"O you who believe! When you rise to perform the prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of major ritual impurity, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe therewith your faces and your hands. God desires not to place a burden upon you, but He desires to purify you, and to complete His Blessing upon you, that haply you may give thanks."
Quran 5:6
This passage is drawn from surah 5, often rendered as "The Table Spread," which I suspect I'll spend a goodly amount of time discussing (it includes a miracle that Muslims associate with Jesus that would be unfamiliar to most Christians). It's often stated that the Quran tells us to do something, but that the hadith (the says of the Prophet) tell us how to do something; essentially, filling in the specifics in response to a broader Quranic directive. I chose this passage because, in addition to introducing the concept of wudu, or ritual purification, it also shows that at times the Quran also provides a fair bit of specificity.
For centuries Islam has served, for good and bad, as the very definition of the exotic "other" for the Western world (and, yes, I know how problematic a term like "Western world" is), and as such there are certain romanticized/demonized images that pop up unbidden. As we've discussed, one of them is prayer, certainly. Another is the preparation associated with prayer. Wudu is the ritual purification that Muslims will frequently carry out before prayer, but certainly not before every prayer (although some devout Muslims do). This is why older mosques would often feature a foundation, and all mosques today have a wudu station, usually as an extension of the restroom. While it would be uncommon for Muslims in the US today to perform wudu before every prayer, most would do so before the morning prayer and before public prayer on Friday (or at least that's my own personal schedule). Here's a link to an animated wudu guide for kids.
As I do way too often, I'll revert to citing commentary from Seyyed Nasr that he includes in the voluminous commentary in his Study Quran (and as I often opine, if you're only marginally interested in Islam you really should pick up a copy of Nasr's work). Here he breaks down this passage into three parts. The big takeaways from this initial commentary are the highly ritualized manner of the ablution and also the importance of starting with a sincere prayer. The latter speaks to intentionality and being aware of that moment. In regards to the former, I've talked before about my brutishly bad Arabic and how it sometimes makes her nervous popping into mosques overseas (as if I'm going to be quizzed or something, when in reality all mosques are incredibly welcoming) - being able to perform the wudu sends the signal that I'm actually supposed to be there.
"The wudu, based on this verse and interpreted according to Prophetic practice, is generally understood to entail washing the face, including rinsing the nostrils and the mouth; washing the hands and arms to just above the elbow; wiping the head, including the ears; and washing or wiping the feet up to the ankles. In addition to the specific acts mentioned in the verse, the Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Twelver Shiite schools of law also required that the wudu be preceded by a statement of intention (niyyah) and that washing of the various bodily parts be done in immediate succession."
Secondly there is the more substantial purification associated with major ritual impurity.
"The second form of ablution indicated in this verse is the ghusl, which is required in the case of major ritual impurity, such as that caused by menstruation, sexual intercourse, seminal discharge, and according to some, touching a dead body. This requires a full bath or shower in which all body parts are washed in a ritual manner."
The third type of purification is one that most non-Muslims would doubtless find surprising, that is purification using clean earth or sand. To me it speaks to the flexibility of the faith and God's desire to ask what is easy and not what is hard (while accepting the fact that all faith is hard, so I often read this as an understanding of the possible versus the impossible). I often come back to the concept (and, as always, I only speak for myself) of the symbolic nature of the purification. You are trying to leave behind this world, if only temporarily, and in the chaos of our very worldly lives it's sometimes difficult to pray with the sincerity, intentionality and immediacy that it requires. The wudu, no matter what form it takes, helps initiate that break.
"Finally, the third manner of purification mentioned here, a practice known as tayammum, applies when illness or a lack of water makes performing ablutions with water unhealthy or impossible. In such cases, Muslims may ritually purify themselves by wiping their faces and hands with clean earth (for more on this practice see 4:43 and commentary). God desires not to place a burden upon those for whom performing a full ablution with water would present a hardship or impossibility and thus ordains this alternative form of purification (tayammum) under certain circumstances. The idea that God ordains some flexibility in ritual obligations for the benefit of those experiencing hardship is found elsewhere in the Quran." Nasr p. 279.
