Al-Masir

Al-Masir (also Masir), originally Aldebaran-e was a planet orbiting the red giant star Aldebaran (111-512-065 Tauri system).

It was the first of several Islamic Colony Worlds that were created during the Dark Ages and the Settlement, and like the other colonies began as a fundamentalist regime under strict Islamic law. Of all the colonies, Al-Masir became the most prominent and powerful.

Travel
Al-Masir was colonised by Islamic fundamentalists under the nominal leadership of Mufti Hanad Abd Al-Rafi, after their expulsion from Earth under Treonarch. Originally, the experimental multi-generation colony ships were destined for the Errai system (and possibly the planet Tadmor), but this plan was thwarted during the journey and the colony ships were diverted to the more distant Aldebaran. One splinter group, under Omar bin Yahya, maintained course to Errai, but due to sabotage on the part of the Aldebaran group, their colony ships were unable to decelerate and overshot their destination long before the larger group reached Aldebaran. The Errai group continued to travel through space at 0.5C for over 150 years.

Arrival
Upon arrival at the vaguely terrestrial Aldebaran-e, the planet was declared Al-Masir, i.e. "the Destiny". Althoug habitats had been permitted by Abd Al-Rafi, his successors banned the practice for over a century, emphasising the importance of inhabiting a planet in lieu of man-made environments. An immense temple was constructed at the landing site of the first re-entry vehicle, entombing that spacecraft in its entirety. Mosques constructed on the planet would be built to face the temple in lieu of the Kaaba on Earth (which had been obliterated centuries earlier by the Revenant)