ABLUTION (WuzU)

Muhammad emphasizes the need for bodily cleanliness.  He tells his followers that �cleanliness is half of faith� (432) and that their prayer will not be accepted in a state of impurity till they �perform ablution� (435).  But impurity here has a strictly ritualistic meaning.

Muhammad was a Unitarian in his theology but a Trinitarian in his ablution.  He performed his ablution like this: �He washed his hands thrice.  He then rinsed his mouth and cleaned his nose three times.  He then washed his face three times, then washed his right arm up to the elbow three times, then washed his left arm like that, then wiped his head, then washed his right foot up to the ankle three times, then washed his left foot,� and so on.  Muhammad said that �he who performs ablution like this ablution of mine . . . and offered two rak�ahs [sections] of prayer . . . all his previous sins are expiated� (436).  This became the standard ablution.  According to Muslim canon scholars, this is the most complete of the ablutions performed for prayer.  There are twenty-one ahAdIs repeating Muhammad�s practice and thought on the subject as given above (436-457).

author : ram swarup