Prayer mark

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Prayer posture with the forehead touching the ground

The prayer mark is a circular, dark brown to black color change and cornification of the upper layer of skin on the middle of the forehead of Muslims below the hairline.

Occurrence

The Syrian-Arab writer Rafik Schami wrote the following in his novel The Secret Mission of the Cardinal , published in 2019 : “It was a fashion among men that had emerged in Syria at the turn of the millennium. Often this stain was made using a tanning cream or fresh walnut shells. The stain should indicate zeal for prayer. "

This stain can also result from repeated prostration and touching the ground with the forehead during Islamic ritual prayer .

"Certain people who would like to be considered pious prefer the bare earth to prostrate themselves and then afterwards carry the dust that clings to their foreheads with them as an outward sign of their zeal for God."

“The presence of such prostration marks were of course valued as demonstrations of pious work sanctity ... In some Islamic circles, emphasis is placed on this, if not by a permanent suǧūdmal, at least by temporarily preserving the dust on the forehead, this symbol of the for a day to preserve completed prostration. "

The prayer mark is widespread in all Islamic countries, but especially in Egypt, where the sign is in the Egyptian-Arabic dialect زبيبة / Zabība, Zibība  / means 'raisin'. In Morocco this sign is called Ghurra ("beautiful sign"; actually: white forehead spot on horses); Another meaning of the word is "facial bleaching", caused by the performance of prayers at night, or by the thorough execution of the ritual washing before prayer.

The origins: Quran and Hadith

A sign on the forehead is already mentioned in the Koran:

“Mohammed is the Messenger of God. And those who believe with him are violent towards the unbelievers, but compassionate among themselves. You see that they bow down and prostrate themselves in the longing that God should show them favor and be pleased with them. It is written on their foreheads that they prostrate themselves (often in prayer) (w. Your mark on your face is a result of prostration, or: Your mark on your face is a result of prostration ”

- Sura 48 , verse 29 : Translation: Rudi Paret

This sign as a result of prostration is called sīmā in Quranic usage , and in non- Quranic literature also: sīmāʾ with the final Hamza . The word is used in the general sense as “sign”, “mark”, “expression”. So Mohammed is allowed to speak of the “mark of my community” (sīmā ummatī) but also of the “mark of the hypocrites” (sīmā al-munāfiqīn), who can be recognized by their respective “mark”.

The Koran exegesis provides controversial views on the interpretation of the Koran passage: “ Your mark on your face is a result of prostration ” . In the hereafter one recognizes the Muslim by this sign; her face shines white on the day of resurrection, or it shines in bright light. You can Abd Allah ibn Abbas , one of the oldest authorities in the field of Koranic exegesis say, "indeed, it is not the (character), what you see! Rather, it is the sign of Islam (devotion to God): humility. ”Others add:“ Humility and modesty. ”The early Koran exegete Mujahid ibn Jabr († 722) from Mecca also speaks of the sign of humility, but adds:“ It can be between his (the Muslim's) eyes, (in the shape of) like the goat's knee. A sign as God wants it. ”The Andalusian Koran exegete al-Qurtubī († 1272) adds:“ This (person) is harder (in his heart) than stone. ”This sign is also interpreted as traces of dust. In general, one is of the opinion, such as at-Tabari in the summary of the interpretations presented by him, that in the place of the Qur'an in question, facial blight (ghurrat al-waǧh) is meant.

Critics and supporters

Some reports in the hadith literature confirm that the prayer mark on the forehead, as a visible sign of prostration during prayer, was subject to criticism from contemporaries even in the early days of Islam.

