Tahaara & Salat: Lessons for 9-14 year olds

Part 3: Tahaara Hukmeeyah

1: Tahaara Kubra (Major Purification): GHUSL

“Ghusl” in Arabic means 'to pour water on something' (in other words: to wash it). In Islam
the word “ghusl” means: to pour water on all of the body in a particular way (ie.
following the way of the Shari'ah). Making ghusl is sometimes obligatory on a Muslim and
sometimes it is just Sunnah – recommended, but not fard.

Things that make ghusl WAJIB (obligatory) on a person include:

1. If a kaafir becomes a Muslim. We have many examples of this from the time of
the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, that he would order new Muslims to make
ghusl or the Sahaabah would tell them to do so.
2. When a Muslim dies it is waajib upon other Muslims to make ghusl on their body.
3. For Salat Al-Jumu'a – but there is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars
about this. Some say it is just mustahab, not fard.

Things for which ghusl is MUSTAHAB (optional, preferred, recommended) include:

1. For both Eids – Abdullah Ibn Umar, radi Allahu anhu, would do this
2. If you pass out or faint – the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, did this
[Bukhari]. And scholars make an analogy from this to apply the same ruling to
someone who goes mad and then comes out of their madness. When they are
sane once more, they should make ghusl (but it is not obligatory).
3. Before putting on the ihram for Hajj or Umrah – this was the Sunnah of the
Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam.
4. Before entering Mekkah.
5. After washing the dead.

Description of the Ghusl:

1. Wash your hands 3 times (outside of the bowl if you are using a container of water
to wash)
2. Wash your private parts with your left hand
3. Wash your hands with soap, earth or rub them against the wall
4. Make wudu just as you would for salat, but leave the feet till the end of the ghusl
(though some scholars say you can wash them as part of the wudu at this point)
5. Pour water 3 times on to the hair till all the roots are wet. Start with the right side of
the head. Rub into the hair if it is needed (if the hair is very thick or curly).
6. Pour water all over your body and to do so starting with the right side of the body
and then the left.
7. Wash the feet
Some scholars say that the washing/wetting of the body (step 6) should be done 3 times
and that this is the Sunnah, but simply getting the whole body wet is enough. Indeed you
do not have to follow all the detailed manner of the ghusl at all for the ghusl to be valid.
Wash your private parts (steps 1 to 3) and then just get your whole body wet from head to
toe: this is valid as ghusl and it is enough. You will not have wudu if you make ghusl in this
way, so you will have to make wudu separately afterwards, but your ghusl is valid. This is
useful to know if ever you are in a situation when making ghusl is hard for you, time is
limited or there is little water, and so on.
It is also not necessary to rub the body as you wash it – just so long as every part of the
body gets wet.

2: Tahaara Sughra (Minor Purification): WUDU

The word 'wudhu' means 'to clean' in Arabic. In Islam it means 'to use water on particular
parts of the body (face, hands, head, feet, etc) to remove whatever stops you from praying
and similar'.
PROOF 1: Al-Maa'idah (5): 6 - “O you who believe, when you intend to offer As-Salat
wash your faces and your hands (forearms) up to the elbows, rub (pass wet hand over)
your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles.”
PROOF 2: hadith - “The salat of any one of you will not be accepted if he has done
hadath [anything that breaks wudu] till he makes wudu.” [Bukhari, Muslim]
PROOF 3: hadith - “Allah will not accept salat without tahoor.” [Muslim]

Benefits of making wudu:

1. it is half of eemaan
2. it wipes out minor sins
3. it raises you onto a higher level as a person
4. it is a means to Jennah. [Bilal, radi Allahu anhu, was asked by the Prophet, sal
Allahu alayhi wa salam, what were his good deeds because he had heard Bilal's
footsteps in Jennah. Bilal told him that every time he made wudu he would pray 2
rakats.]
5. it is a sign of this Ummah when they approach the Hawd – the Prophet, sal
Allahu alayhi wa salam, will recognise the Muslims by the marks of their wudu
6. the light of each believer on the Last Day will be where his wudu reaches
7. it unties the knots of shaytan (and was recommended by the Prophet, sal Allahu
alayhi wa salam, as one of the things to do when you get very angry or very upset
to push shaytaan away from you)

Wudu: its conditions, pillars, obligations and sunnah

Conditions of Wudu: (remember: a condition is something that is separate from the act of
worship itself and that, without it, that act of worship is invalid)
There is only one condition for wudu and that is niya (intention). PROOF: hadith in
Bukhari & Muslim - “Every action is preceded by niyah and every man has [will be
rewarded according to] was his intention is for”. The niyah is made in the heart and is
not spoken out loud. To say it out loud is bid'ah because the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa
salam, never did this. Also there is no need to say it out loud since Allah knows what is in
the hearts. The niyah you should have is simple: 'to remove hadath'.

