In-Flight Prayer Times and Qiblat Direction - A Preliminary Study

Muslims need to obey their obligation to perform Solat (Muslims' prayer) regardless of where they are: on the ground or in-flight. Muslims traveling abroad on airplanes (which usually takes hour's journey) are still required to perform prayers, even though they may encounter difficulties to do so. In fact, it is extremely difficult to determine prayer times and Qiblat direction (direction to Ka'bah in Mecca while performing prayers) during a flight, due to the high velocity of the airplane as well as the uncertainties linked to its orientation. Another factor would involve the altitude of the airplanes as this affects the angle of the sun. This paper presents a preliminary study on how to develop a GUI-based software, which can determine real time in-flight prayer times and the current Qiblat direction with additional features such as flight tracking system, universal time display, latitude/longitude display, 'athan recital and Gregorian/Hijr calendar