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QUESTION:
First of all, I'd like to say I'm a SUNNI Muslim.
I
don't understand why Shi'a have to pray on the turba from Karbala? I read the
article on www.al-islam.org, and it made me further disagree with the Shi'a
thought.
1.
It says it is used because of it's cleaniless. However, if Muslims, as myself,
pray on a prayer mat (which is used for nothing but prayer), why would a rock be
necessary? A prayer mat is very clean.
2.
It says how some lands are important than others. The only lands important to me
are Mecca and Medina. How can Shi'a say Karbala as an important land? It is not
mentioned in the Qur'an (as far as I know).
Also...the
issues of the Imams. I seriously doubt anyone after Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had
ANY contact with Allah. To me the 12 imams are righteous Muslims...nothing more
than that. Only Allah's Prophets are important. And a 12th Imam hiding in a cave
in Samarra? Please...I don't understand Shi'a. Correct me, if I have been
mistaken.
ANSWER:
To
pray on Turbah is Sunna of our Prophet (saw). If you refer to Sunan of al
Tirmidhi, you will see a Hadith reported from Ummu Salamah: "O Aflah, put
your face on Turbah (i.e. while in Sajda)". This has been reported by al
Nasai, Abu Dawood and Hakim also.
Ahmed
Hambal has added:"Put your face on Turbah, for the sake of
Allah".
In
Sahih al Bukhari (vol I, p104) it is reported from Abu Saeed who said:"I
saw the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, do Sajdah on mud and I saw the
mark of dust on his forehead".
So,
the Shia pray on Turbah, primarily because it is the practice of our Prophet and
his Companions.
Al
Tabrani has reported that Abdullah ibn Masood refused to pray or prostrate on
anything but the earth,
Secondly,
because that is the sign of humility before Almighty Allah. According to Shia
Fiqh, Sajdah should be performed on earth and on those things which are not
edible or worn and on things which grow from the 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, cotton etc) nor on things which are not considered
to be parts of soil e.g. gold, silver).
>From
the above, you will find that the objective is to use Turbah - earth, dust etc
regardless of where it comes from. The preference to Kerbala over other soil is
a matter of sentiment, which is essentially attached to the holy places,
including Makka and Madina.
As
far as Imams are concerned, they do not receive revelations (Wahy) like the
prophets. According to the Holy Qur'an and the authentic Ahadith, Imama is a
heavenly assignment, given by Allah through His Apostle. The 12th Imam is not
hidden anywhere. He is in concealment by the order of Allah and will reappear to
establish the rule of justice and equality. This has been reported by several
Sunni Ulama of repute.
A
dispassionate study of Imama will help you realise that there could not have
been anyone else but the inmates of the Prophet's household who were best suited
for leadership of the Ummah after the Prophet.
With
Salaams Asgharali M M Jaffer
According
to the Shi'ah Ja'fari fiqh - which is
one of the five main schools of law in Islam - prostration must be performed on
pure earth or what grows on it, provided that it is not eaten or worn. This
includes dust, stone, sand and grass, provided that it is not a mineral.
Prostration on paper is permitted, because it is made of a material which grows
on earth, but not cloth or carpets.
The
legal scholars of all the Sunni schools of law concur regarding the validity of
prostration on earth and that which grows on it.
Did
the Prophet (s) and his Companions ever do this?
Praying
on the earth was certainly the practice of the Prophet (s) and those around him.
q
Narrated Abu Sa'id al-Khudri:
I saw Allah's Apostle prostrating in mud and water and saw the mark of mud on
his forehead.
[Al-Bukhari,
Sahih
(English translation), vol. 1, book 12, no. 798; vol. 3, book 33, no. 244]
q
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
We used to pray with the Prophet in scorching heat, and if someone of us could
not put his face on the earth (because of the heat) then he would spread his
clothes and prostrate over them.
[Al-Bukhari,
Sahih
(English translation), vol. 2, book 22, no. 299]
According
to this hadith only in exceptional
circumstances would the Prophet (s) and his Companions prostrate on cloth.
The
Prophet (s) also used to have a Khumra
on which he would put his forehead for prostration.
q
Narrated Maymuna: Allah's
Apostle used to pray on a Khumra.
[Al-Bukhari,
Sahih
(English translation), vol. 1, book 8, no. 378]
q
According to al-Shawkani,
a famous Sunni scholar, more than ten Companions of the Prophet (s) have
narrated traditions mentioning his prostration on a Khumrah. And he lists all the Sunni sources recording these traditions
which include Sahih Muslim, Sahih
al-Tirmidhi, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan
al-Nasa'i and many others.
