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Is it permissible to pray on a prayer rug that has the image of a bird on it, and another that has the image of the Holy Kaaba on it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is forbidden to photograph animate beings. The worshiper should seek a place free of images, for angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image. The Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi'i jurists disliked praying on a rug that contains an image, and they agreed on its reprehensibility if the image is in the direction of the Qibla. As for what is drawn with an image of the Kaaba, there is no harm in praying on it, unless its colors and decorations are excessive, in which case it is disliked, due to its distraction of thought and removal of humility.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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