Is prostration on a sponge valid?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : And if a person prays on a sponge mat; meaning, he sits and performs a complete prostration, is that acceptable?
The Shaykh : If the mat, what did you call it?
Those present : A sponge.
The Shaykh : A sponge, in a sponge—you know—hard.
The questioner : Yes, exactly, high-density compression.
The Shaykh : High-density compression, there is soft sponge. If it is of the first type such that he feels the impact, meaning he places his forehead as if he placed it on a carpet such that it does not keep sinking, that is fine. But if it is of the soft type; no; because this is as the jurists mentioned that it is not permissible to prostrate—for example—on wheat or barley; because his forehead does not settle on something solid.
The Shaykh : If the mat, what did you call it?
Those present : A sponge.
The Shaykh : A sponge, in a sponge—you know—hard.
The questioner : Yes, exactly, high-density compression.
The Shaykh : High-density compression, there is soft sponge. If it is of the first type such that he feels the impact, meaning he places his forehead as if he placed it on a carpet such that it does not keep sinking, that is fine. But if it is of the soft type; no; because this is as the jurists mentioned that it is not permissible to prostrate—for example—on wheat or barley; because his forehead does not settle on something solid.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.