There is a course in my school that labels levels of achievement according to the names of rockets launched for space flights. However, these names re Gemini and Apollo, which are also names in paganism. Is it haram to do the course entirely or would it suffice for me to call the achievement levels by different names such as medium or advanced (even though the administrators and other would call it differently) ?
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
There is nothing wrong with you participating in the course in reference. You can refer to the level of achievements by the aforementioned names. You have said that the levels of achievements are labelled after the names of two specific rockets launched for space flights. Although the words originally carry pagan connotations, the designation of these two names by NASA were not directly linked to these pagan roots.
‘NASA named the Gemini spacecraft and program after the constellation Gemini. The name is Latin for “twins.” NASA used this name because the Gemini capsule would carry two people’[1].
Dr. Silverstein recalled that he first dropped the name at a 1969 brainstorming session about how to top Mercury. ”No specific reason for it,” he said. ”It was just an attractive name’’[2].
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Shibly bin Mizan
Student Darul Iftaa
Toronto,Canada
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-gemini-program-58.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/05/us/abe-silverstein-92-engineer-who-named-apollo-program.html