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The Holy Prophet (peace be on him) said,
"WUDHU is the key to prayer as prayer is the key
to Paradise. ISLAM lays extreme stress on cleanliness and "TAHARAT".
As external actions have deep
impact upon internal feelings, such as artificial crying makes a person sad as well as artificial laughter makes one happy
so is cleanliness and ablution.
Purified body lends to purity of mind, however, cleanliness which is ablution, or wudhu,
has been made compulsory before each prayer and in certain cases even a full bath has been made obligatory before prayer.
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| PHILOSOPHY OF WUDHU |
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A Muslim is required to perform ablution (Wudhu) before Salat. Ablution prepares one
mentally for Salat and it also helps concentration in prayer. It is essential to wash or moisturize these parts of the body
to generate concentration because the dispersion of thoughts is due to the keenness of the body's five senses. The centers
of the five senses are the eyes, ears, nose mouth, hands and feet. It has been proven from the expertise of neurologists that
the chain of thought can be rerouted by cooling fingers of the hands and feet. They also say that concentration of thoughts
can be achieved by cooling the nerv-ends. That is the Philosophy of Wudhu. A Mulim stands before his Creator by cooling nerve-ends
of his body with Wudhu water and concentrating all his thoughts for the worship of the All-Mighty.
In Wudhu, we wash
or moisturize the nerve-ends of the hands, feet, hair, mouth, nose and ears. All the main nerve-ends of the body are touched
in Wudhu in one way or another. Perfect concentration of thoughts to create the proper worshipping atmosphere is thus attained.
As
we learn from everyday experience that a person who has fainted can be brought back to his consc iousness by sprinkling water
on his face, hands and feet which clearly proves our theory. That is why a Muslim is expected to achieve his external as well
as internal consciousness by performing Wudhu.
Cleanliness and dirt are not compatible. Allah is clean and whosoever
loves Him must be clean, externally as well as internally. Prayer, which is contact with Allah, is therefore unacceptable
unless the person, who wants to contact his Lord, is clean. The Holy Prophet (peace be on him) said,
"The prayer of
a person who does "HADATH" (passes urine, stool or wind) is not accepted till he performs or repeats Wudhu, the ablution."
Because
the Muslim Ummah is expected to be the cleanest by performing ablution at least five times a day, the Holy Prophet (peace
be on him) therefore, gave glad tidings that "On the day of Resurrection, my followers will be called "Ghurrul Muhajjaleen"
the bright armed and bright faced, from the traces of ablution on them. Therefore, whosoever can increase the area of his
radiance should try to do so by always performing ablution before the prayers. (Bukhari, Kitabul Wudhu). |
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| PERFORMANCE OF WUDHU |
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Washing the hands three times up to the wrist; the right hand first and then the
left and wash them in such a way that no spot is left dry; |
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Rinsing and gargling the mouth three times; |
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Washing the nose into three times; |
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Washing the face beginning from the forehead to the bottom of the chin, three times; |
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Washing the forearms including the elbows three times; |
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Wiping wet hands over the head from front down to the neck, then running the thumbs around the
ears and wiping the inside; |
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Wiping the neck with the back of wet hands; |
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Washing the feet including the ankles three times. The right foot first and then the left unless
socks are worn. |
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| In case if the socks are put on after an ABLUTION (WUDHU) is made, then during the next 24 hours,
it is enough to pass wet fingers over them in making an ABLUTION instead of having to wash the feet each time, provided these
have not been taken off during this period of time. If someone on journey, the traveler can make MASSAH i.e. passing wet fingers
over socks up to three days. |
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