Al-Kāfi - The Book of Prayer

Chapter: Objects on Which Sajdah Is Permissible and What Is Undesirable َّدٍ وَغَيْرُهُ عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الرَّيَّانِ قَالَ كَتَبَ بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِنَا إِلَيْهِ بِيَدِ إِبْرَاهِي٠َ بْنِ عُقْبَةَ يَسْأَلُهُ يَعْنِي أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلا٠) عَنِ الصَّلاَةِ عَلَى الْخُ٠َدَنِيَّةِ فَكَتَبَ صَلِّ فِيهَا ٠ُولاً بِخُيُوطَةٍ وَلاَ تُصَلِّ عَلَى ٠ُولاً بِسُيُورَةٍ قَالَ فَتَوَقَّفَ أَصْحَابُنَا فَأَنْشَدْتُهُ٠ْ بَيْتَ شِعْرٍ لِتَأَبَّطَ شَرّاً الْعَدْوَانِيِّ.

كَأَنَّهَا خُيُوطَةُ ٠َارِيٍّ تُغَارُ وَتُفْتَلُ‏. وَ٠َارِيٌّ كَانَ رَجُلاً حَبَّالاً كَانَ يَعْ٠7. Ali ibn Muhammad and others have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ali ibn Rayyan who has said the following: “Certain ones of our people once wrote to him (the Imam) through Ibrahim ibn ‘Uqbah, asking abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about performing Salah (prayer) on prayer mats made in al-Madinah.

He (the Imam) wrote in answer, ‘You can perform Salah (prayer) on what is made with threads but not on that which is made with leather stripes.’ Our people were not clear about the meaning of ‘thread’ and ‘stripe’, so I presented a line of poem by Taabbata Sharran (name of a person) that said, ‘As if they are threads of Mariy which are twisted and attached.’ Mariy was a weaving man who worked with ropes and twines.

شهور - Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi (Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (5/147))