Cleanliness

In the name of Allah, The Merciful, the Compassionate.

Islam places great emphasis on cleanliness, in both its physical and spiritual aspects. On the physical side, Islam requires the Muslim to clean his body, his clothes, his house, and the whole community, and he is rewarded by God for doing so. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, for example:

"Removing any harm from the road is charity (that will be rewarded by Allah)." [Bukhari]
While people generally consider cleanliness a desirable attribute, Islam insists on it , making it an indispensible fundamental of the faith. A muslim is required to to be pure morally and spiritually as well as physically. Through the Qur'an and Sunnah Islam requires the sincere believer to sanitize and purify his entire way of life.

In Islam the Arabic term for purity is 'Taharah'. Books of Islamic jurisprudence often contain an entire chapter with Taharah as a heading.
Allah orders the believer to be tidy in appearance:

"Keep your clothes clean." [74:4]

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) advised the Muslims to appear neat and tidy in private and in public. Once when returning home from battle he advised his army:

"You are soon going to meet your brothers, so tidy your saddles and clothes. Be distinguished in the eyes of the people." [Abu Dawud]
On another occasion he said:
"Don't ever come with your hair and beard disheveled like a devil." [Al-Tirmidhi]
And on another:
"Had I not been afraid of overburdening my community, I would have ordered them to brush their teeth for every prayer." [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Moral hygeine was not ignored, either, for the Prophet (pbuh) encouraged the muslims to make a special prayer upon seeing themselves in the mirror:
"Allah, You have endowed me with a good form; likewise bless me with an immaculate character and forbid my face from touching the Hellfire." [Ahmad]
And modesty in dress, for men as well as for women, assists one in maintaining purity of thought.
Being charitable is a way of purifying one's wealth. A Muslim who does not give charity (Sadaqah) and pay the required annual Zakah, the 2.5% alms-tax, has in effect contaminated his wealth by hoarding that which rightfully belongs to others.

All the laws and injunctions given by Allah and His Prophet (pbuh) are pure; on the other hand, man-made laws suffer from the impurities of human bias and other imperfections. Thus any formal law can only be truly just when it is purified by divine guidance - as elucidated by the Qur'an and the Sunnah - or if it is divinely ordained to begin with - the Shari'ah.


Hadith of the day:
'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
Allah's Messenger said: Do not attribute lies to me, for anyone who attributes lies to me will be doomed to Hell-Fire.
Verse(s) of the day:
Surah-Al-Mulk , verse 1-4.
"Full of blessings is He in Whose hand is the Kingdom of the universe, and He has power over everything; Who created death and life that He may try you to see which of you is best in deeds, and He is All-Mighty as well as All-Forgiving; Who created seven heavens, one above the other. You will not see any fault in the creation of the Merciful. Turn up your eyes: do you see any flaw anywhere? Look up again and yet again: your look will return to you dis-appointed, wearied out".