  • The Shafiʿite traditionalist and lawyer al-Baihaqī (d. 1066) reports in his extensive collection of traditions that as-Sāʾib ibn Yazīd (d. Around 709), who was only seven years old in the year Muhammad died, is said to have criticized the prayer mark with the following words : “This (person) has disfigured his face. By God, that is not the sign (sīmāʾ) that God (in the Koran) had given. For eighty years I prostrated myself in prayer and (yet) have no sign of prostration between my eyes. "
  • The traditionarian Ibn Abī Schaiba (born 775; died 849), from Kufa , an important source for the authors of the canonical collections of hadiths , has put together several traditions for and against the prayer mark in the tradition of the companions of the Prophets . A woman who had a mark between her eyes that looked like the knee of the sheep was admonished as follows: “Truly! It would be better for you if you didn't have it between your eyes! "
  • In the vicinity of Maimūna bint al-Ḥārith († 681), the last wife of the Prophet, complaints were made about a man who was about to scratch his forehead with sand "to reinforce the traces of prostration".
  • In one of the oldest Koran commentaries, in the tafsir of the Egyptian scholar Abd ʿAbdallāh ibn Wahb (743-812), which has survived in writing today, traditionarians in Medina report that Ibn ʿUmar († 693), the son of the caliph Umar ibn al-Chattab , met an acquaintance after his long absence with a black prayer mark on his forehead and therefore ignored him with the words: “I accompanied the Messenger of God, Abu Bakr , Umar and Uthman . Do you see something here? ”-“ and he pointed to his forehead ”.
  • Ibn ʿUmar is said to have exhorted someone who supported himself with his head while prostrating and pressed his forehead against the earth: “A man's good looks are his face; So don't spoil your appearance! "
  • The geographer Ibn Hauqal , who died around 977, reports that one encounters "bad rabble" in the fortresses near the then Muslim Palermo who fraudulently affixed prostration marks.
  • The poet Mūsā b. Yasār, who was known for his love poetry in the Umayyad period , warned in a line of verse against being confused by such a mark, here called saǧda (prostration) “between the eyes”, with poets and singers. The Islamic literature , as hypocrites those times have taught themselves rich in Andekdoten above to thereby spoofing their piety.

In the biographies of scholars, at least since Muhammad ibn Saʿd (d. 845 in Baghdad ), it is mentioned when a person “had the sign of prostration between the eyes (forehead)”. The poet Abū Dulāma (died around 778), the son of a freed slave and court poet among the Umayyads and Abbasids , boasts in a line of verse that his forehead is wounded by prostration during prayer.

The followers of Ali ibn Abi Talib are said to have had the sign of prostration not only on their foreheads but also on their noses. Abān ibn ʿUthmān (died between 714 and 723), governor of Medina , son of the caliph ʿUthmān, is said to have had a small prayer mark. Abdallah ibn az-Zubair († 692), the “counter-caliph” among the Umayyads, is said to have been known for a particularly large prayer mark. Also known scholars from the time of the Umayyad have had prayer spots: az-Zuhri (d 742nd), one of the most important authorities on the biography of the Prophet (died 724th) and Ṭā'ūs ibn Kaisan, important representative of the Islamic jurisprudence from the Yemen with sphere Mecca , which one used to call upon after his death as a local saint in need ( mustaǧāb ad-daʿwa ). In biographical literature, when people from different epochs are described externally, their prayer mark (aṯar as-suǧūd; ie the trace of prostration) "between the eyes" is pointed out.

