Prayer is an act of worship that nourishes the soul. In the prayer, the individual stands before his Lord, and he should take measures to help him focus properly and not be distracted whilst praying. In this hadith, ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) told him that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to pray whilst she was between him and the qiblah, lying on the mat – and according to a report in Sahih al-Bukhari: on the mat on which they slept. In other words, she was sleeping in front of him, as if on a bier. Thus she described herself as if in the position of the deceased [during the funeral prayer], because there was nothing to distract the one who was praying. This hadith indicates that it is valid to pray on any pure (tahir) surface, whether it is a mat or anything else. It indicates that a woman does not interrupt or invalidate the prayer of one who is praying in her direction. It also indicates that it is valid to pray facing towards one who is sleeping..