Strange Question

Isra

aka Tree2008
As salamo alaikome

Inshallah my brothers and sisters at TTI are in good health and strong Iman.

This question is about the prayer mat. The other day I finished one prayer and decided to read Quran between my prayers so I left my prayer mat just open on the floor as it was when I prayed and I went to read Quran in another room. When I came back to pray my second prayer I noticed that my husband had turned the edge of my mat over onto itself so I asked him why he does that as I had noticed it before when he leaves his prayer mat he sometimes turns the edge or ruffles it in some way. He said he heard it was sunnah or something about the shaitan but he couldnt remember where he heard it or what it was exactly. I reminded him that he should be very careful about blindly following something without investigating to see if its actually in the Quran or Sunnah. He agreed and asked if I could find out about it. So I figure if there is an answer to this my brothers and sisters at TTI would know. If you know the hadith please post it here for me! Thank you ahead of time!

Wa salam
 

Hatty

Junior Member
:salam2:

hmmm very interesting. I never heard of something like this actually. I do not think even having a prayer mat is a Sunnah nor it is obligatory. What is important is that the place where the prayer is performed must be clean/pure.

But I would love to also hear from someone who is more knowledgeable to enlighten us here. Thank you sis for raising this issue.
 

wantobeMumin

Junior Member
:salam2:I have the same question lingering in my mind for years now. At my household we use to do the same that is to turn the edge over when not praying over the mat. i remember some one telling me that shatan is praying over it when u leave it unfolded so being a naive kid i used to do it

now that i am grown and have never found a hadith relating anything to do with this issue, i do not do it anymore

first of all what kind of explanation is that? shatan praying over it if left unfolded? isnt it good that if he does pray?

secondly, in mosques the carpets are left as they are so does that mean shatan is praying over them when ever no one is praying? and if he does pray its good nah?

i have asked local imam and he dont know anything about it so i concluded its just "something" we do because someone said so and nothing to do with islam.
correct me if i am wrong.:wasalam:
 

ShahnazZ

Striving2BeAStranger
And here I figured it was just a Desi thing.

In the Subcontinent, there's this belief that the Shaytan prays on it or something to that effect. So they'll turn over the top corner of the mat in hopes of keeping him away. I doubt it does the trick....

....to keep him away in general that is.

Totally not sunnah in my opinion. And I'm pretty sure about that.
 

Isra

aka Tree2008
As salamo alaikome

ALHAMDULILLAH I am never disappointed when I ask my questions to this group! Jazakallah khairan for your answers and may Allah reward you!

You know I thought this might be cultural but I have to say that from the replys here I was cracking up! :lol: I mean really it doesnt make sense! But as brother wantobeMumin pointed out if shaitan did pray isnt that a good thing? Really I wonder how these stories even get started in the first place! When you hear them out loud as an adult they honestly seem pretty silly dont they?

Its very doubtful that shaitan would use our prayer mats to pray on so this story seems to be biddah and I will let my husband know! Im sure he wont do it again!

wa salam
 

a_stranger

Junior Member
:salah:

When we were children they told us that shaitan will pray on our mat if we leave it , i used to hit my mat thinking that shaitan is praying on it so i thought i can get rid of him :D:D:D , but latter i learned that any clean place can be used to pray .....and shaitan don t like to pray or let any one pray.
 

Isra

aka Tree2008
:salah:

When we were children they told us that shaitan will pray on our mat if we leave it , i used to hit my mat thinking that shaitan is praying on it so i thought i can get rid of him :D:D:D , but latter i learned that any clean place can be used to pray .....and shaitan don t like to pray or let any one pray.

As salamo alaikome

Poor babies born Muslim and have to hear such nonscience! Well I know parents of all nationalities, races and religions have their own made up stories to scare the heck out of their children but its a shame when you add stories that just arent true to Islam. In a way it makes me glad I had to find out about Islam on my own. Unfortunately the children hearing these stories usually pass them on to their own children so the cycle never ends.

Only Allah knows who makes this stuff up and I feel sorry for the poor person that originated it. They probably just started it very innocently but look what happens? This is why we should never do anything unless we check it out first against the Sunnah or the Quran. If its not there then just dont do it no matter who told us about it!

