Then, the narrator adds: “If prostration on the garment worn by someone were permissible, it would be easier than keeping a gravel (in one’s hand).
Ibn Sa‘d (d. 209 AH), in his book, Aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, thus writes:
“.السّفينة في عليها يسجد بلبنة يخرج خرج إذا مسروقُ كان”
“Whenever Masrūq (ibn Ajda‘) traveled, he used to keep a mud-brick with him on which to prostrate while onboard the ship.”[1]
It is necessary to note that Masrūq ibn Ajda‘ was one of the Followers and a companion of Ibn Mas‘ūd, and the author of Aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā considers him among those in the first class of the Kūfans after the Prophet (ṣ) and among those who narrated from Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, Uthmān, ‘Alī, and ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd.
This explicit statement establishes the groundlessness of the claim that bringing along a piece of turbah [dried clay] is an act of polytheism and innovation in religion [bid‘ah] and makes clear that the forerunners in the history of Islam used to prostrate like that also.[2]
Nāfī‘ says:
“.بالأرض جبهته يضع حتّى يرفعها العمامة عليه و سجد إذا كان عمر ابن إنّ”
“Whenever (‘Abd Allāh) ibn ‘Umar prostrated, he removed his turban so as to place his forehead on the ground.”[3]
Rizīn says:
ابعث أن عنه الله رضي عبّاس بن عبدالله بن عليّ إليّ كتب”
“.عليه أسجد المروة أحجار من بلوحٍ إلىَّ
“‘Alī ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to me: ‘Send me a tablet of the stones of Mount Marwah so that I may prostrate on it.”[4]
5. Also, ḥadīth scholars narrate that the Holy Prophet (ṣ) has prohibited people from placing part of their turbans between their forehead and the ground while prostrating.
Ṣāliḥ as-Saba’ī says:
قد و بجنبه يسجد رجلاً رأى – وسلّم [وآله] عليه الله صلىٰ – الله رسول إنّ”
“.جبهته عن – وسلّم [وآله] عليه الله صلىٰ – الله رسول فحسر جبهته علىٰ اعتمّ
Once the Messenger of Allah (ṣ) saw a person prostrating beside him, with his turban covering his forehead. The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) removed the turban from the person’s forehead.[5]
‘Ayyāḍ ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Qarashī says:
رجلاً – وسلّم [وآله] عليه الله صلى – الله رسول رأى”
“.جبهته إلى أومأ و عمامتك إرفع بيده: فأومأ عمامته كور على يسجد
[1] Aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā (Beirut), vol. 6, p. 79, the biography of Masrūq ibn Ajda‘.
[2] For further information, refer to the book, Sīratunā, written by ‘Allamah Amīnī.
[3] Sunan al-Bayhaqī (Hyderabad), vol. 2, “Kitāb aṣ-Ṣalāh,” “Bāb al-Kashf ‘an as-Sajadah fī’s-Sujūd,” p. 105.
[4] Azraqī, Akhbār Makkah, vol. 3, p. 151.
[5] Sunan al-Bayhaqī, vol. 2, p. 105.
