Bismillahir rahman nir rahim
Taharah
Assalamu alaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatahu J
There is a book by Iqbal Kilani ”Kitabul Taharah” and Farhat Hashmi has taught it to her students.
Meaning: Ritual purity. The word taharah is derived from the word tahir. Example of use: He was in the state of taharah.
In the town of medina, there was a colony of people who lived in Quba. These people liked to observe “taharah”, cleanliness and purity. Allah swt, revealed this verse, in praise of these people and encouraged the Prophet s.a.w to pray in the mosque in Quba “..There is a mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety; it is more worthy of the standing forth (for prayer) therein. In it are men who love to be purified; and Allah loveth those who make themselves pure. [9:108]
As the above verse from the Quran clearly proves, Allah loves those people who keep themselves clean!!And of course we want to be among those “slaves of Allah “who Allah swt loves.
A sahih hadith from Muslim [book 002, hadith#0432] clearly states at “taharah is half of the Imaan”
Abu Malik at-Ash'ari reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: cleanliness is half of faith and al-Hamdu Liliah (Praise be to Allah) fills the scale, and Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah) and al-Hamdu Liliah (Praise be to Allah) fill upwhat is between the heavens and the earth, and prayer is a light, and charity is proof (of one's faith) and endurance is a brightness and the Holy Qur'an is a proof on your behalf or against you. All men go out early in the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves. (Book #002, Hadith #0432)
The second revelation for prophet s.a.w drew attention to keeping “body and clothes clean”. This just gain proves the importance of Taharah.
A very important point to be noted before continuing is: to always is to have the “intention to keep clean to please Allah’.
As clearly proved by the first hadith in the Sahih Bukhari [ vol 1 book 1 hadith 1]
If our intention to keep clean is to seek Allah ta’aala ‘s pleasure and love, then we will be rewarded thus.
Keeping clean helps to increase “khusoo” (loosely translated as ‘submission” )
‘And seek help in patience and al-salaah (the prayer), and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for al-khaashi’oon’ [al-Baqarah 2:45].
‘Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer their salaah (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness.These are indeed the inheritors, who shall inherit the Firdaws (Paradise). They shall dwell therein forever.’ [al-Mu’minoon 23:1-2, 10-11]
The prophet s.a.w always liked to see his momin brothers (and sisters) clean and well dressed.
This doesn’t mean that we should always wear expensive clothes and accessories. This means that we should be wearing clean clothes (even if they are old), face washed, hair combed, nails clean, feet clean. We should not look as if “we just got out of our bed!! “ hair unmade, clothes spelling bad, etc.
When we wash our face while doing wu’du, then the “sagheera” (small) sins are forgiven by Allah swt ; eyelashes, nose, hands, the sins from under our nails, hands and feet , our hair, our mouth, our ears everything..!!
The Prophet s.a.w disliked smelling food before eating it.
The water of the ocean is considered “paak” pure. Hence it can be used to make wu’du.
Any (sea) animal that died in it is also considered “paak” , pure. E.g fish
If a cat drinks from a bowl or vessel, then that water and vessel is “still’ considered “paak”. A person can use that water to take a bath, or make wu’du etc.
Adding lemon drops, or anything in the water to make it smell better or as an anti infectant doesn’t make the water Impure. We can still use the water to make wu’du.
A man and his wife can use the same vessel to take a bath, or make wu’du.
Importance of Miswak:
The prophet s.a.w used to attach so much importance to the cleansing of his teeth with Miswak :
· First act on getting up in the morning
· When he came home from somewhere
· The last act before he left us L
Mothers will small babies, take care of getting clothes dirtied because of your child urinating on you!! Potty training is essential of course!! But that should not be used as an excuse to stop praying or not keeping clean!! Invent ways to manage potty training while maintaining cleanliness around the house and Allah will inshallah help!!
Tidbits:
I (sana) think, that the extensive use of miswak shows an importance of keeping our teeth clean. If not the miswak, we can atleast use our toothbrushes to do so.!! J and of course our “niyat” is to keep our teeth as clean as possible as our beloved prophet s.a.w. If any of us actually start using the miswak!! That just goes to show what a high level of taqwa we have..Alhamdulillah!! but we should at least start with the toothbrush !
Saying the following once carry the following “fazzilat” in a poetic manner:
· Alhamdulillah – fills the Weighing Scales of our deeds!!
· Subhanallah –fills “neiki”!!
· Namaz- is a source of nor
· Sadaqa-is a way to get rid of …(sins)!!
· Sabr—fills “roshni”!!
· Quran—will be a witness –for or against – us!!
jazzak Allah khair J!!
Jazak Allah Khair :)
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