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Reading Islam
» Ask About Islam
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Last Update: 03:41 GMT, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009
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| Question and
Answer Details |
| Name of Questioner |
Jane
- United States
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| Title |
Ablution, Prayer, and Beyond |
| Date |
09/Nov/2004 |
| Question |
Why do Muslims use water to clean their body before each prayer?
I can understand that you pray 5 times a day, but why wash your face and hands and head and feet 5 times a day too!! Especially, in modern environment where it is clean with no dust and air conditioning around us in houses, businesses, and even malls, cars and busses.
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| Topic |
Aspects of Worship
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| Name of Counselor |
Francesca De Chatel
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| Answer
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Thank you for your question.
Allow me to start by stating that the Qur’an ascribes the most elevated qualities to water, as a life-giving, sustaining and purifying resource. It is the origin of all life on earth, the substance from which God created man as the Qur’an says what means: *{And He it is Who has created man from the water, then He has made for him blood relationship and marriage relationship, and your Lord is Powerful.}* (Al-Furqan 25:54)
The Qur’an emphasizes its centrality:*{We made from water every living thing.}* (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:30)
According to the Qur’an, water is the primary element that existed even before the heavens and the earth did. Allah says what means:*{And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon the waters.}* (Hud 11:7)
The water of rain, rivers and fountains runs through the pages of the Qur’an to symbolise God’s benevolence:*{He sends down saving rain, for them, when they have lost all hope and spreads abroad His mercy.}* (Al-Furqan 25:48)
At the same time, the believers are constantly reminded that it is God Who gives sweet water to the people, and that he can just as easily withhold it:*{Consider the water, which you drink. Was it you that brought it down from the rain cloud or We? If We had pleased, We could make it bitter.}* (Al-Waqi`ah 56:68 – 70)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) tells his companions in a hadith that cleanliness is part of faith. These well-known and oft-repeated words reveal, not only the central importance of purity and cleanliness, but also the essential role water plays in Islamic religion. Purification through wudu’ (ablution) is an obligatory component of the Islamic prayer ritual; prayers carried out in impure state are not valid. This means Muslims are obliged to maintain their ablution for the five daily prayers. In addition, a more thorough ritual is required on specific occasions.
The Qur’an tells believers that Allah:*{… loves those who cleanse themselves.}* (At-Tawbah 9:108)
It also instructs them:*{O you who believe, when you rise to pray, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbow, wipe your heads, and your feet to the ankle. If you are polluted, cleanse yourselves… God does not wish to burden you, but desires to purify you.}* (Al-Mai'dah 5:6)
God will reward those who purify themselves, as the 11th century theologian Al-Ghazali concludes from the following hadith: “The believers will come on Resurrection Day with brightness on their foreheads, wrists and ankles from the effect of ablution.”
Entire chapters of Hadith books are dedicated to ablution, detailing when and how it should be performed, and explaining in which order the various parts of the body should be washed, how the feet are to be cleaned, how the head should be rubbed – even how often the nostrils should be cleared. They also specify that the water used for ablutions should be pure, mutlaq, which means it should not be mixed with any other liquid. Water from rain, wells, flowing water from taps, rivers and streams, and still water from lakes, ponds, seas and oceans, are all considered to be pure and suitable for ritual ablution.
Even in a modern context, a Muslim should abide by the revealed text and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad and perform his ablution for each prayer. Many aspects of the relation between the body and water, and many natural healing methods now use water to heal, both the body and the soul.
Wudu', the ritual purification carried out before prayer, consists of washing the hands, the face, the forearms, the head and the feet. The hadiths explain that by performing wudu', the believer washes away minor sins, and that each drop of water that falls in the hand makes the devil flee... Don’t we need that in modern times?
Thus, when a believer washes his face during wudu', the hadiths say that every sin the person has contemplated with his eyes is washed away from his face with the last drop of water; when he/she washes his/her hands, every sin they wrought is effaced; and when he/she washes his/her feet, every sin toward which his/her feet have walked is washed away, until he/she comes out pure of all sins.
Hence, wudu' is part of the act of worship, not separated from it, and is one of the rituals that are mandatory for prayers. As such, these rituals include a spiritual component, which means that even if one is physically clean, but has not carried out the purification in ritual fashion, his/her prayer is not correct.
On the other hand, we also have to remember that such rituals were a motive for the Muslim interior designer to build maydah (ablution water cycle). Such maydahs, in many cases, were decorated and covered with mosaic and became a part of the architecture of houses and mosques, leaving us fascinated by the myriad of artistic touches Muslims added to the functional use of such fountains of submission!
While the body is purified with water, the mind must be completely focused on God. Carrying out wudu', simply is a transitional moment for refreshment and spiritual preparation to enter the prayer time with concentration. Here, the bodily ritual is an introduction for the faith-full worship.
The physical and spiritual components of the purification ritual, also reflect the Islamic principle of tawheed (oneness): body and mind should be united in the performance of religious duties. Islam means "surrendering to God" and Muslims are "those who have surrendered to God". They should do so with body and soul.
An inscription, in the baths of Granada’s old Moorish Quarter, expresses this link between physical and spiritual purity. It says that the body is the mirror of the soul. It is a whole paradigm that actually helps the Muslim cope with the one-dimensionality of modern life... and its anti-human rhythm. So, Muslims need these moments of ablution and prayer in this atmosphere more than ever, I believe.
I hope this explains the logic of the ritual and partially the logic of the faith as well.
Thank you for allowing me to contribute to that topic and I hope that this answer is as clear as, a drop of clear water!
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