Hello. I am a religious studies student and I have an assignment that I could use some help with. Basically I have to take a picture of anything with religious implications and describe it in 1500 words. Its slightly more complicated than that but that is the short version. I'm not a Muslim but my roommate is so I decided to take a picture of his prayer mat. Unfortunately for me he knows little about his faith so he isn't of much help. I don't trust internet sources, and part of the assignment is getting first hand insight from members of the faith, which in this case is Islam.

I would appreciate if i could get different explanations about what the point of a prayer mat is, what it means to you as a Muslim, and its religious implications. From the little i know it is to make sure the surface on which prayer is done is "ritually" pure. But i doubt i can write 1500 words about that. It is due tomorrow morning and I foolishly left it until the last minute. Your input is priceless to me right now. Thank you.

Personally i would have suggested you took the picture of another islamic thing and write about.

The prayer mat is not of any significant importance in islam other than to provide cover for the person praying and the benefit of knowing the surface is free from physical impurities like urine,shit, dog hair and sorts. A muslim could pray on anything ranging from grass to bare ground , placing of paper on the floor and so on.

Even in fiqh (islamid jurispundence) when u want to pray on a surface like bareground or used carpet you do not try to start finding out if anyone has urinated on that ground before as you just pray on it because trying to find out will be an herculan task and create doubts which is from the shaitan. However the personal prayer mat has to be protected from filth and impurities as you prostrate your head and bow doen to the most high on it.

Thank you,  keep em coming,  just the type of info i need   

The point of the assignment is not really the mat as such,  it is more about the method we use to analyze and present the information we gather.

So it isn't mandatory for the surface to be pure?

why do you have to place your face on the ground? Is there a standard way to bow, or is it a personal thing,  e.g if the ground is dirty, or muddy would you still be mandated to bow to the ground?

No it is mandatory for the mat you have to be free from physical impurities, what is not mandatory is if you dont posses the mat or you have to pray on the grass or bare ground, you do not have to find out if there are impurities there as long as you havent seen any physical impurity yourself.

we have to put our face to the ground and prostrate to the most hing in whose hands is our soul as a sign of total submission and humility to our creator. The manner of bowing is standard across board.

It is mandotory to bow down in prayer and the muslim prayer is uniform all around the world. If the ground is muddy the muslim should find a dry ground to pray.

Lagosboy:


If the ground is muddy the muslim should find a dry ground to pray.

What if there isn't any, say he has a flat tire on a rainy day and still wants to pray?

I'm sure there are exceptions in the case of injury, or say someone with a physical disability that hinders them from bowing. Are they exempted from bowing and is there another alternative form of showing total submission to the Most High for both scenarios?

If you are on a plane for example, and are not sure what direction east is, and still want to pray,  it is night and so you can't use the sun for reference; Is there any situation where one is exempted from facing the east?

Thank you so much,  I really appreciate this help. 

Please if anyone else wants to add anything feel free to do so. Thank you

Also, earlier you suggested that I take a picture of something else and I unwisely dismissed that suggestion. What, in your opinion, would be a better "object" to write about? You are the expert here, not me. 

Hope this is not coming too late.
One thing you could have written about is The Holy Qur'an. You can write on what Message It contains, when It's revealation began, how long it lasted, who It was revealed to, how The Revelations were initialy recorded, (what materials), when It was first written on paper, first translation to English, who did the translation,It's importance to muslims and a number of other things. Try using google, but be sure the info is accurate before writing. My battery is almost empty.

Hope this is not coming too late.
One thing you could have written about is The Holy Qur'an. You can write on what Message It contains, when It's revealation began, how long it lasted, who It was revealed to, how The Revelations were initialy recorded, (what materials), when It was first written on paper, first translation to English, who did the translation,It's importance to muslims and a number of other things. Try using google, but be sure the info is accurate before writing. My battery is almost empty.

Krayola:

What if there isn't any, say he has a flat tire on a rainy day and still wants to pray?

I'm sure there are exceptions in the case of injury, or say someone with a physical disability that hinders them from bowing. Are they exempted from bowing and is there another alternative form of showing total submission to the Most High for both scenarios?

If you are on a plane for example, and are not sure what direction east is, and still want to pray, it is night and so you can't use the sun for reference; Is there any situation where one is exempted from facing the east?

Thank you so much, I really appreciate this help.

Please if anyone else wants to add anything feel free to do so. Thank you

Very true disability and any illness that will prevent or hurt from bowing there is an exemption. What i wrote earlier refferred to abled body in normal circumstances. We are allowed to pray sitting down if we are travelling and in the plane for example and we do not know where the east is , one can face anywhwere as the east , west, north and south all belongs to Allah as stated in the quran . . . . Rabbul mashreq wa maghreb (Lord of the east and west). However i know some friends who have asked the air hostess to contact the pilot and ask for the direction to the east also, some airlines like emirates,gulf air all show the direction on the tv screens in front of the seats.