Editorial | Friday Special : Cleanliness – Part of Faith!

Cleanliness places itself at the centre of Islamic teachings as human beings must take care of their personal hygiene as well as the well-being of the environment. The book of Allah on umpteen mentions physical, spiritual purity and cleanliness as a quality of the believers. O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of Janabah (impurity), then purify yourselves (Quran). The ablution and bathing has been given due importance and a believer is supposed to be free from filth and untidiness.The bodily purity has been emphasized by the Prophet of Allah as Islam strongly advocates physical Cleanliness. The Prophet said, “Cleanliness is half of faith (Muslim)/ The books of Prophetic traditions and Jurisprudence mostly start with the chapters of cleanliness. Taharah- which refers to the cleanliness from physical impurities is an obligation on every Muslim. Nazafah implies neatness which is a desirable attribute of Muslims. This can be understood by the fact that the most important pillar of Islam i.e. Prayers cannot be performed in the state of impurity. Cleaning tooth and mouth is again deemed to be a highly desirable act and a ritual as well. The Prophet said, “Were it not that I might overburden my followers, I would have commanded them to use the miswak (traditional toothbrush) before every prayer.” Regarding maintenance of personal hygiene the Prophet said, “Five practices are of the fitrah (natural disposition): circumcision, shaving the pubic region, clipping the nails and cutting the moustaches short.”Therefore a believer must be conscious of his physical hygiene apart from the spiritual purity so as to achieve the pleasure of his lord.