Islamic authority has a clear, urgent message for Muslims: Don't go to Mars.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) has issued a fatwa prohibiting participation or promotion of one-way trips to the red planet, the Khaleej Times reported Wednesday. “Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam,” the committee said. “There is a possibility that an individual who travels to planet Mars may not be able to remain alive there, and is more vulnerable to death.”The committee cited verses of the Koran exalting the protection of life and forbidding suicide and murder.Whoever opts for this “hazardous trip”, the committee said, is likely to die for no “righteous reason”, and thus will be liable to a “punishment similar to that of suicide in the Hereafter,” the Khaleej Times wrote. continue