Prince comple­ted the day and broke fast with Chines­e sweet and sour chicke­nANKARA: First Arab astronaut Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman said that he had observed Ramazan fast and offered prayers in space, while onboard the American Space Shuttle Discovery as a payload specialist. He spent seven days in space as one of the seven-member international crew, that included American and French astronauts. Recording his experience in a book 35-years later, Prince Sultan said the shuttle was launched on June 17, 1985, which was also the 29th day of Ramazan. Though the late Mufti of the Kingdom Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz in a fatwa had exempted him from fasting during his space journey, he went ahead to experience the fast in an unchartered territory. Observing the Florida calendar, he said that, though he felt drought and loss of fluid, he completed the day and broke fast with Chinese sweet and sour chicken.

Source: The Express Tribune May 01, 2020 07:07 UTC