Illustrations

Pictures of men with prayer mark:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The ARD Radio Festival - Reading: Rafik Schami: The Cardinal's Secret Mission (Part 24/40)
  2. ↑ Rudi Paret: Symbolism of Islam. S. 19. In: Ferdinand Hermann (Ed.): Symbolism of Religions. II. Stuttgart 1958
  3. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher: Between the eyes . In: Der Islam 11 (1921), pp. 175–180, here: p. 177 (= Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 5, pp. 451–456; here p. 453)
  4. ↑ Ibn Madscha : as-Sunan . Kitāb az-zuhd, bāb 34, No. 4282; Vol. 2, p. 1431
  5. ↑ at-Tabari: Ǧāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān , vol. 10, p. 142 (Dār al-fikr, Beirut)
  6. ^ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature . Vol. 1, pp. 25-28. Brill, Leiden 1967
  7. ↑ at-Tabari: Ǧāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān , vol. 26, p. 111. - For a demonstration of what is meant, see: File: Goat family.jpg .
  8. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Vol. 5, p. 512
  9. ↑ al-Ǧāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān . (Ed. Abd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin at-Turkī et alii . Beirut 2006), Vol. 19, p. 342
  10. ↑ See the summary in at-Tabari: Ǧāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān , Vol. 26, pp. 110–112
  11. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Vol. 1, p. 1130
  12. ↑ al-Mizzī : Tahdhīb al-kamāl , Vol. 10, pp. 193–196 (Ed. Baššār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf . Beirut 1992)
  13. ↑ al-Baihaqī: as-Sunan al-kubrā , Vol. 2, p. 287 (Ed. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭāʾ. Mecca 1994)
  14. ↑ Fuat Sezgin (1967), pp. 108-109
  15. ↑ To demonstrate what is meant, see: File: Mouflon 03.JPG .
  16. ↑ Ibn Abī Schaiba: al-Muṣannaf (Ed. Muḥammad ʿAwwāma. Beirut 2006), Vol. 3, p. 80. No. 3155
  17. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 6, p. 918
  18. ↑ Ibn Abī Schaiba: al-Muṣannaf , Vol. 3, p. 81. No. 3156
  19. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Brill, Leiden, Vol. 1, p. 93
  20. ↑ ʿAbd Allaah ibn Wahb : al-Ǧāmiʿ . Vol. 3: ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān (The Koran Studies ), p. 90. No. 199 (Beirut 2003)
  21. ↑ ʿAbd Allaah ibn Wahb: al-Ǧāmiʿ . Vol. 3: ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān (The Koranic Studies), p. 107. No. 249
  22. ↑ a b Ignaz Goldziher (1921), p. 177
  23. ^ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature. II. (Poetry). Brill, Leiden 1975. p. 430
  24. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher (1921), p. 176
  25. ↑ Fuat Sezgin (1975), pp. 470-471
  26. ↑ Fuat Sezgin (1967), pp. 277-278
  27. ↑ Ibn ʿAsākir : Taʾrīḫ madīnat Dimašq (Ed. Al-ʿUmarī. Beirut 1995), Vol. 6, p. 156
  28. ↑ Ibn Abī Shaiba: al-Muṣannaf , vol. 3, p. 81. No. 3160 and vol. 19, p. 261. No. 35972
  29. ↑ Ibn ʿAsākir: Taʾrīḫ madīnat Dimašq (Ed. Al-ʿUmarī. Beirut 1995), Vol. 28, p. 228
  30. ↑ Fuat Sezgin (1967), pp. 280-283
  31. ↑ Harald Motzki: The beginnings of Islamic jurisprudence . P. 290 (index). Treatises for the customers of the Orient. Volume L, 2. Stuttgart 1991
  32. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher: Muhammedanische Studien . Volume 2, p. 285. Halle a. P. 1890; adh-Dhahabī : Siyar aʿlām an-nubalāʾ . Volume, 5, p. 341 (az-Zuhrī), or p. 44 (Ṭāʾūs ibn Kaisān). 7th edition. Beirut 1990
  33. ^ Ignaz Goldziher (1921), pp. 451–452
  34. ↑ See e.g. B. Ibn ʿAsākir: Taʾrīḫ madīnat Dimašq (Ed. Al-ʿUmarī. Beirut 1995), Vol. 28, p. 245; Vol. 33, p. 211; Vol. 42, p. 560; Vol. 68, p. 205
  35. ↑ Ursula Lindsey: The Tragedy of Mohamed El Beltagi. In: Latitude - Views from around the world , The New York Times (Online), September 5, 2013.
  36. ^ Wolfgang Günter Lerch: Mustafa Abd al Dschalil - Against the split. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (Online), March 10, 2011.
  37. ↑ Andrea Nüsse: Tunisia - Freedom above everything. In: Der Tagesspiegel (Online), March 15, 2012.
  38. ↑ Martin Gehlen: Egypt's presidential elections - “I can't work miracles.” In: Der Tagesspiegel (Online), March 28, 2014.

literature

  • Ignaz Goldziher: Between the eyes . In: Der Islam 11 (1921), pp. 175–180
  • Rudi Paret: Symbolism of Islam . S. 19. In: Ferdinand Hermann (Ed.): Symbolism of Religions . II. Stuttgart 1958
  • Abanmi AA, et alii: Prayer marks . International Journal of Dermatology Volume 41 Issue 7 Page 411-414, July 2002. Dermatology Department, Riyadh Al Kharj Armed Forces Hospital ( "Prayer marks (PMs) are asymptomatic, chronic skin changes that consist mainly of thickening, lichenification, and hyperpigmentation, and develop over a long period of time as a consequence of repeated, extended pressure on bony prominences during prayer. " )