Islam for Muslims

• THE FAITH OF MUSLIMS
• 1 Meaning & Importance of Faith (Iman)
• 2 Some Signs of Ideal Faith
• 3 God As The Unique and Supreme being
• 4 God as the All-Powerful
• 5 God’s Power in Shaping Destiny
• 6 God as the Creator
• 7 God as the Merciful
• 8 God as the Protector
• 9 God as the all-knowing
• 10 God as the Guide
• 11 God as the Judge
• 12 The Prophets in the Quran
• 13 Mohammad (pbuh) as the Final Prophet
• 14 Divine Books, Angels & Jinns
• 15 Various Stages of Life after Death
• GOOD DEEDS IN PERSONAL LIFE
• 16 Importance & Types of Good Deeds: Importance & Types of Good Deeds
• 17 Some Ideal Signs of Good Deeds
• 18 God at the Center of Religious Universe
• 19 Sources of Islamic Laws (Sharia)
• 20 Purification & Preparation for Prayer
• 21 The Essentials of Prayer (Salat)
• 22 The Essentials of Charity (Zakat, Fitr and Qurbani)
• 23 The Essentials of Fasting (Siam)
• 24 The Essentials of Pilgrimage (Hajj)
• 25 The Essentials of Knowledge (Ilm)
• 26 The Essentials of Inheritance (Faraiz)
• 27 The Essentials of Halal Income
• 28 The Essentials of Halal Food
• 29 The Essentials of Modest Dress & Behavior
• 30 The Essentials of Marriage & Divorce
• 31 The Essentials of Death & Funeral
• 32 Optional but Valuable Deeds
• 33 Avoiding Personal Sins: Why & How?
• 34 Fighting Satan (Devil) to Avoid Sins
• 35 Five Major Sin Packages
• GOOD DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE
• 36 The Importance of Preaching & Good Advice
• 37 The Techniques of Preaching & Good Advice
• 38 The Roles of Family & Parents
• 39 The Roles of Schools & Students
• 40 The Roles of Mosques & Muslims
• 41 The Roles of Print and Social Media
• 42 The Importance of Resisting Social Sins
• 43 The Techniques of Resisting Social Sins
• 44 Observing Islam in a Non-Muslim Environment
• 45 Islamic Governance: Legality, Potentials & Problems
• 46 Criminal Justice System for the Muslims
• 47 The Ideal Qualities of a Muslim: Piety & Proficiency
• 48 The Unity among the Muslims: Why & How?
• 49 The key to progress and prosperity of muslims
• 50 Final Appeal to the Muslims

20:  PURIFICATION AND PREPARATION FOR PRAYER

Introduction: The Muslims are required to prepare themselves for prayer by performing designated rituals including purification. God stands for cleanliness by urging to “keep your garments free from stain as (God) loves those who keep themselves pure and clean. (He) does not wish to place you in difficulty but wants to make you clean” (74:4; 2:222; 5:6). You need to maintain purity of mind, body and clothes during prayer in particular and other times in general. By Islamic tradition, cleanliness is considered a part of the faith (Hadith). Details now follow:

(A)  Islamic Obligation Starts at the Dawn of Adulthood:  The obligation of Islamic rules known as ‘shariah’ applies only to the adults of both sexes.  The acceptable symptoms for gaining adulthood for the males are discharge of semen through dream or otherwise, growth of beard or mustache, change of voice etc. For the females, these are menstruation and pregnancy. Regardless of these symptoms, both sexes will be considered adult past 15 years but never before 12 and 9 years for the boys and the girls respectively. These represent the mainstream views of ‘sunni’ Muslims.

    Gaining adulthood through clear symptoms cited above marks the beginning of your obligations for Do’s and Don’ts. Such performance thereafter becomes recordable by the assigned Angels. The Prophet, however, advised the parents not to wait too long and instead getting their children used to the basics of prayer, Quranic recitation etc. in their pre-teen years. This will allow them the time needed for mental orientation, practical training and gaining some ground in the habit of religious practices.

(B) Bath as a Solution for Severe Impurity:  Bath is divisible into compulsory and optional variety. Compulsory bath requires “washing your whole body” (4:43) as the only way for purification from severe types of impurities as described below:
(1) Sex Related Impurity: The body of both men and women becomes impure due to sexual intercourse.  Additional causes of impurity for the men include wet dream, masturbation etc. and for women it is masturbation. In such major state of impurity, you “cannot approach prayer” (4:43), recite or “touch” the Quran (56:79) and enter the mosque. This does not mean you are exempted from prayer which you must perform on time by gaining purity through mandatory bath.  Such bath, however, should follow proper urination (to ensure against further discharge of semen after bath) and removal of impurity sitting on your body. With this type of impure body, you are, however, allowed to make dua or eat suhur during Ramadan nighttime.

(2) Menses and Delivery Related Impurity:

(i) Menstruation: Any color of monthly blood for women aging from 9 to 55 and bright or blackish red blood for the women past 55 years, discharged for 3 to 10 days (including night) is considered as the blood of menstruation. Otherwise, blood of any color under 9 years, or the color differing from bright or blackish red (e.g. yellow, green etc.) for the 55 plus women, or the blood issuing less than 3 or more than 10 days, will be treated as disease and not menstruation. In such cases, the rules of menstruation (such as exemption from prayer) will not apply. The length of menses counts from the time of first to last sight of blood, whatever may be its quantity and despite a discontinuity within the period.  There must be a gap of minimum of 15 days between 2 periods but there is no maximum. These are mainstream ‘sunni’ rulings.

