Arabs are included in the thousands of people who have volunteered for the one-way mission.
Dutch One plans to send a crew every two years to maintain a permanent human colony on Mars, but the project may not get off the ground if funding isn't secured.
According to CNET, Mars One has only raised around 80 percent of the initial $400,000 crowdfunding campaign, and the project will cost in the billions.
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