Quran 5:6
This passage is drawn from surah 5, often rendered as "The Table Spread," which I suspect I'll spend a goodly amount of time discussing (it includes a miracle that Muslims associate with Jesus that would be unfamiliar to most Christians). It's often stated that the Quran tells us to do something, but that the hadith (the says of the Prophet) tell us how to do something; essentially, filling in the specifics in response to a broader Quranic directive. I chose this passage because, in addition to introducing the concept of wudu, or ritual purification, it also shows that at times the Quran also provides a fair bit of specificity.
For centuries Islam has served, for good and bad, as the very definition of the exotic "other" for the Western world (and, yes, I know how problematic a term like "Western world" is), and as such there are certain romanticized/demonized images that pop up unbidden. As we've discussed, one of them is prayer, certainly. Another is the preparation associated with prayer. Wudu is the ritual purification that Muslims will frequently carry out before prayer, but certainly not before every prayer (although some devout Muslims do). This is why older mosques would often feature a foundation, and all mosques today have a wudu station, usually as an extension of the restroom. While it would be uncommon for Muslims in the US today to perform wudu before every prayer, most would do so before the morning prayer and before public prayer on Friday (or at least that's my own personal schedule). Here's a link to an animated wudu guide for kids.
As I do way too often, I'll revert to citing commentary from Seyyed Nasr that he includes in the voluminous commentary in his Study Quran (and as I often opine, if you're only marginally interested in Islam you really should pick up a copy of Nasr's work). Here he breaks down this passage into three parts. The big takeaways from this initial commentary are the highly ritualized manner of the ablution and also the importance of starting with a sincere prayer. The latter speaks to intentionality and being aware of that moment. In regards to the former, I've talked before about my brutishly bad Arabic and how it sometimes makes her nervous popping into mosques overseas (as if I'm going to be quizzed or something, when in reality all mosques are incredibly welcoming) - being able to perform the wudu sends the signal that I'm actually supposed to be there.
"The wudu, based on this verse and interpreted according to Prophetic practice, is generally understood to entail washing the face, including rinsing the nostrils and the mouth; washing the hands and arms to just above the elbow; wiping the head, including the ears; and washing or wiping the feet up to the ankles. In addition to the specific acts mentioned in the verse, the Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Twelver Shiite schools of law also required that the wudu be preceded by a statement of intention (niyyah) and that washing of the various bodily parts be done in immediate succession."
Secondly there is the more substantial purification associated with major ritual impurity.
"The second form of ablution indicated in this verse is the ghusl, which is required in the case of major ritual impurity, such as that caused by menstruation, sexual intercourse, seminal discharge, and according to some, touching a dead body. This requires a full bath or shower in which all body parts are washed in a ritual manner."
The third type of purification is one that most non-Muslims would doubtless find surprising, that is purification using clean earth or sand. To me it speaks to the flexibility of the faith and God's desire to ask what is easy and not what is hard (while accepting the fact that all faith is hard, so I often read this as an understanding of the possible versus the impossible). I often come back to the concept (and, as always, I only speak for myself) of the symbolic nature of the purification. You are trying to leave behind this world, if only temporarily, and in the chaos of our very worldly lives it's sometimes difficult to pray with the sincerity, intentionality and immediacy that it requires. The wudu, no matter what form it takes, helps initiate that break.
"Finally, the third manner of purification mentioned here, a practice known as tayammum, applies when illness or a lack of water makes performing ablutions with water unhealthy or impossible. In such cases, Muslims may ritually purify themselves by wiping their faces and hands with clean earth (for more on this practice see 4:43 and commentary). God desires not to place a burden upon those for whom performing a full ablution with water would present a hardship or impossibility and thus ordains this alternative form of purification (tayammum) under certain circumstances. The idea that God ordains some flexibility in ritual obligations for the benefit of those experiencing hardship is found elsewhere in the Quran." Nasr p. 279.
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