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Fatwa CenterPraying on a rug with a picture of Masjid Al-Haraam
Question
I asked you several questions and received answers from you. Now I have another question about praying Rukoo' (Sajadah). On of our Muslim brothers read an Islaamic book recently and learnt it is prohibited to pray on a Sajadah which pattern on it is like Masjid Al-Haraam. After reading that brother suspicious of that and let me ask you about that.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
A praying person should not perform the prayer on a prayer mat on which there is a picture of Al-Haram mosque or any other picture for many reasons.
Firstly, praying on a mat on which there is a picture could distract the praying person and prevent him from submissiveness and humbleness in his prayer because of the pictures and colours. Al-Bukhari and Muslim 
reported that the Prophet prayed while being dressed in a garment which had decorations, and he looked at the decorations once. When he finished the prayer, he said: "Take this garment away from me and give it to Abu Jahm; it distracted me during my prayer."
Imaam An-Nawawi 
said: "This is an evidence urging the Muslim to have his heart attentive, and removing what could distract it (from concentrating during the prayer)."
There is no doubt that praying on a mat that has pictures distracts the heart more than praying in a garment that has decorations, because the prayer mat is the place where the eyes are focused during the prayer.
Secondly, using a prayer mat without any reason was not the practice of our righteous predecessors of Muhaajireen and Ansaar, and those who followed them exactly in faith 
all; rather they used to pray in the mosque on the ground.
It is reported that when Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Al-Mahdi came to Al-Madeenah, he brought a prayer mat to pray on; Imaam Maalik ordered him to be taken to prison, so people told him: "This is Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Al-Mahdi' ". Then Imaam Maalik told him: "Did you not know that putting a prayer mat in our mosque is an innovation?"
Allaah Knows best.
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