Well at least my husband learned something from all of this. I think he is going to start doing some investigating on his own from now on inshallah!

wa salam
 

a_stranger

Junior Member
:salam2:
Yes sister , islamic world has many many ill practices that are totaly un islamic , we need to study Quran and Sunna ( sahih Sunna) to understand our deen most islamic countries have secular schools that teaches very little about Islam..... But AlhamduliAllah now it is easy to learn about islam sahih hadiths and good fatwas are availble on internet . :astag:
:tti_sister:
 

Isra

aka Tree2008
:salam2:
Yes sister , islamic world has many many ill practices that are totaly un islamic , we need to study Quran and Sunna ( sahih Sunna) to understand our deen most islamic countries have secular schools that teaches very little about Islam..... But AlhamduliAllah now it is easy to learn about islam sahih hadiths and good fatwas are availble on internet . :astag:
:tti_sister:

As salamo alaikome

You are right sister because without the internet people like me who come from non Muslim countries where the schools dont offer Islamic teaching would not be able to become Muslim. In fact I never even heard of Islam as a child! Alhamdulillah for the internet so that the correct way to Islam is available for those who seek it out!

wa salam
 

Tabassum07

Smile for Allah
:salam2:

You mean they do this thing all the way over in Morocco too? Like Shahnazz, I thought it was just a Desi thing.

Our mother always taught us this thing - to fold a corner of the mat because otherwise the shaytaan would pray on it. And I remember asking as a child: "Well, then its good if he prays right?" But my mother said she didnt know and it was just what people said.

I've never seen a single shred of evidence on this though. Most likely its just cultural.
 

Musalmaan

Junior Member
:salam2:

As has been mentioned a lot of people from the subcontinent have a tendency to do this. Infact I have been guilty of it myself. I also don't think its part of Sunnah so I've stopped doing it.

And yes some people say that if you leave that mat as it is the Shaytan prays on it. Think about it logically brothers and sisters: If the Shaytan actually started praying to the Almighty what great news would that be for us and for him! It would make our lives so much easier. He would stop enticing us with acts of evil.

It is well know that the Shaytan will never repent and that his destination is the Hellfire. To think that he'll ever pray on an unattended prayer mat is a luaghable notion.

:wasalam:
 

Seeker-of-truth

Junior Member
hmm interesting, I guess I should stop doing it too lol. I heard that shaytaan prays on it too but I assumed that he would pray to his idols or something like that. Yes I was told that as a child too
 

JenGiove

Junior Member
:salam2:

I have read so many fatwah's on Islamqa about prayer mats and permissibility to reserve a spot and NONE of them mention that turning the edges as part of the directions...this is only a personal assumption but I would assume that if it was part of the sunnah, then it would have a mention. I'll keep looking about Shaitan praying on mats though...
 

Idris16

Junior Member
Someone told my sister about the same thing but that was about Jinn praying over the mat or something not the shaytân. It sounds like a Sûfi thing.
 

Isra

aka Tree2008
:salam2:

You mean they do this thing all the way over in Morocco too? Like Shahnazz, I thought it was just a Desi thing.

Our mother always taught us this thing - to fold a corner of the mat because otherwise the shaytaan would pray on it. And I remember asking as a child: "Well, then its good if he prays right?" But my mother said she didnt know and it was just what people said.

I've never seen a single shred of evidence on this though. Most likely its just cultural.

Wa alaikome salam

Yep its here in Morocco too apparently! I had seen him ruffle his own prayer mat if he left it but intended to come back and say more prayers later but he had never done it to mine before. Usually I pick mine up from the floor and fold it when I am finished praying and I dont normally go anywhere before finishing my entire prayer but on this particular day I happened to want to read Quran in between my prayers so I left my mat on the floor and left to read. When I came back the top corner was flipped over so it reminded me that he does this pretty much all the time and so I asked him finally why he does it. He mentioned something about the shaitan but he wasnt sure exactly what the story was. Alhamdulillah at least he isnt the type to make stuff up so if he cant remember the complete story he wont share it. He just told me to ask about it.

He wont do it anymore now that I informed him it isnt according to Quran or Hadith. I knew it wasnt in Quran because I have read Quran so many times now I pretty much know whats in it but Im not that familar with Hadith so thats the reason for my post.
 

Isra

aka Tree2008
Someone told my sister about the same thing but that was about Jinn praying over the mat or something not the shaytân. It sounds like a Sûfi thing.

You know this would make far more sense to me to be honest because I have heard from various sheikhs that some Jinn are actually Muslim so it would make sense that they would worship Allah just as we humans do. I dont see the point in turning down the prayer mat away from praying Jinn though! I mean if they are worshipping Allah what is the harm in them borrowing our prayer mats to do so right?
 
Top