UAE astronaut captures breathtaking stills of Kaaba from ISS during Hajj

On the tenth day of the last month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid-ul-Adha by offering animal sacrifices in the name of God. On Monday, an Emirati astronaut gave the world a glimpse of the Holy Kaaba as people on Earth participated in the Hajj pilgrimage.

Sultan Al Neyadi, the first Emirati astronaut to reach space for an extended period of time, photographed the Holy Kaaba in Mecca and shared it with the world in a tweet dedicated to Muslims worldwide from the International Space Station (ISS).

"Today is Arafat Day, a pivotal day during Hajj that reminds us that faith is not just about belief, but also action and reflection," Al Neyadi tweeted on Tuesday in a post that featured the photo, which he snapped on Monday. 

"May it inspire us all to strive for compassion, humility and unity."

Hajj, a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the five pillars that lay the foundation of Islam and is compulsory for all able-bodied adults, requiring them to visit the holy city at least once in their lifetime if they can feasibly do so.

UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi observed Ramadan off Earth after the ISS launch on March 2.

Al-Neyadi is not the first astronaut to be in space during Ramadan, as previously in 1985, as the holy month was coming to a close, Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud became the first-ever Muslim to travel to space and took off aboard the space shuttle mission STS-51G.

According to a summary provided by the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre, which oversees the UAE's astronaut programme, Al Neyadi intends to conduct 19 experiments while in space on topics like radiation, sleep, back pain, and material science.