Pillars of Wudu: (remember: pillars are those things that if you miss one of them then the
act of worship is incomplete)
1. washing the face. What is meant by the 'face' here is the whole part of the body
from the hairline to the chin and from ear to ear. PROOF: Al-Ma'idah (5): ayat 6
[see above]
 2. washing the forearms up to the elbow. PROOF: Al-Ma'idah (5): 6. Note: the
washing of the hands at the start of wudu is a separate act and that this washing of
the forearms includes the hands as well. Also this washing of the forearms does
not mean 'to the elbow' but rather 'up to and including the elbow'. If you do not
include these parts then the washing of the forearms has not been done correctly
and is incomplete and the pillar has not been fulfilled.
3. Wiping the head PROOF: Al-Ma'idah (5): 6
4. washing the feet PROOF: Al-Ma'idah (5): 6. Just as washing the elbows is
included in washing the forearms, so washing the ankles is part of washing the feet.
Washing between the toes is also included as part of washing the feet.

NOTE: all four pillars are those four matters mentioned in Surah al-Ma'idah.

Fard / Wajib / Obligatory parts of the Wudu:

1. washing/rinsing out the mouth and the nose. You do this when you wash your
face. They are obligatory because they are part of washing the face and washing
the face is a pillar of wudu. PROOF (that it is fard): hadith in Muslim - “If one of you
does wudu then he should put water in his nose and blow it out” - and 'should' is an
order, and an order from the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, is an obligation,
ie. FARD. In Islam 'madhmadha' is the rinsing of the mouth and 'istinshaak' is the
rinsing of the nose, but when used by itself the word 'madhmadha' means both
rinsing the mouth and nose.
2. Wiping the ears - these are fard because this is considered part of 'wiping the
head' (which is a pillar).
3. Making wudu in the correct order because this is the order mentioned in the
Quran and also in the many descriptions we have in the Sunnah of the Prophet, sal
Allahu alayhi wa salam, and how he taught it to others.
4. 'Muwalaat' (timing), meaning that you should start washing the next part before
the one before it has dried.

Sunnah of Wudu
1. to use siwak (or a toothbrush) before making wudu
2. to say 'bismillah' before you begin
3. to wash your hands at the start
4. to do the madhmadha and istinshaak with one handful of water
5. to exaggerate the madhmadha and istinshaak except when fasting
6. to start with the right hand before the left (and the right foot before the left)
7. to wash the parts that are washed (fhands, face, mouth & nose, forearms, feet) 3
times. They can be washed once, twice or three times – all are from the Sunnah –
but 3 times is best. Wiping the head and ears is done just once. This is the
difference between 'washing' and 'wiping' – and those two different words are used
in the ayat about wudu in the Quran.
8. 'takhleel' (to rub into the beard)
9. to rub the limbs when washing. (Again this is another difference between 'washing'
and 'wiping' in the wudu – the parts to be 'washed' are rubbed back and forth, but
the parts that are 'wiped' are just wiped once with one movement)
10. going between the fingers and toes. This is only sunnah if the water reaches these
parts easily, but if it cannot reach those parts except with difficulty then it becomes
FARD to make sure the water reaches them.
11. Going beyond the limits – ie. going beyond the limit of the elbows and ankles. There
is hadith in Bukhari that says that the places of wudu will be white on the Last Day.
 It was narrated by Abu Huraira, radi Allahu anhu, who, after he narrated, added: “So
whoever can go further should do so.”
12. to use only a small amount of water. In the hadith [Bukhari & Muslim] it is clear that
the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, would use an amount of water about the
same as 2 litres for ghusl and about the same as half a litre for wudu.
13. Making dua after wudu.
14. Praying 2 rakat after wudu (as was done by Bilal, radi Allahu anhu)

Note: wudu is NOT valid if it is made on top of makeup or nail varnish, or anything
else that makes a barrier between the skin and the water. Colour that stains the skin
– such as henna – is fine, because this is not barrier, so wudu on top of henna
stains is valid insha'Allah.

Description of the Wudu, step by step, in order:

1. Say 'Bismillah' [sunnah]
2. Wash your hands (1, 2 or 3 times) [sunnah]
3. Wash/rinse out your mouth & nose with one handful of water (held in the right hand)
and blow out of the nose using your left hand. (1, 2 or 3 times) [fard/wajib]
4. wash your face (1, 2 or 3 times) [pillar]
5. wash your forearms – from fingertips to elbows, including the elbows. Start with the
right forearm, then the left. (1, 2 or 3 times) [pillar]
6. wipe the head (front to back, then back) and the ears. (1 time only) [pillar; ears
are fard/wajib]
7. wash the feet, including the ankles, starting with the right. (1, 2 or 3 times) [pillar]

What breaks your Wudu?

