Ablution
means to wash one’s face, hands, arms, head and feet with water.
A:
Part of Islamic law This is proven from the three major sources of Islamic law:
1
The Qur’an. Says Allah in the Qur’an, “O you who believe, when you rise for
prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows and lightly rub your
heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles (alMai’dah 6).
2
The Sunnah. Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “Allah does
not accept the prayer of one who nullified his ablution until he performs it
again.” (Related by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and at-Tirmizhi.)
3
The Consensus. There is a consensus of scholarly opinion that ablution is part
of Islamic law. Therefore, it is a recognized fact of the religion.
B:
Its virtues
Many
hadith state the virtues of ablution. We shall mention just a few:
1
‘Abdullah ibn as-Sunnabiji stated that the Messenger of Allah said, “When a
slave makes ablution and rinses his mouth, his wrong deeds fall from it. As he
rinses his nose, his wrong deeds fall from it. When he washes his face, his
wrong deeds fall from it until they fall from beneath his eyelashes. When he
washes his hands, his wrong deeds fall from them until they fall from beneath
his fingernails. When he wipes his head, his wrong deeds fall from it until
they fall from his ears. When he washes his feet, his wrong deeds fall from
them until they fall from beneath his toenails. Then his walking to the mosque
and his prayer give him extra reward.” (Related by Malik, an-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah
and al-Hakim.)
2
Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “If good characteristics exist
in a person, Allah makes all of his acts good. If a person purifies himself for
prayer, he expiates all of his sins and his prayer is considered an extra
reward for him.” (Related by Abu Ya’la, al-Bazzar and at-Tabarani in al-Ausat.)
3
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “’Shall I inform you
(of an act) by which Allah erases sins and raises degrees?” They said,
“Certainly, O Messenger of Allah.” He said, “Perfecting the ablution under
difficult circumstances, taking many steps to the mosque, and waiting for the
(next) prayer after the (last) prayer has been performed. That is ribat.
(Related by Malik, Muslim, at-Tirmizhi and an-Nasa’i.)
4
Abu Hurairah also reported that the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace,
passed by a grave site and said, “Peace be upon you, O home of believing
people. Allah willing, we shall meet you soon, although I wish I could see my
brothers.” They asked, “Are we not your brothers, O Messenger of Allah?” He
said, “You are my companions. My brothers are the ones who will come after
(us).” They said, “How will you know the people of our nation who will come
after you, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “If a man has a group of horses with
white forelocks amidst a group of horses with black forelocks, will he
recognize his horses?” They said, “Certainly, O Messenger of Allah.” He said,
“They (my brothers) will come with white streaks from their ablutions, and I
will receive them at my cistern. But there will be some who will be driven away
from my cistern as a stray camel is driven away. I will call them to come. It
will be said, ‘They changed matters after you,’ then I will say, ‘Be off, be
off.”’ (Related by Muslim.)
The
obligatory parts of the ablution
Ablution
has certain components which, if not fulfilled according to the correct Islamic
procedures, make one’s ablution void.
a: Intention
This
is the desire to do the action and to please Allah by following His command. It
is purely an act of the heart, for the tongue (verbal pronouncement and so on)
has nothing to do with it. To pronounce it is not part of the Islamic law. That
the intention is obligatory is shown in the following: ‘Umar related that the
Prophet, upon whom be peace, said, “Every action is based on the intention
(behind it), and everyone shall have what he intended...” (Related by “the
group.”)
b:
Washing the face
This
involves “pouring” or “running” water from the top of the forehead to the
bottom of the jaws, and from one ear to the other.
c:
Washing the arms to the elbow
The
elbows must be washed, for the Prophet, upon whom be peace, did so.
Wiping the head
This
means to wipe one’s head with his hand. It is not sufficient just to place the
hand on the head or to touch the head with a wet finger. The apparent meaning
of the Qur’anic words, “...and wipe over your heads...” does not imply that all
of the head needs to be wiped. It has been recorded that the Prophet used to
wipe his head three different ways:
1
Wiping all of his head. ‘Abdullah ibn Zaid reported that the Prophet, upon whom
be peace, wiped his entire head with his hands. He started with the front of
his head, then moved to the back, and then returned his hands to the front.
(Related by “the group.”).
2
Wiping over the turban only. Said ‘Amru ibn Umayyah, “I saw the Messenger of
Allah, upon whom be peace, wipe over his turban and shoes.” (Related by Ahmad,
al-Bukhari and Ibn Majah). Bilal reported that the Prophet, upon whom be peace,
said, “Wipe over your shoes and head covering.” (Related by Ahmad.) ‘Umar once
said, “May Allah not purify the one who does not consider wiping over the
turban to be purifying.” Many hadith have been related on this topic by
al-Bukhari, Muslim and others. Most of the scholars agree with them.
Wiping
over the front portion of the scalp and the turban
Al-Mughirah
ibn Shu’bah said that the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, made ablution
and wiped over the front portion of his scalp, his turban and his socks.
(Related by Muslim.) There is, however, no strong hadith that he wiped over
part of his head, even though al-Ma’idah: apparently implies it. It is also not
sufficient just to wipe over locks of hair that proceed from the head or along
the sides of the head
To be continued
