Turbah

'beloved') according to the Twelver Shia school of Islam, a unique practice of the sect, and many ahadith mention the benefits of prostration (Arabic: سجدة, romanized: sajdah) upon soil or an alternative natural material.

[2] Following instruction from the Qur’an, the Shia Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq stated that "prostration must be performed on pure earth or what grows on it, provided that it is not eaten or worn."

[3] According to Abu Sa`id al-Khudri: “I saw Allah’s Apostle prostrating in mud and water and saw the mark of mud on his forehead.”[4] Though Muhammad prayed on the ground, the hadith Sahih al-Bukhari states that Allah’s Apostle also used to pray on Khumra (Arabic: خمرة), a kind of very small mat made of palm tree leaves, instead of carpet or cloth.

To bring this revered material to others worldwide, Shi’a Muslims have made small tablets called mohr or turbah from the earth of Karbala.

[7] Turbah (Arabic: تربة) has a primary meaning of 'dirt', 'earth' or 'soil', identified as the material Allah used to create the earth and humankind.

of turbah') used by Shi’a have inscribed invocations to their revered figures, such as 'Ya Hussein' (Arabic: يا حسين, lit.

[9] As a result, the turbah is highly stigmatized or even banned in most Muslim majority countries outside predominantly Shiite Iran and Iraq.