Image map '<map>' for main navigation of website?

Is it bad practice to use the image map function for the main navigation of a website? If yes, why and what should I use instead? I'm not looking for the best case but I need to know if my site's navigation will show correctly in most browsers and even some smart phones/mobile technologies. I'm an old school web designer and don't have much more knowledge than your basic html, css, and java-script so take it easy on me ;).