Misconceptions: Turbah

For many centuries, Shi'as have been stereotyped as worshippers of stones and graves. They have also been attacked for believing in the Imamate of Imam Ali, alayhi as-salam. Join Rebecca Masterton in a series of explosions and shed some light on the major misconceptions surrounding various topics in the Shi'a school of thought.

Turbah. One of the great misunderstandings about the practice of sujud, or prostration in the sheer school of thought is the issue of using what is called a turbah or mohr, which is a piece of clay that people prostrate upon.

There have been so many misunderstandings about what is the significance of this piece of clay. There have been rumors that the Shi'a worship stones, for example, or that they are worshipping these these pieces of clay. But in fact, there's a clear fiqhi juridical reason as to why followers of Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, prostrate upon the turbah.

It was elucidated based on the Hadith and the Qur'an, that it is only permissible for Muslims to prostrate upon the earth or whatever grows from the earth. So it can't be anything that is worn or eaten or anything such as a vegetables that would rot, is permissible to prostrate on the earth or on stone or on glass. And if we turn to some of the narrations in the Sunni School of Thought, in some of their books of Ahadith, we can see references to the fact that the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family, used to only prostrate either directly on the earth or else upon something that was called khumra, which was a platform. It was like a woven, raised piece of cloth that he would use on which he would prostrate.

If we look at the canonical books such as Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukhari, Musnad Ahmad, and also the Shi'i collection of Ahadith such as Bihar Al-Anwar, all of them, Sunni and Shi'i sources, have the narration from the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, where he said that Allah made the earth for me a Masjid, and as something that is tahir, or as something with which I can cleanse myself. The fact that the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family has said make the earth a masjid for you. This doesn't just mean that wherever we go on the planet that that is our Masjid. It also meant that the Earth itself is a place of prostration.

Regarding the khumra, it has been narrated by Umm Salama, one of the blessed wives of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family in Shahih Bukhari, Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, an-Nasa'i and other sources that Umm Salama said: the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family, used to pray on khumra and what this was as it is described here, is again this woven square that was made from palm fronds. It would be dried palm leaves that would be woven into something on which he could prostrate.

And it has also been narrated in Bukhari, Nas'ai, Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, by A'isha, where she said that she did not see the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family, prostrating on anything where he was protecting his forehead. So there was no barrier between his forehead and the earth.

And there are many other narrations included in the Sunni collections that prove that it is not permissible to prostrate on anything that has been woven, such as carpet. Of course, again, one of the assertions that has been made about followers of the Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, using the turbah is that this is a bida'a or an unlawful innovation. And we know of many instances where people have had the turbah kicked from under their foreheads as they are praying. But in fact, they are only following the Sunna of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, himself.

There are narrations again where in Sahih Bukhari, where it is said that the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family, from when he used to rise from sujud, that he would have mud and water on his on his face, on his forehead. It has also been narrated in Kanz Al-'Ummal as well that Abu Bakr said that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, when he did sujud, he would pray on the earth. It has been narrated also by al-Musnaf, by Ibn Abi Shaybah that Umar Ibn al-Khattab narrated that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, used to pray on rock or stone.

And it is also been narrated by Ibn Mas'ud as well, that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, never did prostration on anything except the earth on on directly on the earth.

Now, we can also see references to not just praying on the earth, but also rocks that were used for sajdah by the Sahaba of the Holy Prophet and the Holy Prophet himself, peace be upon him and his family.

So it's been narrated by Jabr Ibn Abdallah Ansari, in Nasa'i, in Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, in Abu Dawud, and also in Kanz al-'Ummal, that he said: I was praying with the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, the Dhuhur prayer, the midday prayer. And I took a rock and put it in my hand. And then I flipped it over and moved it to the other hand from the extreme heat until it cooled down, and then I put my forehead on it.

Again, this is also being narrated by Anas Ibn Malik. So it can be seen that in the time of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, that he and the Sahaba also used rocks on which to prostrate and they would turn them over onto the cool side so that they could do their sajdah.

The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, has also said, narrated through Jabr Ibn Abdallah Ansari, that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, said the earth has been made a place of prostration for me and a place to perform tayammum. So this is very similar to the early narration that said the the earth has been made a masjid for me and as a means of purification. And he said my followers can pray wherever they like that is lawful, when the time of prayer is due. This means that whenever the time for Salah comes, and you can find a place of earth to prostrate upon, then you can do your Salah, or if you're in a park and you can prostrate upon the grass.

Now, obviously, we know that in our day and age, most of the places where we go to are carpeted. In fact, in the time the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, it wasn't that common to use carpets in the homes. The tradition of carpets came from further north, in Persia, so people would have been praying directly on the earth. And it has been narrated that by Abu Saeed Al-Khudri as well, also in Sahih Bukhari, that at the time when it rained, and it was time for Salha, he remembers that the roof of the Masjid that was made from the leaves of a palm, started to leak, and the earth started to get wet, so that when the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, rose from doing prostration, he had mud on his forehead.

We need to consider whether it is permissible, according to the narrations, to prostrate upon a cloth. We know that in the books of Bukhari, that there are some generations where the companions asked to be able to prostrate upon the cloth that was placed upon the ground when it was hot. In fact, what can be seen from this narrations is that they were only permitted to pray upon cloth in exceptional times when the earth was extremely hot, when it was too hot to prostrate on.

