3.1.3 Purification

Prayer, according to the Holy Qur’an and Hadith, is the means for the purification of the soul, and of the body and the garments a man wears, which is declared to be necessary as a preparation for prayer. By a consensus of opinion, the 74th chapter of the Holy Qur’an is the second revelation which the Holy Prophet received after the first five verses of the 96th chapter, and the first five verses of the former may here be quoted to show the importance of outward cleanliness in the religion of Islam: “O thou who wrappest thyself up, Arise and warn, and thy Lord do magnify, and thy garments do purify, and uncleanness do shun” (74:1-5). Thus warning the people, magnifying the Lord which is done through prayer, and purifying the garments and the body, are laid down here as three fundamental duties. The two ideas, the purification of the body and of the soul, are very often mentioned together in the Holy Qur’an. To quote one more example: “Surely Allah loves those who turn much to Him, and He loves those who purify themselves” (2:222). Hadith also lays special stress on outward purification. According to one, “purification is the key to prayer” (Tr. 1:3); according to another, “religion is built on cleanliness”; and in a third hadith it is stated that “purification is one-half of faith” (IM. 1:5). The implication is clear. Inward purity is the real aim, but outward purity is a necessary preparation. A pure mind in a pure body is the watchword of Islam.

The making of outward purification as a necessary preparation for prayer is intended not only to direct attention to the real aim which is the purity of the soul but also to ensure constant purification of the body which is in itself a great necessity of life, for the man who purifies himself five times a day would undoubtedly be in a constant state of physical purity. The Holy Qur’an recommends good clothing generally: “Say, Who has prohibited the adornment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants and the good provisions?” (7:32). Here clothing is called an adornment, to show that good clothes add to beauty; and elsewhere it is stated they are meant as a covering and also as a beauty (7:26). And in the case of prayer, it is further stated: “O children of Adam! attend to your adornment at every time of prayer” (7:31). This shows that when assembling in mosques for prayer, attention must be paid to outward appearance and purity as well. One reason for this direction is that an assemblage of people in prayer, dirty in clothing or person, would undoubtedly be offensive to others. Hence it is specially laid down that, in the larger gatherings on Fridays, everyone should preferably take a bath before coming to prayer, and use scent if possible.

The first condition of bodily purification is wudzu’ which, in the terminology of Islamic law, means the washing of certain parts of the body before prayers, and may be described as partial ablution. The necessary details of wudzu’ are given in the Holy Qur’an in one of the later surahs, though in practice it is traceable to the very time when prayer was made obligatory. To this practice which the Holy Prophet undoubtedly instituted by Divine light, or inner revelation (wahy khafiyy), sanction is given in the following words: “O you who believe, when you rise up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads, and (wash) your feet up to the ankles” (5:6).

The practice of the Holy Prophet, as recorded in Hadith contains substantially the same details. Briefly these may be described as follows:

1. The hands are first washed up to the wrists.

2. The mouth is then cleaned with water, or by rinsing with a toothbrush and by gargling if necessary.

3. The nostrils are then cleaned by snuffing a little water into them and blowing the nose if necessary.

4. The face is then washed from the forehead to the chin and from one ear to the other.

5. Then the right arm and after that the left, is washed from the wrist to the elbow.

6. The head is then wiped over with wet hands, three fingers of both hands, between the little finger and the thumb, being joined together, and the inner side of the ears wiped with forefingers and its outer side with thumbs.

7. The feet are then washed up to the ankles, the right foot being washed first.

If socks or stockings are being worn, and they have been put on after performing an ablution, it is not necessary to take them off; the three fingers of the wet hand may be passed over them. The same practice may be resorted to in the case of shoes. If the socks or the shoes are then taken off, the wudzu’ remains. It is, however, necessary that the feet should be washed once in every twenty-four hours.

Wudzu’ may be performed before every prayer, but the necessity for it arises only when there has been a natural evacuation, or when a man has been fast asleep.

It will be seen that, besides the religious object which is to remind man of the necessity for inner purification, the great aim in wudzu’ is to foster habits of cleanliness. Such parts of the body as are generally exposed are washed time after time, so that dust or uncleanness of any kind may be removed and they may be clean at all times. That health and cleanliness are two of the great purposes which wudzu’ serves, in addition to its spiritual meaning, is shown by the stress which is laid on rinsing the mouth with the aid of a tooth-brush (miswak).

Clean mouth and teeth not only improve the general cleanliness of the body but also exclude a large number of diseases. The Holy Prophet thought so highly of the tooth-brush that he never neglected it under any condition; even on his death-bed he asked for a tooth-brush, and expired only a few minutes afterwards (Bu. 64:85). It was his custom to arise for the Tahajjud prayer soon after midnight, and even at that hour he used first to clean his mouth and teeth with a tooth-brush (Bu. 4:73; M. 2:13). He attached such importance to the cleansing of the mouth that he used repeatedly to say that the only thing which prevented him from declaring the use of the tooth-brush obligatory at every prayer (i.e., at least five times daily) was the fear that it might be a burden on his community (Bu. 11:8; 30:27). On another occasion he is reported to have said that the tooth-brush cleans the mouth and brings about the pleasure of God (mardzat-un li-l-Rabb) (Bu. 30:27). Similarly gargling is recommended to keep the throat clean, which is also beneficial to health.

The taking of a bath is rendered necessary in certain cases. It should be noted in this connection that it is a mistake to call the state in which a man is under an obligation to perform a wudzu’ or take a bath, a state of defilement. It is simply a first step towards going to prayer, and undoubtedly promotes habits of cleanliness and is conducive to health. The direction is contained in the Holy Qur’an itself: “And if you are under an obligation to perform a total ablution (Junub), then wash yourselves” (5:6). Bathing is also enjoined in Hadith on occasions of large gatherings, such as the Friday prayers and the ‘Id prayers, when clean clothes must also be put on and scent used if available. These directions have thus both a religious and a hygienic value. They serve as a kind of preparation for going before a higher Presence, and help to wrest the attention of man from lower objects and divert it to the higher, and they also make the atmosphere in which gatherings of men take place, purer and healthier.

That there is in wudzu’ and the bath a religious purpose besides the hygienic one is shown by the fact that when water is not available, still it is necessary to perform an act which diverts attention from bodily purification to the purity of the soul, which is the aim of prayer. The direction is thus laid down in the Holy Qur’an: “And if you are sick or on a journey or one of you comes from the privy, or you have had contact with women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves (tayammamu) to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith. Allah desires not to place a burden on you but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favour on you, so that you may give thanks” (5:6). Thus when a man is unable to find water, or when the use of water or the taking of a bath is harmful, he is enjoined to avail himself of pure earth, and this use of earth, instead of water, is stated to be a means of purification. Now, though earth may, under certain conditions, be a purifier, it is clear that the wiping of the face and the hands with it does not serve the purpose of bodily purification; yet it is plainly called a means of purification, and therefore it is the purification of the soul which is intended here. By the order of tayammum, attention is thus drawn to the inner purpose underlying wudzu’ and the bath. As stated in the Holy Qur’an, and amplified in Hadith, tayammum consists in striking both hands on pure earth or anything containing pure dust, then blowing off the excess of dust from the hands, and passing the hands over the face and the backs of the two hands, the left over the right and the right over the left (Bu. 7:4, 5).