There is a passage I came across several years ago in the autobiography of Malcolm X, in the chapter where he discussed some of his experiences when he came to Makkah to perform Hajj. The passage highlighted certain roles and functions a prayer rug could have. Although prayer rugs possess no religious significance in and of themselves, I thought there were some interesting parallels between the potential functions of a prayer mat and the functions of a masjid… two things primarily viewed and thought of as a places of prayer. The following is what he said:
I began to see what an important role the rug played in the overall cultural life of the Muslims. Each individual had a small prayer rug, and each man and wife, or large group, had a larger communal rug. These Muslims prayed on their rugs there in the compartment. Then they spread a tablecloth over the rug and ate, so the rug became the dining room. Removing the dishes and cloth, they sat on the rug-a living room. Then they curl up and sleep on the rug-a bedroom. In that compartment, before I was to leave it, it dawned on me for the first time why the fence had paid such a high price for Oriental rugs when I had been a burglar in Boston. It was because so much intricate care was taken to weave fine rugs in countries where rugs were so culturally versatile. Later, in Mecca, I would see yet another use of the rug. When any kind of dispute arose, someone who was respected highly and who was not involved would sit on a rug with the disputers around him, which made the rug a courtroom. In other instances it was a classroom.
