The five times of prayer a day in Islam are meant to be a direct channel of communication between a person and God. As such, Muslims have ritual washing (wudu) before prayer, among which is cleaning the feet, and also standing on a clean carpet before praying to God. Prayer carpets have a nice velvety soft feeling under your feet, and are often made of bright colors. This picture is taken from a store just outside of Khan al Khalili. Note, prayer carpets are not essential for praying, here in Egypt you will often see people praying in the grass for example, over "nature's carpet" (especially the case for the Eid prayer), though carpets are added over the grass too when available.