1. using the toilet (ie. urine or faeces)
2. breaking wind. Note: the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, taught us that you
only break your wudu if you HEAR something or SMELL something. You feel like
you broke wind, but you did not hear or smell anything, then you ignore it and
continue as if you still had wudu.
3. Deep sleep. Light sleep or dozing does not break the wudu. PROOF: We have
narrations of the Sahabah dozing in the mesjid after the adhaan and while waiting
for the iqaamah and then when the iqaamah was made, they would stand and pray
without going to make wudu.
4. Losing consciousness (passing out or fainting) and going mad. Included in this is if
you take medicine that makes you spaced out or if people drink alcohol and get
drunk and so on.
5. Eating camel meat.

What does NOT break wudu (even though some people might claim that it does)?
1. touching a woman without a barrier. [The Shafi'i madhab say that if you do not
touch a woman without a cloth between you and her skin, then you break your
wudu, but there is no daleel for this and it is incorrect]
2. blood. We have many proofs for this: Umar, radi Allahu anhu, was stabbed in his
salat and did not stop; the Sahaabah shot by an arrow in salat but did not stop to
wake his companion since he loved reciting Surah Al-Kahf and so completed his
salat first and only then woke the man with him. And there are many others like
this.
 3. Throwing up
4. laughing out loud, in or out of salat. [Some bring a hadith for this, but it is weak
(da'eef) and so not to be taken]
5. washing or carrying the dead
6. doubt ('shakk' in the Arabic) as to whether you broke your wudu or not. If you have
doubts, then you stay in a state of wudu until you are SURE you broke your wudu.
Shakk (doubt) can never outweigh yaqeen (certainty) in Islam. So, for example,
someone who is not sure if they broke wudu or not in their salat, keeps praying until
they smell something or is sure they heard something. If they do not hear or smell
anything, then they do not cut their salat and they assume they still have wudu. The
Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, said: “Do not leave until you hear a sound or
you smell (something).” Similarly, if you remember using the toilet but are not sure
if you made wudu or not, then you act upon what you are CERTAIN of (that you
broke your wudu), and you go and make wudu (even if you already made it and just
do not remember doing so). Act upon your certainty, never upon your doubt or
suspicions or 'just in case' – this is not correct.

Note: it is allowed to touch the Quran without wudu. Yes, it is from the sunnah,
preferred and recommended to be in a state of wudu if you touch it or recite it, but it is
NOT a requirement or obligatory. Those who say you cannot touch the mushaf without
tahaara bring two daleels in particular:
Daleel 1: Al-Waaqi'ah, ayat 79, which says that 'only the pure can touch it'. But this ayat
was not revealed about the Quran and human beings, so this is an incorrect tafsir
(interpretation, explanation of the Quran). The ayat is about the Lawh Al-Mahfoodh (the
Preserved Tablet that is with Allah) and the angels.
Daleel 2: A hadith that when the Prophet sent a book to Yemen it said that the Quran
should only be touched by those who were taahir.
Reply (a): the narration is da'eef (weak), and so it is not one to be taken and cannot be
brought as a proof
Reply (b): even though there are some scholars who do not agree that the narration is
weak, then what it is talking about is not about Muslims who do not have wudu. Rather it
is talking about people who do not have belief – ie. the kuffaar cannot touch it. To prove
this, we have the famous hadith in Bukhari & Muslim; “A mu'min (believer) is never najis”,
and taahir is the opposite of najis.

It is Sunnah to make wudu for several situations, including the following:

1. When you are going to make dua, adhkaar or recite Quran. PROOF: We have a
narration that the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, did not reply to someone's
salam until he had made wudu. But we also have narrations where he would make
adhkaar without wudu, so this tells us it is not fard (obligatory) to have wudu.
2. Before going to sleep
3. as part of ghusl

Wiping Over the Socks

It is permissible for someone, once they have made wudu and covered their feet with
socks (or similar), for them to be able to wipe on them when they next make wudu. We
have many proofs for this from many different hadith.

How long can you wipe for? 3 days for the traveller, 1 day for the 'resident' (someone
who is not travelling. PROOF: hadith - “3 days and 3 nights for the traveller and 1 day and
1 night for the resident.”

Important: we start counting the day or days from the 1 st time you wipe on the socks.
For example: imagine you make wudu for Dhur and put on socks. You pray Dhur and Asr
with that wudu, but by Maghreb you need to make wudu. You have not removed your
socks since you last made wudu, so you wipe over your socks for Maghreb instead of
washing your feet. So that is when you would start counting your day or days if you want
to carry on wiping. If you are not travelling you would be able to wipe over those same
socks, so long as you did not take them off, up to and including Asr the next day. You
would have to take them off and wash your feet for Maghreb the next day.

