Cleanliness

 

Islam places great emphasis on cleanliness,
in both its physical and spiritual aspects. On the physical
side, Islam requires the Muslim to clean his body, his clothes,
his house, and the whole community, and he is rewarded by God
for doing so. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, for example:

"Removing
any harm from the road is charity (that will be rewarded by Allah)."
[Bukhari]

While
people generally consider cleanliness a desirable attribute, Islam
insists on it , making it an indispensable fundamental of the
faith. A Muslim is required to be pure morally and spiritually
as well as physically. Through the Qur'an and Sunnah Islam requires
the sincere believer to sanitize and purify his entire way of
life.

In the Qur'an Allah commends those who are accustomed to cleanliness:

"Allah
loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who
keep themselves pure and clean." [2:
22]



In Islam the Arabic term for purity is Taharah.
Books of Islamic jurisprudence often contain an entire chapter
with Taharah as a heading.

Allah
orders the believer to be tidy in appearance:

"Keep
your clothes clean." [74:4]




The Qur'an insists that the believer maintain a constant state
of purity:



"Believers! When you prepare for prayer wash your
faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; rub your heads
(with water) and (wash) your feet up to the ankles. If you are
ritually impure bathe your whole body." [5:
6]

Ritual
impurity refers to that resulting from sexual release, menstruation
and the first forty days after childbirth. Muslims also use water,
not paper or anything else to after eliminating body wastes.



Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) advised the Muslims to appear neat and
tidy in private and in public. Once when returning home from battle
he advised his army:

"You
are soon going to meet your brothers, so tidy your saddles and
clothes. Be distinguished in the eyes of the people."
[Abu Dawud]

On
another occasion he said:



"Don't ever come with your hair and beard disheveled
like a devil."[Al-Tirmidhi]

And on another:



"Had I not been afraid of overburdening
my community, I would have ordered them to brush their teeth for
every prayer." [Bukhari]

Moral
hygiene was not ignored, either, for the Prophet (pbuh) encouraged
the Muslims to make a special prayer upon seeing themselves in
the mirror:



"Allah, You have endowed me
with a good form; likewise bless me with an immaculate character
and forbid my face from touching the Hellfire."
[Ahmad]

And
modesty in dress, for men as well as for women, assists one in
maintaining purity of thought.



Being charitable is a way of purifying one's wealth. A Muslim
who does not give charity (Sadaqah) and pay the required annual
Zakah, the 2.5% alms-tax, has in effect contaminated his wealth
by hoarding that which rightfully belongs to others:

"Of
their wealth take alms so that you may purify and sanctify them."
[9: 103]

All
the laws and injunctions given by Allah and His Prophet (pbuh)
are pure; on the other hand, man-made laws suffer from the impurities
of human bias and other imperfections. Thus any formal law can
only be truly just when it is purified by divine guidance - as
elucidated by the Qur'an and the Sunnah - or if it is divinely
ordained to begin with - the Shari'ah.