Muslim prayer rug

Description:	Can you guess how this rug is used? Its not for home decoration, but for prayer. Rugs, such as this, are an important part of a religion called Islam. Islam is one of the worlds major religions. Muslims, followers of Islam, are found in over 120 countries around the world. Muslims refer to their God as Allah. They believe that a man named Mohammed was a prophet who received the words of Allah and passed them to believers. Allah gave Mohammed rules by which to live life, along with instructions of worship and prayer. For Muslims, prayer (salah) is a very important part of everyday life. Prayers are offered to Allah five times throughout the day. Rugs like this one are used by Muslims to kneel as they recite their prayers. Before prayer, the rug is placed facing east toward Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, located in Saudi Arabia. After prayer, a person rolls up his rug and carries it with him. This rug depicts a mosque, or Muslim place of worship.
Source:	http://www.digitalindy.org/cdm/ref/collection/tcm/id/1072
Collection:	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Rights:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/;
Copyright:	Creative Commons (CC By-SA 3.0);
Subjects:	Islam Islam -- Customs and practices Rugs, Prayer

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