[Al-Shawkani,
Nayl al-Awtar
, Chapter of Prostration on the Khumrah, vol. 2, p. 128]
So
what is a khumrah ?
q
a small mat sufficient
just for the face and the hands while prostrating during prayers.
[Al-Bukhari,
Sahih
(English translation), vol. 1, book 8, no. 376 (as explained by the translator
in paranthesis)]
Ibn
al-'Athir, another famous Sunni scholar, in his Jami
al-'Usul has written:
q
"Khumra
is [like that] upon which the Shi'ah of our time perform their
prostrations."
[Ibn
al-'Athir, Jami'
al-Usul, (Cairo, 1969), vol. 5, p. 467]
q
"Khumra
is a small mat made from palm fibres or other material…. and it is like that
which the Shi'ah use for prostration."
[Talkhis
al-Sihah, p. 81]
But
why the earth of Karbala?
The
special characteristics of the soil of Karbala (Iraq) were known and it was an
object of special attention during the time of the Prophet (s) as well as in
later times:
q
Umm Salama says: I saw
Husayn (a) sitting in the lap of his grandfather, the Prophet (s), who had a red
block of soil in his hand. The Prophet (s) was kissing the dust and weeping. I
asked him what that soil was. The Prophet (s) said: "Gabriel has informed
me that my son, this Husayn, will be murdered in Iraq. He has brought this earth
for me from that land. I am weeping for the suffering that will befall my Husayn."
Then the Prophet (s) handed the dust to Umm Salama and said to her: "When
you see this soil turn into blood, you will know that my Husayn has been
slaughtered." Umm Salama kept the soil in a bottle and kept watch over it
until she saw on the day of Ashura, 10th of Muharram 61 A.H., that it
turned to blood. Then she knew that Husayn bin Ali (a) had been martyred.
[al-Hakim,
al-Mustadrak,
vol. 4, p. 398]
[al-Dhahabi,
Siyar
a`lam al-nubala', vol. 3, p. 194]
[Ibn
Kathir, al-Bidayah
wa'l-nihayah, vol. 6, p. 230]
[al-Suyuti,
Khasa'is
al-kubra, vol. 2, p. 450; Jam`
al-Jawami, vol. 1, p. 26]
[Ibn
Hajar al-Asqalani, Tahdhib
al-tahdhib , vol. 2, p. 346]
q
'Ali ibn Abi Talib,
passed by Karbala after the battle of Siffin. He took a handful of its soil and
exclaimed: 'Ah, ah, on this spot some men will be slain, and will enter Paradise
without reckoning!'
[Ibn
Hajar al-Asqalani, Tahdhib
al-tahdhib
, vol. 2, p. 348]
Why
is it compulsory to prostrate on the clay from Karbala?
It
is not !
But the Shi'ah prefer to prostrate on
the earth of Karbala because of the importance given to it by the Prophet (s)
and the Imams from his Family (Ahl al-Bayt).
After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a), his son Imam Zayn al-'Abidin (a) picked
some up, declared it to be sacred dust, and kept it in a bag. The Imams (a) used
to perform prostrations on it and make a tasbih
out of it, and recited Allah's praises on it.
[Ibn
Shahrashub, al-Manaqib,
vol. 2, p. 251]
They
also encouraged the Shi'ah to perform prostrations on them, with the
understanding that it was not compulsory, but with a view to achieving greater
recompense. The Imams (a) insisted that prostration before Allah must be on
clean earth only and that it was preferable if it was performed on that earth of
Karbala.
[al-Tusi,
Misbah
al-Mutahajjad, p. 511]
[al-Saduq,
Man la
yahduruhu'l faqih, vol. 1,
p. 174]
The
Shi'ah for a long time have kept this earth with them. Then, fearing that it
might be desecrated, they kneaded it into small tablets or pieces, which are now
called mohr or Turbah.
During prayers we prostrate on it not as a compulsory act but in view of its
special nature. Otherwise, when we have no pure soil with us, we prostrate on
clean earth, or something that originates from it.
It
is a pity that some people maliciously insist that the Shi'ah worship stones or
that they worship Husayn (a). The truth is that we worship Allah alone by
prostrating on the Turbah,
not to it.
And we never worship Imam Husayn, Imam Ali, or the Prophet Muhammad (s).
We worship only Allah, and it is in accordance with Allah's order that we
perform prostration only on pure earth.
Conclusion:
This
is the reason why Shi'ah Muslims carry small tablets, usually made from the
earth of Karbala, which enables them to do prostration on this highly
recommended object and to follow the sunnah
of the Prophet (s).
To
find out more about authentic Islam, visit:
http://al-islam.org/faq/
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