Ablution The Key to Prayer

07/11/2019 (Updated: 15/01/24)

He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean.
(Al-Baqara 222. Verse)

The word ablution is defined in Arabic (wudu) as cleanliness, beauty and light. Islam attaches great importance to material and spiritual cleanliness. Ablution has both material and spiritual benefits. A Muslim who performs ablution many times a day establishes a cleaning habit that protects him from diseases and purifies germs.

Body wrinkles and hair are the ideal places for bacteria to grow. Ablution involves washing hands, feet and hair with clean water. It is an indispensable part of daily prayers that are mandatory for every Muslim. Oral hygiene is an integral part of both preventive medicine and Islamic teachings. Genital hygiene is recommended in Islamic teachings, especially after urination and defecation, and is known to prevent urinary and vaginal infections in contemporary medicine. Circumcision is an Islamic practice. Recently, circumcision men were found to be less likely to have sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

You can find the ablution studies compiled from scientific articles and journals below.

Benefits of Ablution

Hygiene

Steps of Ablution

“The skin is the body's largest organ and includes appendages such as the epidermis, dermis, hair, nails, sebaceous and sweat glands. Hygiene is more than just being clean. Personal hygiene not only prevents the spread of some infections, but also increases the self-esteem of individuals and contributes to mental health.
Performing ablution five times a day clears the nose of germs, dust and related pollutants. It is estimated that 500-1000 types of bacteria live on the skin. By performing ablution, potentially pathogenic microbes can be washed off the skin.” ¹

"First, ablution was significantly associated with a reduced risk of eczema; this supports the idea that ablution can be useful to protect the skin and reduce the symptoms of eczema. This finding suggests that frequent rinsing of environmentally exposed body areas such as the face, nose, ears, hands and feet can remove allergens from the skin. Therefore, ablution can prevent penetration and inflammation of these agents from the skin. In addition, ablution can reduce sweating on the skin, which causes itching and exacerbates the symptoms of eczema." ²

"The study showed that nasal rinsing significantly reduced symptoms of cough, runny nose and nasal congestion." ³

"Metycillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus nasal colonization can be reduced by nasal washing in the ablution; this can be an easy and effective method to reduce colonization by the organism or prevent it and thus reduce infection with serious staphylococcal diseases." ⁴

"The obvious reason behind washing the mouth during ablution is the removal of food particles that can cause tooth and gum problems, which is why pre-ablution musk (tooth brushing) is also encouraged.
Colds can be prevented by gargling with daily water over 30%. This simple hygienic habit can contribute to public health." ⁵

Brain Health

“The brain is protected from thermal damage by the brain cooling system called the radiator system. When a person is exposed to heat stress, the high brain temperature triggers the autonomic nerves to lower the brain temperature. This is important because the overheated brain; may cause convulsions, fainting, and brain damage. The vessels and a number of craniofacial spaces are the main components of this system. As a person warms up, the vessels of this radiator system bring blood, which is cooled, as its heat is dissipated by the evaporation of water (sweat or mucus) from the surfaces of the skin and craniofacial cavities. Activation of the brain cooling system thus protects the brain from thermal damage.”

"You can easily see the similarity between craniofacial regions, which are important in the cooling system of the brain, and areas that are washed when ablution. Thus, washing the facial, ears, nape, mouth and nasal cavities 4-5 times a day and soaking the scalp can keep the brain cool all day long. This obviously means a cooler head area and a healthier brain with ablution." ⁶

"Prolonged skin stimulation caused by the ablution process can increase cognitive abilities and prevent Alzheimer's disease. More research is needed to understand the mechanism by which ablution-based skin stimulation prevents neuro-degeneration." ⁷

Biological Active Points

“Ablution also stimulates the body's biological rhythms and in particular Biological Active Points (BANs), like the idea behind Chinese reflex therapy. We still know that a person is a complex system of electromagnetic fields, meridians, biological rhythms and so on. The human internal organs, in turn, present a less sophisticated bio-energetic whole.
All of them have skin-insoluble multi-channel binary connections whose functions are home to special points resembling buttons on “control” and “charging boards” responsible for certain organs.
These points are called Biological Active Points. Chinese medicine states that more than 700 points and 66 of them have rapid reflex therapy effects, and of these sixty-six points, sixty-one are located in areas necessary for ablution, while the other five are located between the ankle and knee (desirable according to Prophetic traditions for washing). Thus, ablution becomes a kind of treatment complex that includes hydromassage, thermal and physical stimulation of BANs.” ⁸

Psychology

"The results prove that ablution is effective in aggression on students of the Department of Psychology at the Islamic University of Indonesia.” ⁹

“There are many rumors that an angry person must perform ablution in order to overcome his anger. Abdullatif al-Baghdadi, one of the Islamic philosophers, says that anger inflames the human body, that is, it raises a person's fever, that is why the Messenger of Allah advised to relax with ablution against anger. The findings of Sefa Saygılı on this subject are also noteworthy. He points out that ablution relaxes people spiritually and physically, saying: 'If anger is severe, the most effective remedy is to bring the body into contact with cold water. The refreshing and calming properties of water are known. It narrows the veins on the body surface. Therefore, it relaxes the heart, removes sweat, facilitates breathing, and relaxes the muscles. Therefore, it is not in vain that today's medicine advises those with impaired nervous system to take a shower and come into contact with water. It is an interpretation of the following hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): "Anger is the devil, and the devil was created from fire. Fire is extinguished with water. So, when one of you gets angry, he should get up and perform ablution.' "¹⁰

As you can see, ablution is a worship with a wide range of common physical and spiritual effects, rather than just cleaning. So much so that it even caused many non-Muslims to become Muslims;

“On a hot day, I wanted to sit next to my friend in the fountain and wash my face to cool off a bit. My friend said to me, 'if you want to cool off, at least do ablution'. He showed how to do it and I implemented it. It was as if I felt relief after hours of meditation in two minutes. I asked my friend if there was a feature of wudu. Because for me it felt like a method, not a belief. He said to me, 'We are doing it because Allah ordered us to do it'. I started to research Islam after that day, thinking, 'What a beautiful command Allah has ordered'.

Assoc. Dr Zakir Azizov