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Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

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Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#21

Post by umeshunni »

PrismCrystal wrote: post #17
mkoubaa wrote: post #16

In all the years of using one I never thought it made anything sacred. It keeps my forehead clean and cushions my knees

This reminds me of the practice in Egypt where men would intentionally press their heads into the ground when praying in order to develop a callous, colloquially called a zebiba , showing off their piety. Is this still fashionable? When I traveled rural Egypt in 2008 it was omnipresent; one shopkeeper told me he no longer believed in religion, but he had to develop a zebiba nevertheless, otherwise no one would buy fr…

Interesting. TIL

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7469221.stm

Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#24

Post by noufalibrahim »

kamikazeturtles wrote: post #4

I love this sort of writing. Bringing attention to something you don't pay too much attention to, even as a muslim. My prayer rug has tessellation patterns, probably a testament to God's infiniteness. Where I'm originally from in Diyarbakir, Turkey, the Christians also use prayer rugs when prostrating (to, I think, Jerusalem) so this isn't an exclusively "Islamic" thing.

Islam generally has a prohibiton on representational art. Most of the artistic skills were pulled into calligraphy and tesselations.

It's why these show up in almost all Islamic artifacts.

Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#26

Post by pushupentry1219 »

ralmidani wrote: post #20
pvg wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That whole bundle of traditions - prayer times, prayer directions, prayer accessories, etc predates Islam if for no other reason than that Islam is comparatively new. But the cross-pollination could have easily happened more than once and in both directions.

Even Muslims do not claim their religion is completely novel. The rituals may differ, but the creed preached by Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) is the same preached by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, John, Jesus, and countless other prophets (peace be upon them all): worship The One True God (Allah, Yahweh) with no partners. As far as prayer rugs and other acce…

Muslims say that Islam _was_ the religion of all the prophets you've mentioned. Because of this they also believe that Islam is the _oldest_ religion, since Adam, the first man, followed Islam.

Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#27

Post by karim79 »

noufalibrahim wrote: post #24
kamikazeturtles wrote: post #4

I love this sort of writing. Bringing attention to something you don't pay too much attention to, even as a muslim. My prayer rug has tessellation patterns, probably a testament to God's infiniteness. Where I'm originally from in Diyarbakir, Turkey, the Christians also use prayer rugs when prostrating (to, I think, Jerusalem) so this isn't an exclusively "Islamic" thing.

Islam generally has a prohibiton on representational art. Most of the artistic skills were pulled into calligraphy and tesselations. It's why these show up in almost all Islamic artifacts.

Can you please elaborate on 'representational art' in this context?

Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#28

Post by Cyph0n »

karim79 wrote: post #27
noufalibrahim wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Islam generally has a prohibiton on representational art. Most of the artistic skills were pulled into calligraphy and tesselations. It's why these show up in almost all Islamic artifacts.

Can you please elaborate on 'representational art' in this context?

In the context of Islam: art that depicts living things, especially humans.

Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#29

Post by pushupentry1219 »

mkoubaa wrote: post #16

In all the years of using one I never thought it made anything sacred. It keeps my forehead clean and cushions my knees

(I'm a Muslim). I mean... Strictly speaking as far as i am aware the mat/rug is not sacred itself. It is just a place to put your head +knees comfortably.

In fact the Prophet Muhammad SAW did not use a prayer mat and instead he placed his head on the soil (ground/earth).

Also note; Shias place their head on a stone/rock to mimic this practice: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbah

Re: Prayer, Placement, and Absolution: Peter Hristoff on Islamic Prayer Rugs (2015)

#30

Post by renewiltord »

karim79 wrote: post #27
noufalibrahim wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Islam generally has a prohibiton on representational art. Most of the artistic skills were pulled into calligraphy and tesselations. It's why these show up in almost all Islamic artifacts.

Can you please elaborate on 'representational art' in this context?

Idolatry. Graven idols. That sort of thing. Hence geometry instead.
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