"O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful."
[Surah Al-Maidah 5:6]
To some extent, this verse is similar to the Ayah 43 of surah Aal-e-Imran which we have previously discussed.
The command of ablution - wudhu - is clarified here. Allah commands the Believers to perform ablution before standing to pray. The term 'standing to pray' means when a person intends to pray. This reflects on intentions hence one must make a clear and pure intention before praying.
Ablution is an act of purifying ourselves and it's importance is explained with the following hadith;
"No salat (prayer) is accepted without wudhu (ablution)."
(Sahih Muslim 224a)
Another hadith related by several companions of Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) states;
"There is no Wudu' for he who does not mention Allah's Name over it."
Hence before every prayer, the essential and vital command of ablution is to be fulfilled along with the intention for ablution.
Other than washing face, forearms upto the elbow, head and feet till ankles which are fardh (obligatory), washing hands, neck and ears is also a part of sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam).
Abu Huraira (R.A) reported: The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) said, "Verily, my nation will be called on the Day of Resurrection as brightly radiant from the traces of ablution. Whoever among you is able to extend his radiance, let him do so."
(Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 136, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 246)
Ablution holds great importance in Islam as it is a necessary act and is in itself a form of worship. Cleanliness is the half of faith so by maintaining purity through wudhu, half of our faith is renewed.
A person can keep the same ablution for several prayers however it is recommended by Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) to renew ablution before every prayer i.e five times a day.
Moving forward, the state of Janabah, as discussed before is the state of impurity after having sexual intercourse. Allah commands for a ghusl (shower) for the person in janabah before he rises to perform prayer. Full body ghusl is is obligatory in this case.
Since in the times of our beloved Messenger Mustafa (salAllahu alayhi wasallam), the issue regarding scarcity of water was common hence Allah arranged for a replacement which is sand. For ill people or those in a journey or those who have perform ritual impurity or those who have touched their women (with desire) and then they don't find water to perform ablution then they can avert to tayammum which is the ablution through clean earth or sand.
The method is to simply wipe the face and hands with the sand after properly dusting the sand off the hands. Indeed, Allah looks at the purity of intentions and not just the surface of the deed. It is the intention that matters.
With this blessing, Allah made it easier for the Believers troubled by scarcity of water and bestowed His favour upon them. Allah ta'ala always eases our tasks and covers us in His rehmat so that we might be grateful for His favour. Hence the element of gratefulness must radiate from our actions and intentions. The more grateful we are, the more Allah provides us with.
Things we learnt:
> Ablution as the necessary form of worship and purity before prayer.
> Being in state of Janabah requires full body ghusl.
> In case of water scarcity when a peraon requires to do wudhu, he must avert to tayammum and seek clean earth to perform tayammum witb pure intentions.
> Allah is All-Knowing, All-Seeing and the Benefactor and the Helper. To Him is our return hence we must seek to be grateful in terms of our actions and deeds. We must never forget His favours upon us and constantly remember Him.
May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.
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O You Who Believe
SpiritualIn the name of Allah, The Most Beneficient, The Most Merciful. Here, we will discuss the number of times Allah has directly referred to the Believers in the Qur'an and the orders He has directly betided upon us.
