Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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How It Is Woven, and What Happens to One That Wears Out

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How It Is Woven, and What Happens to One That Wears Out

A prayer rug is woven, not printed, in most of the traditions that produce them for actual use rather than for tourists, hand knotted wool or silk in regions with a long carpet weaving trade, machine woven cotton or synthetic fiber for the inexpensive mats sold in bulk for mosque use.

Regional weaving traditions

Turkish, Persian, Caucasian and Central Asian workshops each developed distinct patterns for the same basic design, a niche shape, the mihrab, woven into one end so the rug is laid with the point facing the direction of prayer. Fine hand knotted examples can take months on a loom and are valued as carpets in their own right independent of religious use, while the mats stacked in a mosque's entryway are mass produced and replaced often.

Who uses it, and what happens when it wears out

Any Muslim may own and use a prayer rug, with no restriction on maker or buyer, and a rug is generally kept clean and reserved for prayer rather than walked on as ordinary flooring, though this is custom rather than law. A prayer rug carries no text requiring burial the way a worn Quran does, so a torn or threadbare one is not subject to special disposal, many households still avoid throwing one directly in the rubbish out of habit and give it away, repurpose the fabric, or discard it more discreetly than an ordinary carpet.

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