Personal Hygiene in islam

 *Personal Hygiene in islam*

We are concerned here only with the physical cleanliness, while the purification of the heart, mind and inner self will be dealt with in another time.

Allah says:

In it are men who love to clean and to purify themselves. And Allah loves those who make themselves clean and pure) (Qur'an 9: 108)

The Prophet(~ ) said: «Cleanliness (ritual purity) is one half of faith.» He also said: «Whoever sleeps with dirty hands without washing them and something befell him, let him blame only himself.»21 Islam also requires that for the prayer to be accepted, a Muslim should perform ablution. Prophet Muhammad(~ ) taught us: «Ablution is the key to prayer.»

We learn from the Qur'an:

O you who believe! When you intend to offer $Glat [the prayer], wash your faces and your hands [and forearms] up to the elbows, rub [by passing wet hands over] your heads, and [wash] your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state ofjanabah [post-sex impurity or had a sexual discharge], purify yourself [bathe your whole body with water] .. ) (Qur'an 5: 6)

Bathing (a ritual shower) is compulsory in Islam in cases of nocturnal emission (of semen, or the corresponding fluid in women), sexual intercourse and for women, after menstruation and at the end of the period of post-childbirth bleeding. In addition, there are some cases where bathing is recommended in the Sunnah, like the shower on the two Eid days and every Friday, before the congregational prayers that mark those days. Prophet Muhammad (~ ) said: «Allah has a right on every Muslim that he takes a shower (at least once) in every seven days and if he has perfume to wear some of it.»

There is a very important physical reason for the wisdom behind these Islamic requirements. Bacteria and viruses - especially the common cold - collect on the hands, in between fingers and under fingernails; feet and toes, too, get dirty quickly. The mouth, nose, and ears are also places that germs tend to collect, and the eyes are very susceptible to infection. The Islamic ritual ablution ensures that all these parts of the body are rinsed free of surface germs before the prayer.

The wisdom of the Islamic requirements of ablution and bathing before prayers is of particular significance for the communal prayers. That is, men are required to pray communally at the mosque five times each day. The requirements of Muslim prayer mean that prayer participants must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each other, their hands often touching others, and their faces (noses, eyes, mouth, ears) close to each other. In addition, when they prostrate, their faces touch the floor surface where others' faces may have touched only minutes before, and the feet of those praying in the row ahead are only centimetres from the faces of those behind. By performing ablution (wuq,oo') before each prayer, the chances of infection are lowered. (Interestingly, the hand-washing instructions given to medical practitioners in hospitals and clinics all over the world are strikingly similar to the process of ablution, for such personnel are instructed to wash in between the fingers and under the fingernails.)