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یایھا الذیْن امنوْآ یَاَیُھَّا الَّذِیْنَ اٰمَنُوْآ اِذَاقُمْتُمْ
اِلَی الصَّلوٰۃِ فَاغْسِلُوْا وُجُوھَکُمْ وَاَیْدِیَکُمْ اِلَی
الْمَرَافِقِ وَامْسَحُوْا بِرُعُوْ سِکُمْ وَاَرْجُلَکُمْ اِلیَ
الْکَعْبَیْنِ
(Surah
Ma'idah, 6)
‘Oh ye who believe! When ye rise up
for Prayer, wash your face, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub
your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles’
When
performing ablution care should be taken to ensure that the parts of the body
that are necessary to wash are not left dry. In the Holy Quran four obligations
of ablution have been stated:- Washing the face (slightly below from the hairs
on the forehead down to the chin, from one ear lobe to the other ear lobe),
washing the hands up to and including the elbows, wiping the head and washing
(or wiping) the feet up to the ankles.
There are thirteen Sunnats regarding
ablution:-
Making
an intention to perform ablution, reciting بِسمِ الَلہ , washing both hands up to the wrists,
using a tooth-stick to clean the mouth, rinsing the mouth three times taking
new water each time, putting water into the nose three times and cleaning the
nose, soaking the beard, running the hands through the toes, washing each part
three times, wiping the whole head with a wet hand once, wiping both ears,
performing ablution with discipline and washing the next part of the body
before the other gets dry.
There are four desirable actions
regarding ablution:-
Performing
ablution starting from the right-hand side, wiping the neck with water,
performing ablution by oneself, sitting facing towards the Holy Kaba, sitting
on a high and clean place, washing the parts of the body by rubbing them
thoroughly.
There are four undesirable though
not unlawful actions regarding ablution:-
Performing
ablution in an unclean place, cleaning the nose with the right hand, talking
about worldly affairs or performing ablution in a way that is against the
Sunnat.
Actions that invalidate ablution
are:-
Urinating
or excreting waste, expelling gas or passing any other substance through these
passages, excreting blood or puss from any part of the body which becomes
enough to start flowing, vomiting a mouthful, either using a support or lying
down to sleep, becoming unconscious due to an illness or any other cause,
becoming overtaken with madness or craze or laughing loudly whilst praying.
Before
performing ablution one should make the intention that this ablution is for the
purpose of Prayer.
وَ اِنْ کُنْتُمْ مَّرْضیٰٓ اَوْ عَلیٰ سَفَرٍا اَوْجَآءَ اَحَدٌ
مِّنْکُمْ مِّنَ الْغَاءِطِ اَوْ لٰمَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوْا مَآءً
فَتَیَمَّمُوا صَعِیْدًا طَیِّبًا فَامْسَحُرْا بِوُجُوْھِکُمْ وَ اَیْدِیْکُمْ
مِّنْہُ
(Surah
Ma'idah, 6)
‘And
if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye
have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high
ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it’
In
this verse the order of dry ablution (Tayammum) has been given. The orders
relating to dry ablution were revealed in 5 A.H. At a time of need, dry
ablution can replace the necessity of ablution and having a bath.
When
performing dry ablution the intention in one’s heart should be that I am
performing dry ablution in order to rid myself of uncleanness and to establish
Prayer. The hands should be rubbed properly with clean soil and then wiped
across the face. Then, as before, the hands should be properly rubbed with
clean soil, the right hand should then wipe the left hand up to the elbow. The
left hand should then wipe the right hand up to the elbow. The hands should be
wiped in a way that no part is left out.
Dry
ablution can be performed using any of the following depending on its
availability: clean soil, sand, stone, unpainted pots, raw or built bricks made
from soil, a stone or lime wall, red ochre, Armenian bole and clean dust.
The
following are forbidden for dry ablution purposes: -wood, metal, gold, silver,
copper, steel, aluminium, glass, tin, zinc, wheat, barley, all types of grain
and cloth.
There
exists an easy measure to distinguish between allowed and forbidden materials
for performing dry ablution: things which can be melted or burnt in fire are
forbidden, but if there is enough dust on the material that if touched it would
leave a mark or fly away then its use is allowed.
Actions
that invalidate ablution also invalidate dry ablution.
In
cases where the use of water for performing ablution could be harmful due to a
disease, it is better to perform dry ablution. But in the case where cold water
proves to be harmful but not hot water, it is important to use hot water to
perform ablution or have a bath instead of performing dry ablution. If hot
water is not available then performing dry ablution is permissible.
If
one is required to have a bath and performs a dry bath instead, that dry bath
is equally as valid and also counts towards a dry ablution, though only if one
cannot perform ablution with water.
Dry
ablution is permissible on the seats of railway stations on which there is
dust. One should not doubt whether the dust is clean or unclean. On railway
stations the sand on which passengers walk on with shoes is unclean. It is not
beneficial to perform dry ablution with this unclean dust.
If
one is wearing a ring whilst performing dry ablution, it is necessary to remove
it or move it about.
KHWAJA SHAMSUDDIN AZEEMI
Mehrāj means to enter the world of the unseen. When a believer attains Mehrāj through prayer, Angels appear in front of him. He travels through the Heavens, and through the blessings of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) he comes to know his Lord.
