Prayer rug

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Prayer rug
Typical carpeting in the Salzburg mosque, Schallmoos, oriented towards the Kaaba

The prayer rug ( Arabic سجادة, DMG saǧǧāda , pl .سجاجيد / saǧāǧīd ; Persian جانماز, DMG ǧānamāz ) is according to Islamic law ( Fiqh ) a pure fabric or carpet with which a Muslim covers the floor and thus prevents his prayer ( salad ) from being invalidated by impurities on the floor (such as urine or blood). There should be "a spot of clean ground" for this. In the open air he usually does not need a prayer rug, since in Islam the earth is considered to be purifying. It is even considered inappropriate to use a prayer rug outside to protect yourself from the dust, as touching the dusty floor is considered a sign of submission. There are smaller prayer rugs that you can carry with you ( namase ) and larger ones for household use, the so-called sedschade , and the row prayer rug , the saph .

history

In the time of the Prophet Muhammad , mats were used as prayer rugs. In the following centuries more and more kilims or small carpets decorated according to the rules of art were used for this. In mosques , prayer rugs with the words “Belongs to the foundation ( Waqf ) ” are sometimes used, so that nobody can steal and use these carpets without being seen.

The distinctive element of the prayer rug is the niche designed inner field, which corresponds to the mihrab in the mosque, which indicates the direction of prayer to Mecca, without which the prayer is invalid.

The water jug ​​as symbols of cultic purity for ritual prayer or a mosque traffic light are often depicted on the prayer carpet, with reference to the “ verse of light ” from the Koran ( Sura 24 , verse 35,36: “God is the light of heaven and earth. Its light can be compared to a niche with a lamp in it ... They are in houses that God has given permission to erect and to have his name mentioned in them ... ”(ie in mosques) ).

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman factories in Cairo and Bursa supplied the finest prayer rugs, which were rated as status symbols. Their motifs were later taken up by the prayer rugs from Ghiordes , a village between Izmir and Ushak that produced the largest group of Anatolian prayer rugs.

If the prayer rug is contaminated, it must be washed according to the ritual rules until nothing remains of the contamination, but usually three times. If it doesn't damage the carpet, it is then wrung out. The rule here is that the fabric - as with other objects - should not be damaged. If a fabric cannot be wrung out, this cleaning step is skipped.

In the Sufi tradition, the prayer rug is one of the symbols of the transmission of spiritual authority. The one who has inherited a certain religious tradition and continues it, or who heads a Sufi monastery , is called "Shaikh as-saddschada" ( Arabic شيخ السجادة, DMG šaiḫ as-saǧǧāda  'master of the prayer rug') or saddschāda-nischīn ( Persian سجاده‌نشين, DMG saǧǧāda-nišīn , 'owner of the prayer rug').

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Prayer Carpet  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: prayer mat  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Knysh 743b.