By: Tamime Khemmar
Hygiene and purification are among the virtues that Allah loves. He says, subhanah, (S:2/A:222):
(Allah loves those who continually repent and those who purify themselves.)
Purification is an inseparable part of faith. The Prophet [ﷺ] said :
“Purification is half of Islam. »
The importance of hygiene in Islam
1 – Purification is a condition for the validity of the salat which is the great pillar of Islam.
2 – Hygiene and purification merit Allah’s love and praise, as happened to the inhabitants of Qoubâ’ – where the first mosque of Islam was built by the Prophet [ﷺ] in his hijra – when Allah quoted them saying, (S:9/A:108):
(There are people there who love to purify themselves. But Allah loves those who purify themselves.)
However, the particularity of these inhabitants of Qoubâ’ was that they washed with water after defecating and never slept without purifying themselves of the janabah (state of non-purification after marital intercourse or ejaculation)
3 – Islâm recommended taking care of the habits of innateness (fiyourah) – those of all the Prophets – which preserve personal hygiene and which were cited by the Prophet [ﷺ] who says :
“Innateness is made up of five things: circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, cutting the nails, removing the hair from the armpit and cutting the mustache. »[1]
There is no doubt that these five beneficial practices ensure the hygiene of the most intimate and essential parts of our body and protect us from many diseases.
4 – The obligation to wash the whole body (ghousl) after marital intercourse or ejaculation[2] during sleep, as well as during the interruption of menstruation and lochia.
5 – The encouragement to wash the body for the sFriday alât, for Eid and other occasions.
6- The encouragement to use the siwâk, day and night, in order to maintain mouth hygiene and ward off bad breath.
And to crown all this, you should know that the purification that is done by ablutions for the salât will be the sign that will discern the believers on the Day of Resurrection.
Indeed, the places that the water will have washed continuously, in the life here below, will be covered with a whiteness and a light, on that Day.[3]
May Allah make us of those who purify themselves and preserve their hygiene as well as all our children, our brothers and our sisters.
The whole company is responsible for hygiene
Not only is the Muslim responsible for his own hygiene, but he is also responsible for the hygiene of the place where he lives and the environment around him.
Indeed, removing nuisances from the path of people is one of the branches of faith.
That is to say its importance.[4]
More than that ! Allah forgave a man and let him enter paradise only because he volunteered to remove a tree that obstructed the way of people. [5]
How should this reminder help us?
Knowing that hygiene is a virtue loved by Allah and recommended by Him and by His Prophet [ﷺ] should encourage us to preserve it, whether we are seen by people or not. Above all, we must be careful not to forget that Allah is watching us.
Also, these precepts of hygiene are not reserved for Muslims, nor have they been recommended only by our Prophet [ﷺ].
These are the rules of hygiene common to all the Prophets and these are the habits linked to the primary innateness of men, since their creation by Allah, subhanah.
Only, they have been forgotten by many men, but preserved, fortunately, by the Muslim nation thanks to the mercy of Allah and His benevolence towards his weak creatures.
Purification of the heart
It is important to know that the purification in Islâm is that of the body and the heart.
Both of which are necessary to gain happiness, in this life and in the last life.
The purification of the heart consists in ridding it of all defilement which could harm it, make it sick and even kill it, such as association in worship (shirk), hypocrisy (nifaq), resentment, jealousy, etc.
May Allah grant us a complete purification, exterior and interior, that of the body and that of the heart and help us to keep them until the moment of finding Him where, nothing will be useful for man but to arrive near his Lord with a healthy heart, as the Prophet Abraham said so well [ﷺ].
Author’s note:
[1] Al-Bukhârî (5889) and Muslim (257) [2] For the man and for the woman. [3] See Sahîh Al-Bukhârî (136) [4] See Sahih Muslim (35) [5] See Sahîh Al-Bukhârî (652)
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