Anyone who has prayed in Middle Eastern countries or even our viewers in Africa will know that there are times of the year when the earth itself is burning hot and very difficult to prostrate on. So it can be seen that in Bukhari Volume two, it has been narrated by Anas Ibn Malik that he said: we used to pray with the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, in the scorching heat. And if some one of us could not put his face on the earth because of the heat, then he would spread his clothes and prostrate upon that.

There is also another narration from Sunan Abu Dawud where, again, it is narrated by Jabr Ibn Abdallah Ansari, in fact, he didn't use a cloth, but he used gravel, or sand on which to prostrate when it was extremely hot. So he says, I would offer my midday prayer with the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. And I took a handful of gravel so that they might become cool in my hands. And I placed them before me so that I might put my forehead on them at the time of Salah and then I would prostrate. And I did this due to the intensity of the heat.

So we can see that it is only in exceptional circumstances that it is permissible to prostrate on anything other than the Earth. And in fact, we can see that Jabr Ibn Abdallah, even when it was very hot whether, he still took gravel or sand, that was used, and then he would prostrate on that. We also know that it is narrated in the books of the Sunni school of thought that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, said: make your faces dusty and cover your noses with dust.

One other thing worth mentioning is we know that Imam Ali, alayhi as-salam, was also called Abu Turab, the father of the dust, there have actually been some pejorative or insulting stories as to how he got this nickname of Abu Turab. In fact, the reason why he was called that, was precisely because of the prostrations that he used to make and so he would have dust on his forehead.

We can take a closer look at the Shi'i sources. And again, we know that from other schools of thought, they say that it's not worth looking at these sources because they are allegedly weak, that there is allegedly no basis for truth in what is read in them. In fact, that is another great misconception. When we actually turn to the sources in which the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, the progeny of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, have narrated, we can see the method by which these narrations have been transmitted directly from the Companions of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam.

And we we're going to turn to some of these sources to look at exactly what the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, said about prostrating on the earth or prostrating on clay.

We can see that in one word called Al-Manaqib by Ibn Shahrashub. He narrates that Imam Zayn Al-'Abidin, alayhi as-salam, picked some of the earth from the plains of Karbala and declared that dust to be sacred. And he kept it in a bag. And the Imams used to perform prostrations upon this dust that was collected from the plains of Karbala. And they also made subhas or tasbihs out of it, and recited Allah's praises on it.

Now it is also known that Fatimat az-Zahra, salamu Allahi alayha, also made subhas out of the earth that was around the Holy Prophet's uncle Hamza, when he was martyred at Badr, and the earth from around his grave was made into beads and that was used as a subha by Lady Fatimat az-Zahra.

So the earth of Karbala, it is not obligatory for us to prostrate upon it, but we are prostrating, particularly upon that earth because of its significance. It is because that Imam Husayn, alayhi as-salam, when he died on that land, it was for the sake of the truth of the Message of Islam.

We can also see that Al-Tusi, in his book Misbah al-Mutahajjad, he also writes that the Imams of hl al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, used to encourage their followers to prostrate upon the earth. And it is said that it must be clean earth only, and preferably the earth of Karbala as well.

This is another point that must be emphasised. And we have seen in the Sunni narrations that it is illustrated very clearly that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, used to prostrate directly on the earth. That earth must also be clean again. When we look at the world in which we are living today, the cities in which we are living it, it's very difficult to come across clean earth on which to prostrate. And this is why people will carry a turbah with them that is made out of clean clay and water.

Regarding the Fiqh as well, on what to prostrate. This has been clearly illustrated by Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, also in the books of Hadith collections. So he was asked by his famous companion, Hisham, who said: tell me on which materials we are allowed to prostrate and what is not allowed. And the Imam said: sujud is not allowed on anything except the earth, or what grows on the earth, except for what is edible or what is worn. And that is narrated in Wasa'il ash-Shi'a.

It has also been narrated by Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, again, in Wasa'il ash-Shi'a, he said again that sajdah or sujud is only allowed on, directly on the earth, or what grows from the earth. Again, this means that it is permissible to prostrate on grass.

It has also been narrated by another companion, Is'aq, where he asked Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, about doing prostration on plants. Is it permissible to prostrate upon plants, such as leaves that may possibly at one point disintegrate? And the Imam has said: there is no problem in prostrating on plants, but I prefer to prostrate upon the earth because the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, loved to put his forehead on the earth, in sujud, and I love you for being able to do that.

So, again, we can see that Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, who taught imam Abu Hanifa and also iman Malik has clearly stated in the Fiqh, and this is based upon the Sunnah and the practice of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, that it is only permissible to prostrate directly upon the earth.

We can also see that it has been narrated in the collection of Bihar Al-Anwar, that it is narrated from Umm Aiman, that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, said that the dust from the grave of Imam Husayn alayhi as-salam, is the purest of the dust from the earth, and it is the most holy and it is the dust of heaven. Now, this might sound a bit strange, that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, is talking about a future time. How was it that he knew that in the future the dust of Karbala would be made sacred and pure by the sacrifice of Imam Husayn alayhi as-salam, by the significance and the weight of what happened out there in Karbala and by the presence of Imam Husayn alayhi as-salam, there.

There is a narration from Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, which helps to clarify the inner significance, the inner meaning of prostrating upon the earth. It has been narrated in Wasa'il ash-Shi'a, that Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, has said: prostration is surrendering and humiliation before Almighty Allah. Therefore, it should not be on what is worn and eaten, because people are the slaves of what they eat and wear. And prostration is the worshipping of Allah. So one should not put his forehead during prostration on that which is worshipped by the people, such as clothes and food, and that which makes the people conceited.