Mecca Time Plugged for World Standard

Muslim scholars say British-imposed GMT due for a change
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 21, 2008 4:57 PM CDT
Mecca Time Plugged for World Standard
Muslim pilgrims perform the ritual "stoning of the devil" in Mina, in Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007.   (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

A group of Muslim scholars wants Mecca time to replace Greenwich Mean Time as the world's default setting, the BBC reports. As Islam’s holiest city lies in perfect longitudinal alignment to magnetic north, scientists told a Qatar conference that Mecca was the “true” center of the earth. GMT, they argue, is a relic of British imperialism, and should be abolished. (More Mecca stories.)

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