INDONESIAN MUSLIMS ASKED TO CHANGE QIBLA

Indonesia’s Muslims on July 16 learned they had been praying in the wrong direction, after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said its directive on the direction of Makkah actually had people facing Africa. Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia during prayer and MUI issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from Indonesia. “But it has been decided that actually the mosques are facing Somalia or Kenya, so we are now suggesting people shift the direction slightly to the north-west,” the head of the MUI, Cholil Ridwan, was reported as saying. “There’s no need to knock down mosques, just shift your direction slightly during prayer.” Ridwan said Muslims need not fear that their prayers have been wasted because they were facing the wrong way. “Their prayers will still be heard by Allah,” he said.