Categories: Need to know

Mecca’s answer to Big Ben

Clock at “true centre of earth” will challenge GMT

by macleans.ca on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:09am - 0 Comments

When this year’s Ramadan begins Thursday, workers will be rushing to get the lights ready for the unveiling of the Royal Mecca Clock Tower in the world’s most sacred city for Muslims. Muslim scholars say the clock will challenge Greenwich Mean Time, because Mecca, Saudi Arabia is the “true centre of the Earth.” Once completed, the clock’s 21,000 green and white lights will flash five times per day reminding local faithful to pray. It’s unclear whether bankers in Dubai will reset their watches, but a manager of the giant hotel and office complex where the clock is located says the goal is for Arabia Standard Time (three hours ahead of GMT) to overtake the standard time set by at London’s Big Ben for the past 125 years.

The Telegraph

Andrew (not PorC)

Good luck with that.
Gaunilon

If they were smart they'd have gone with Jerusalem Standard Time. Then not only Muslims, but Jews and Christians also might agree that it's the right place from which to set the time standard.

Viva_Vivian

Saudi Arabia enforces jizya on non-Muslims. They're not interested in sharing anything with Jews or Christians.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Ottawa_Centrist Ottawa_Centrist

“true centre of the Earth.”

The Earth is no longer flat. The centre of Earth is under Mecca, Greenwich, Jerusalem, New York… one world with a smattering of cultures.

Mecca is no more the true centre of the Earth than Ottawa.
Viva_Vivian

This is yet another step towards deflating that notion of Islam being as supremacist religion, right, boys?
Milo

If there were a clock tower in the true centre of the Earth, it would either burn or melt from the heat of the Earth's inner core.

Viva_Vivian

Brilliant!

Guest

And if the flashing lights fail to remind the faithful to pray, then the unaccountable "morality" police of Saudi Arabia certainly will. Islam has found that nothing reinforces faith like beatings, imprisonment, torture and murder. Perhaps one day AMT (arabia mean time) will be enforced on disbelievers in the same manner.

hayden

We should toast their efforts everytime they take a bow. And the true centre of Earth is when the sun dial hits highnoon!
Cheers!
Midrar

no one beat's any one if they are not praying. it is the media which guide's u wrong!!!

Philanthropist

Set watch ahead 3 hours and back 1300 years. No thanks.
madeyoulook

Not to be confused with the time at the "true centre of the universe," right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonge_and_Eglinton
Darden Cavalcade

The 5.5 billion non-Muslims on earth will jump at the chance to accept the Saudi proposal.

Is there any end to the imaginative progress the Saudis can invent? What a remarkable, productive, enlightened people!

More! We want more ideas from you, Saudis. Share your genius with us. We're ready.