Salaam Minara Family,
Not - it’s not your portable luggage ready for those summer vacations that we’re talking about ☺️.
It’s your sajjadah.
If you have a moment - now - go and take a look at your sajjadah - your musallah or prayer mat- if you will.
Perhaps it is a rug neatly folded in the corner of your room, thin as a handkerchief and worn soft by years of foreheads pressing into it. Perhaps it is warm and plush like the soft feel of velvet under tired toes. Perhaps its pattern is floral, the colours now a muted echo of what they once were. Or perhaps the colours are still vibrant and alive, waiting to be transferred first from mat to forehead, then from forehead to soul.
Perhaps your prayer mat was purchased brand new for your own use. Or perhaps it speaks of a silent lineage of hands that smoothed its corners and brushed away dust just like you yourself do now.
Gifting prayer mats is such a special thing. I have a growing collection of those loved ones have chosen for me. The one purchased in Makkah for example by a teacher of mine, then used in the beloved Prophet’s Masjid and finally, lovingly and thoughtfully gifted to me.
This is the strange, tender power of a prayer mat. It is, in theory, just cloth. But in practice, it is a small, portable sanctuary, an object that gathers our histories and anchors us to the earth in an act of worship.
When we stand upon it, we are accompanied by memory and/or a sense that wherever we unroll this rectangle of woven thread, we are home.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “The entire earth has been made a place of prostration and a means of purification for me” [Sahih Muslim].
Islam carries with it a radical accessibility of sacred space: no walls or domes required! Folded in a handbag, tucked into a glove compartment, or laid over gravel and concrete, it transforms transient spaces into places of stillness and sanctity. In an airport lounge or a hospital corridor, it confidently states: this too is a masjid, helping us gather our intentions.
Witness of the Ground
Did you know, in Islam, the earth is not passive beneath our feet?
In fact, the Qur’an reminds us that: “That Day it will report its news, because your Lord has inspired it.” [Surah Al-Zalzalah, 99: 4-5]
Every place where we stand in prayer records our devotion, our pains and our private pleas.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “There is no Muslim who performs ablution and performs the prayer but that the earth bears witness over him.” [Musnad Ahmad]
Our prayer mats are like silent observers, gathering these moments.
The next time you unroll your rug and your intention wavers or your khush’u feels fragile, imagine it testifying in your favour, telling your Maker all the ways your returned to Him.
Your Challenge
Unroll your prayer rug somewhere new this week: a quiet corner, a patch of grass - basically a place you’ve never prayed before. As you stand and bow, remember: every grain of earth will testify for you. Let your prayer mat carry the memory of your prayer whether that be in public or in your own little private space.
Where will you leave your mark of worship today friends?
Love and du’as,
The Minara Team
