Muhammad.com collection in 109 languages

through the parable of two artisans. This kind of (metaphor) belongs to the principle of expressing
a
certain meaning through a picture which contains the same meaning or a similar meaning.

Belonging to the same kind are the words of the Prophet when he said, "Verily the mosque will shrink
when people spit in its courtyard just as the piece of skin shrinks when it is placed over the
fire." You
can readily understand that the courtyard of the mosque does not actually shrink when people spit
in it.
What the words of the Prophet really mean is that the atmosphere of the mosque, being honored and
exalted, has been dishonored and belittled by spitting, which is as opposed to the idea of the
mosque as
fire is to the integrity of the particles of skin.

Belonging to the same kind are the words of the Prophet when he said, "Is he who raises his head
from
prostration before the prayer leader not afraid that Allah will transform his head into that of a
donkey?"
This, however, will never take place literally but only metaphorically since the head of the donkey