(ii) Delivery: The period of impurity due to birth related bleeding continues up to a maximum of 40 days after childbirth. Further continuation of bleeding will count like a disease and hence a normal time.  
(3) Prohibitions and Exemptions during Impurities:  In case of both menses and delivery related impurities, the women are exempted from salat for the entire period of bleeding without any make-up obligation. As regards fasting during the month of Ramadan, they will temporarily put off fasting during bleeding days, which they have to make up after ending of Ramadan month.  “Approaching women” for sexual intercourse during bleeding period is totally prohibited and so is recitation and touching of the Quran and being inside a mosque (2:222). Regardless of maximum countable durations in each types of impurity, the stoppage of bleeding will mark the end of impurity and beginning of normal period. Then the immediate task will be taking a formal bath for gaining cleanliness in preparation for the prayer that becomes due immediately.  

(4) Bath (Complete Washing):  For gaining purity from the above two types of impurities, the Quran requires “bathing your whole body” (5:6). This ‘fard’ (essential) bath has 3 components: (i) gargling (ii) watering both the nostrils and (iii) washing the whole body in such a way that even a single hair does not remain dry.  Water needs to reach the root of all hair. Before or during bathing, any impure element stuck to any part of your body must be cleaned. If the same is detected after the bath, you must clean and water that part at your earliest.  Similarly, prior to your bath, you should remove any coating of sticky stuff (like gum, lime, wet flour etc.) on any body part.  Otherwise, underlying dryness will keep the bath incomplete and if you notice that after bath, you should water the dry part. 

    Intention (niyet) is not a mandate for bath and therefore if you unintentionally fall into a pond or river water and thereby your whole body (including nostril and internal mouth) is watered, then that will serve the purpose of bath.  By means of ‘fard’ bath, all 4 organs for ablution get washed and you are now fit for prayer without doing extra ablution.  Differently from compulsory bath, optional bath has no essential formality.

(C) Ablution (Partial Washing) for Gaining Extra Purity:  You are in state of normal purity when you have no major impurity due to sexual intercourse, menstruation etc. but you have not done ablution yet to gain extra purity.  Under such normal purity, you can recite the Quran without touching or observe fasting.  However, performing salat will require you to gain added purity through ablution i.e. watering of selected organs. 

(1) Formalities Preparatory to Ablution: (i) Stool Related: You should relieve yourselves of pressure from stool (and/or urine) which otherwise may take your attention off prayer.  After discharging stool, both men and women may use dry earthen ball, paper, soap etc. and/or water to remove the impurity.  Alternatively, several pieces of wet paper may be used. 

(ii) Urine Related: Male formalities after urination include (i) using earthen ball or paper to wipe out impurity from any remnant of urine (ii) artificial coughing or walking a few steps back and forth to ensure against any possibility of further urinal discharge (iii) finally using water to clean up the organ. These formalities in case of the females are simply reduced to using water after urination. This cleaning process should be completed within private spaces like covered toilet room in order that private parts are not exposed to public eye. 

(2) Four Essentials of Ablution: The ablution has 4 compulsory doings as stated in the Quran (5:6) as follows: (i) washing of “your (both) hands and (forearms) up to the elbows” including fingers (ii) “washing your (whole) face” extending up to the hairline in the forehead and chin below, the lobes of the ears on either sides, and including the outer lips and the inner part of eyes (iii) washing “your feet up to the ankles” (iv) “rubbing your head” at least one fourth thereof with wet hand.  Intention (niyet) is not essential to ablution.  Hence unintended watering of the above 4 compulsory organs such as through bathing or immersion in water will do for ablution. 
                                                      
There are also some optional doings for ablution that include watering nostrils, gargling, washing the organs in specific order etc.  Subject to these exceptions, particular care has to be taken for watering the specified compulsory organs.  If otherwise, even a single hair on any of these 4 organs remains dry under coating of glue, lime, flour, nail polish etc., the ablution will be rated as incomplete.  Prayer offered in this condition must be repeated.  Such ablution will gain completeness if the dry part is watered on sight.  Water should also reach the skin under rings, bracelets and other ornaments. For the beard, the requirement is only combing with fingers and there is no need for watering the underneath skin. If there is any medical bandage on any compulsory organs, it will suffice to gently wipe it over with a wet hand.

(3) Cancellation of Ablution:  The following reasons invalidate ablution: (i) discharge of stool, urine, gas and semen from the body (in case of ejaculation of semen, bathing will also be a mandate (ii) full mouth vomiting (iii) loss of consciousness from deep sleep (drowsiness exempted) or anesthesia etc.

(D) Tayammum (Dry Ablution) as an Alternative to Bath and Ablution:

If the required amount of water for ablution or bath is not available within approachable distance, or water source is endangered with agents like enemies, animals etc. or water search during journey threatens the safety of your belongings or disease is likely to take a worse turn following the use of cold water, then both the ablution and bath has an easier alternative in the form of ‘tayammum’ (5:6; 4:43). Hereby the use of water is replaced by that of clean dry soil or similar materials like chalk, sand etc. that do not melt or reduce to ash or coal by burning.

The compulsory formalities are: (i) making intention (ii) symbolic rubbing of two hands over “clean sand or soil” (coating hands with soil is not necessary), shaking dust off the hands, then thoroughly wiping them (preferably twice) over “the face and hands (to the elbows)”, covering the areas required for watering in ablution (except head and feet)(4:43). A single ‘tayammum’ may meet the needs for both compulsory bath and ablution, if so is intended. One ‘tayammum’ is good for multiple prayers, recitation etc.  If the water on hand is just enough for only ablution but not for bath, then you should use water for ablution and use ‘tayammum’ for bath. If there is any real chance of getting water, tayammum should be delayed within the time period of particular prayer.  The tayammum breaks up as soon as the water is available and also for reasons applicable to termination of ablution.

Conclusion: The above mentioned rituals are pre-conditions for performing prayers and you should therefore be particular about them for making your prayers fruitful.