PROSTRATING ON EARTH DURING SALAAT

SHAFAQNA-According to Shia’h school of thought, Sajdah ‘prostration during prayers’ must be performed on Turbah ‘earth’. Ayatollah Seyyid ‘Ali al-Husayni al-Seestani states:

Sajdah should be performed on earth and on those things which are not edible or worn, and on things which grow from earth (e.g. wood and leaves of trees). It is not permissible to perform Sajdah on things which are used as food or dress (e.g. wheat, barley and cotton etc), or on things which are not considered to be parts of the earth (e.g. gold, silver etc).   (Islamic Laws, Ruling no.1085, Page 201)

NARRATIONS:

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri narrates:

[The Messenger of Allah used to practice I’tikaf (in the mosque), in the middle third of Ramadhan. After the twentieth night, he used to return home on the twenty-first, and those who were in I’tikaf with him would return to their homes as well. In Ramadhan, in which he practiced I’tikaf, he would pray the night prayers on the night in which he returned home, and then address the people, instructing them as Allah commanded him. He said, “I used to practice I’tikaf for these ten days (i.e. the middle third of Ramadhan), but I now intend to stay in I’tikaf for the last ten days. Whoever was in I’tikaf with me should stay at his place of seclusion. I have certainly been shown (the date of) this night (of Qadr), but I have forgotten it. Search for it in the odd nights of the last ten days (of Ramadhan). I also saw myself (in a dream) prostrating in mud and water”. On the twenty-first night, the sky was covered with clouds and it rained, and the rainwater started leaking through the roof of the mosque onto the praying place of the Prophet. With my own eyes, I saw the Prophet, upon completion of the Morning Prayer, leaving (the mosque) with his face covered with mud and water.]  (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3.235)

Jabir bin ‘Abdullah narrates:

[The Messenger of Allah said,

“I have been given five things which were not given to any of the prophets before me:

1. Allah made me victorious by inspiring awe (and fear in my enemies) for a distance of one month’s journey..
2. The earth has been made a place of prostration for me, and a place to perform Tayammum. Thus my followers can pray wherever (i.e. in any lawful place) they like when the time of prayer is due.
3. War booty has been made lawful for me.
4. Every prophet was sent only to his nation, but I have been sent to all mankind.
5. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Judgement).]     (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1.429)

Abu Sa’eed used to relate that he had seen the Prophet prostrating on wet mud, so much so that he could see mud stains on his forehead.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Part 1, p.104)

The Prophet declared that the best place of prostration was the earth, or upon something that grows from the earth. (Kanzul-‘Ummaal, Part 4, p.113)

Hazrat Maimuna said,

[The Messenger of Allah used to pray on a Khumra (a palm leaf mat large enough to place one’s face, while in prostration)] (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1.378)

Finally, a Sunni Scholar, Maulana Vahidul Zamankhan states:

[The Prophet told his wife Umm Salma, “Bring me the Khumra from the mosque”. The word Khumra means a small piece of chatai made from palm leaf, on which only the head could be rested when prostrating. Ibn Athir in his Jami’ al-Usool has written, “Khumra is the Sajdagah (Persian word meaning ‘prostration place’) upon which the Shia’hs of our time perform their prostrations”. I (i.e. Maulana Zamankhan) maintain that by this Hadith, it is sunnat to keep Sajdagah. Those who forbid it and call it the way of the Rafizites (Shiites) are wrong. To practice this Sunnat, I often perform my prostrations on a fan made from palm leaf, and I do not care about the criticism of the ignorant. We are concerned only about the Sunnat of the Prophet (SAA), regardless of whether they call it the way of the Rafizites or the Kharijites. Let them rave about it.]   (Anwar-ul-Lughat, Chapter 7, Page.118)

Mulla Mujaheedali Sheriff