The Prophet of Mercy Website

Cleanliness:

The first thing in the religion brought by the Prophet Muhammad is the care of cleanliness. The concept of cleanliness in Islam covers physical and spiritual, mundane and religious domains.

Before performing any rituals, prescribed by Islam, one should cleanse his body, and his dress, his place of worship and his environment should be clean.

Before performing his prayers or starting for pilgrimage, one has to make his ablution (wudu’). If he or she is in a state of unclean after having had a lawful Intimate intercourse or post-natal period or other reasons, he or she has to take a complete bath by pouring clean water over the whole body.

In the case of daily prayer, every Muslim has to clean his/her private parts, face, hand, feet, mouth, nose and ears at least five times every day for the five daily prayers. This also reminds him/her to keep his/ her soul clean from unlawful deeds.

Cleanliness is not in the physical sense only. The body should be purified as well from evil doings that might harm his relationship with others and with God. He has to clean his mind from bad intentions or committing unlawful acts. He has to clean his heart from jealousy, hypocrisy and other evil desires. He has to embody hope, truthfulness, forgiveness, compassion, holiness, the sense of brotherliness, neighbourliness and other noble qualities.

He has to pay special attention to his diet against all unhealthy food medically and religiously. He has to keep his eyes, ears, and tongue from evils. These are among the noble characteristics as exemplified by Prophet Muhammad.

To clean the wealth, Islam instituted the zakat system (way of purifying wealth). A person whose wealth has reached a certain point is obligated to pay zakat (alms) which is a duty enjoined by God and undertaken by Muslims in the interest of society as a whole.

For those able persons whose wealth does not reach the minimum rate point, he can also give voluntary contribution to the needy. This does not mean that the needy should always be receiving help from the able.

Prophet Muhammad said: "The upper hand (giver) is better than the lower one (receiver of help).”

If the receiver of zakat can grasp the spirit of the Prophet’s saying, he will try his best to be the giver instead of the receiver by endeavouring to better his life as encouraged by the teachings of Islam.

In Islam the possession of more wealth does not raise a man’s dignity, nor does poverty degrade him. It is true that wealth is necessary for man to live on this earth, but it is only a means, not the end. The end is happiness in life by attaining the higher values and not losing sight of in the pursuit of wealth.

Among the great virtues of Islam is the command to do good and the prohibition to do evil. The good should be preserved and the evil should be discarded. In short, Islam is actually composed of a series of commands and prohibitions. All the commands and prohibitions are for the good of humanity. Allah the Most Knowing, the Most Merciful, did not decree any law and regulations but for the good and benefit of his creatures.

The prohibition was decreed because of its evil implications to humanity. The evils were created to test the human conscience and challenge their freewill in choosing between right and wrong.

All the commands and prohibitions from Allah as transmitted through His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was intended to purify the human soul in order to live a pure and clean life adored by Allah and human genesis.

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