Buying a Prayer Mat Made of Wool

The touch-sensitive prayer mat has pre-programmed sounds, like prayer times, which are touch sensitive and will play the appropriate sound, like prayer words, when you wade past it. It will also teach children about the five Islamic prayers, the different hours of prayer, and the different positions to perform them. And because it is an interactive prayer mat, the kids can choose to sit, stand, or walk while they are sitting. This is part of a series of teaching resources designed for kids.

As a parent, I was very excited to get this gift from my son's second grade teacher. She had told me that the Turkish prayer mat for children would help us teach my son and his classmates the salad at home. She had seen them in action at a school in upstate New York, and knew that they were made with the same high-tech touch-sensitiveness that we use in our own homes. These prayer rugs are indeed made with the latest technology, but I did wonder if they would hold up against the rigors of a regular Turkish prayer rug, especially for kids.

To answer my own question, we checked out some reviews online of these prayer rugs, both online and in traditional Urdu newspapers. We found that many of the prayer rugs were built with high-quality wool and jute yarns that come from Pakistan, but that many others were made of cheaper materials. Many of the cheaper prayer rugs were described as having been made using flax fibers, which we know to be less durable than silk, jute, or wool. We were also aware that wearers of Turkish carpets tend to have lower prices than wearers of more expensive carpets.

The problem with cheaper prayer rugs wasn't the price, but the fact that they were built cheaply. If you're going to spend time kneeling on a carpet that has all of its knots and wrinkles, the prayer mat you use will suffer at the same time. Cheap prayer rugs will start to fall apart in no time, even if you aren't the biggest devout Muslim in your family. It's a shame that our children's teachers don't see the value of teaching students how to make their own carpets. They could learn a thing or two here while learning how to pray from someone who grew up devoutly.

Our local supermarket had several sets of Turkish prayer mats available. The first set was cheap, but it was also made out of cheap materials. The texture was rough, and it held in place quite poorly. The bottom of my shoe was big enough for someone to walk on it, so it wasn't comfortable to use for a long time. It also didn't help that the pattern on the prayer rugs was extremely disorganized, making it very hard to figure out what the color of a prayer mat should be.

I decided to give my next purchase a miss, because the next set I found was much better. They had an obvious high quality, compared to the cheap rugs; they were made out of fine, thick jute, which are much sturdier and won't crease like the cheap ones did. The rugs also were woven in top knots, rather than in bottom knots like most prayer mats. The texture was also much finer, so the prayer mats felt much more like the real thing.

Because of my new experience with the prayer mats, I now prefer to use bible prayer mats instead of regular prayer mats. It's a subtle difference, but it makes a huge difference. The bible prayer mat makes a strong, lasting impression on the worshiper, because it looks and feels like the real thing. It holds the prayerful wearer in place, rather than just resting on the ground like some cheap prayer mats do.

Now that I have real praying mats made with quality materials that last, rather than cheap materials that easily lose their shape, I can't wait to get more used to wearing it. I'm definitely going to buy one more, just to have one last. The plain black hurrah with golden flowery palm fronds looks beautiful in my living room. My guests rave about it when they visit. Wearing my prayer mat made of qibla will make me feel at home wherever I go.