(1) We have derived this point from the well-known and widely transmitted fact that the Prophet’s mosque was not covered with carpets or woven mats, as is shown by numerous hadiths: 1. Abdullah b. Umar said: “In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dogs would come into the mosque, urinate in it, approach and leave, and the people would not sprinkle anything on the spot.” Reported by al-Bukhari, 1/223; Abu Dawud, 1/63; and al-Bayhaqi, 2/429, through the chain Yunus → Ibn Shihab → Hamzah b. Abdullah → his father. Salih b. Abi al-Akhdar narrated it differently, saying: from al-Zuhri → Salim b. Abdullah → his father; reported by Ahmad, 2/70-71. Salih is weak. 2. Abu Hurayrah narrated that a Bedouin entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting there. After praying two rakas he said, “O Allah, have mercy on me and on Muhammad, and do not have mercy on anyone else with us.” The Prophet replied, “You have constrained something that is vast.” Shortly thereafter the man urinated in a corner of the mosque. The people hurried toward him, but the Prophet stopped them and said, “You have been sent as facilitators, not as hardeners. Pour a bucket of water—or, he said, a large pail of water—over it.”