al-Qāsim to the same effect; yet the sound opinion is the one I have already set out for you.

If a worshiper spreads a mat or a thick, clean cloth over an impure spot and then prays on it, his prayer is valid. Mālik, however, considers it disliked to pray in churches and synagogues except when necessity leaves no alternative, because such places are deemed impure. Any spot that is pure is permissible for prayer, in light of the Prophet’s saying, “The earth has been made for me a place of prayer and a means of purification; so wherever the time of prayer overtakes you, pray.”

It is likewise disliked to pray in camel enclosures, whether they are covered or not, yet one who does so is not required to repeat the prayer. The distinction between these enclosures and the pens of cattle and sheep is self-evident and needs no further discussion.

Mālik and others recommend praying directly on the ground or on whatever grows from it—such as papyrus reeds, rushes, and the like—because that is more conducive to humility. Prayer in an old graveyard is disliked, but not in a new one, for fear that the former may contain exposed human bones or matter mixed with them, whereas the latter is generally secure from that concern.

The Prophet’s statement, “The earth has been made for me a place of prostration and its soil a means of purification,” proves that any pure location may be used both for prayer and for dry ablution (tayammum). And Allah alone grants success.