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VAGUENESS HAS NO FUNCTION IN LAW

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2002

Roy Sorensen
Affiliation:
Dartmouth College

Abstract

Islamic building codes require mosques to face Mecca. The further Islam spreads, the more apt are believers to fall into a quandary. X faces Y only when the front of X is closer to Y than any other side of X. So the front of the mosque should be oriented along a shortest path to Mecca. Which way is that? Does the path to Mecca tunnel through the earth? Or does the path follow the surface of the earth?

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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