Restoration 10:10

Muslim scientists and scholars have called for the world to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with Mecca time. The call was issued at a conference held in the Gulf state of Qatar under the title: Mecca, the Centre of the Earth, Theory and Practice. One Muslim geologist said that the English had imposed Greenwich Mean Time on the rest of the world by force when Britain was a big colonial power.

Obviously the British Empire has imposed things on the world; good and bad. But what ruling power hasn’t? No government, country, nation or continent is absolutely moral in its conduct. Civility, politics, and cultures are a mixture of right and wrong. They will impose things for better or worse. Greenwich Meantime is now called Coordinated Universal Time. To say that the English imposed it on the world is not strictly true.

The adoption of Greenwich Mean Time dates back to October 1884. 42 delegates from 25 nations met for the Meridian Conference in the USA. Fixing the time was passed by 22-1 votes. San Domingo voted against, France and Brazil abstained. The French didn’t adopt GMT until 1911; some 29 years later. It should also be noted that Turkey a predominant Muslim country was present at the Meridian Conference. It too democratically voted to accept GMT.

Should we replace Greenwich Mean Time with Mecca Time? No, because the request at the conference in Qatar doesn’t have an altruistic motive. At the same conference they didn’t only call for Mecca Time to replace Greenwich Mean Time. They also called on Arab governments to abandon the new world maps "because they are forged to serve Western interests." They also demanded that buildings in the Arab world be directed towards Qibla. (Qibla is the Arabic word for the direction Muslims turn to when they pray). The Qatar gathering was also urged to organise conferences to promote the idea of "Mecca as the centre of the world's land" .

Perhaps it’s not occurred to the Muslim scientists that the world doesn’t evolve exclusively around Islam. Some of us have a life outside of the Koran. And if you ask me the Middle Eastern skyline would become boring if all the Arab buildings were directed towards Qibla. In spite of the great architecture the direction of the buildings would be very monotonous. And don’t even contemplate changing the boundaries of the 192 countries which comprise the new world maps. There’s been enough blood shed trying to define the small area of the Gaza Strip.