Ath-Thaharah (Ablution or Purifying) ~ Hi readers! In this article, I will invite you all to know about ath-Thaharah in Islamic teaching. In the teachings of Islam, knowing about ath-Thaharah is a most fundamental obligation because it will continue to relate to other worship services that require a Muslim to do ath-Thaharah. In fact, a Muslim should not perform these services if he does not do ath-Thaharah first, such as prayer, some hajj rites, and recite the Quran.
The meaning of ath-Thaharah in the language is clean and pure from the good looks or not. The ath-Thaharah in terms of Islamic legal scholars has various meanings; there is a difference of opinion about its meaning. I will not discuss in detail the differences between them.
But I will tell you, that the conclusion of their differences about the meaning of ath-Thaharah is, “a status of law that has been determined by Shari’ (Allah and Prophet Muhammad) as a condition of the validity of prayer and may use equipment, eat a meal and so forth. [Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, al-Fiqh ‘ala al-Madzaahib al-Arba’ah, vol. 1, p. 8].
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The purpose of the conclusion of the difference of opinion of the Islamic law experts on the meaning of ath-Thaharah above is that Shari’ (Allah and Prophet Muhammad) has made provision for all Muslims who wish to perform the prayers must be in the pure state of dirt and unclean, they must use pure garments of impurities and unclean, and one of the requirements of food that is lawful to eat is sacred food.
In Islamic teachings, a Muslim is very obliged to have knowledge about ath-thaharah because it is associated with a lot of obligatory worship, which must be done every day. Even in the Qur’an and hadith the prophet Muhammad there are so many suggestions that a Muslim is always in pure condition (doing ath-Thaharah).
Quran About Ath-Thaharah
وَيَسَۡٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلۡمَحِيضِۖ قُلۡ هُوَ أَذٗى فَٱعۡتَزِلُواْ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فِي ٱلۡمَحِيضِ وَلَا تَقۡرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَطۡهُرۡنَۖ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرۡنَ فَأۡتُوهُنَّ مِنۡ حَيۡثُ أَمَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُتَطَهِّرِينَ ٢٢٢
And they ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a discomfort; therefore keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed themselves, go in to them as Allah has commanded you; surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves. (Al-Baqarah [2]; 222).
لَا تَقُمۡ فِيهِ أَبَدٗاۚ لَّمَسۡجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى ٱلتَّقۡوَىٰ مِنۡ أَوَّلِ يَوۡمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٞ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُواْۚ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُطَّهِّرِينَ ١٠٨
Never stand in it; certainly a mosque founded on piety from the very first day is more deserving that you should stand in it; in it are men who love that they should be purified; and Allah loves those who purify themselves. (At-Taubah [9]; 108).
Hadith About Ath-Thaharah
مِنَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ : لَا يَقْبَلُ اللهُ صَلَاةَ أَحَدِكُمْ إِذَا أَحْدَثَ حَتَّى يَتَوَضَّأَ
From the Prophet (Muhammad) shallallaahu alahi wa sallam, he said, “Allah will not accept one of your prayers if he is worthy until he does ablution (wudu). (The hadith is narrated by al-Bukhari, 6954, and Muslim, 1795).
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ :تَنَزَّهُوْا مِنَ الْبَوْلِ فَإِنَّ عَامَةَ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ مِنْهُ
The Prophet (Muhammad) shallallaahu alahi wa sallah said, “Be clean of you after urinating because most of the torture of the grave comes from it.” (The hadith is narrated by ad-Daruquthni, as-Sunan, p. 47.).
If we look at what I have said above, then at least we can note some important values to do ath-Thaharah (ablution or purifying). Among others are;
One; Doing ath-Thahaarah becomes one of the requirements of the validity of prayer and other worship services;
Two; Not to do ath-Thahaarah from being unclean is one of the reasons a person gets torture in the grave later;
Three; Allah praises those who do ath-Thaharah (those who purify themselves);
Four; Doing ath-Thahaarah is one way to perfect the faith. The Prophet Muhammad said;
الطَّهُوْرُ شَطْرُ الْإِيْمَانِ
Purification (doing ath-Thaharah) is half the faith. (The hadith is narrated by Muslim, 223.).
Now, by looking at the above explanation we can conclude that, the law of doing ath-Thaharah is mandatory because it relates to the validity of mandatory worship services and related to our salvation in the life of the grave and the hereafter.
I think that is enough for this article about ath-Thaharah (ablution or purifying). In the next article, I will explain about the various ath-Thaharah. See you again!