• Having holes in your socks does not affect the wiping, nor if they are see-through.
One scholar said, “Even if it is made of glass you can wipe over it.”
• The socks have to cover the ankle bone – ie. they have to cover the same limit that
is washed in the wudu.
• You only wipe over the top of the socks. Ali, radi Allahu anhu, said, “If the religion
was by intellect then wiping the socks would have been on the bottom not the top. I
saw the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, wiping on the top of his socks.”

What stops you from wiping?

 Whatever makes ghusl wajib upon you
 The time limit for wiping being reached
 Removal of the socks once you have wiped on them.
i) taking off the socks that have been wiped over does not break wudu or make
your wudu invalid or mean that you have to wash your feet. [PROOF – Ali, radi
Allahu anhu, wiped over socks, went to the mesjid and took off his socks and
prayed without making wudu again]
ii) taking off the socks after wudu, before you have wiped over them and then
covering the feet again either with the same socks or something different without
breaking wudu in that time (ie. you are still in a state of tahaara), means you
CAN still wipe over those socks.

• If you wipe on 2 layers and then take off the top layer, you can continue to wipe on
the bottom layer.
• If you wipe on socks and then put on a 2 nd layer (e.g. a pair of shoes) then you can
wipe over that 2nd layer. BUT if you break wudu before you put on that second layer
then you cannot wipe on the 2 nd layer, only on the 1st layer.

Wiping the Head Covering

It is permissible and from the authentic Sunnah to wipe over a head covering. There is a
difference of opinion as to whether you can just wipe on the head covering or whether you
need to include a bit of the hair at the forehead with the wiping, but the second opinion is
the better and safer opinion, insha'Allah.

Women can wipe over the khimaar (headscarf) but should include some of the hair at the
forehead. PROOF: this was what UmSalama, Mother of the Believers, radi Allahu anha,
used to do.

It is not like wiping over the socks: you do not have to put the imamah, khimar or taqiyyah
on in a state of taharah to be able to then wipe over it later. There is also no time limit.
Neither of these are conditions for wiping over the head covering, unlike wiping over the
socks.
Wiping on a plaster, bandage, plaster cast, etc
This is permissible. It was narrated from Ibn Umar, radi Allahu anhu: “If someone has a
wound and he has a bandage on the wound, then he can do wudu and wipe on the
bandage and wash around it.”

• Wiping on the bandage (or similar) can be for both wudu and ghusl
• It is not a condition that you have to have put the bandage (or similar) on when you
were in a state of tahaara (ie. it takes the same ruling as wiping on the head
covering, and is different to wiping on socks)
• There is no time limit as to how long you can wipe over it (which is, again, different
to wiping on socks)
• All things that are similar to a plaster or bandage take this same ruling – anything
that is covering a wound/is part of a healing process or for medical purposes.

Tayyaymum
The meaning is Islam is “to use the surface of the earth for tahaara to replace wudu and
ghusl.”

PROOF for tayyaymum: 1) Al-Maa'idah (5): 6 – this is the same ayat that orders making
wudu if you are about to pray and then says if “... you find no water then perform
tayaymum with clean earth and rub your faces and hands with it.”; 2) hadith - “The earth
was made for me and my Ummah as a mesjid and tahoora (meaning you can use it if you
do not find water). So whoever from my Ummah reaches the time for salat he has the
mesjid and the ablution.”

Tayyaymum replaces wudu or ghusl if you do not find water, or if there is water but
you cannot use it. This is the case for everyone, even the dead: you can do tayyaymum
on the dead if there is no water.

What do you use? Everything related to 'earth': sand, earth, dust, rock, etc. If
someone finds themselves in the position of having no water and no means of making
tayyaymum then they should still go ahead and pray due to the following PROOFS: 1) At-
Taghaabun (64): 16 - “So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you are able to
do so”; 2) Al-Baqarah (2): 286 - “Allah does not burden a person beyond what he can bear”

How is it done?
1: You make niyyah (intention). The niyyah is not spoken. The niyyah should be 'to
remove hadath.' If you have the niya to remove major hadath does that count as including
wudu as well? Yes, by the strongest opinion of the scholars.
2: You do what is described in Al-Maa'idah (5): 6 and we also have a hadith in Bukhari
where the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, showed someone how to do it. He hit the
ground with the palms of his hands, blew on his hands, then wiped his face, then the back
of his hands, then all of his hands. In another hadith he did exactly the same thing but
without blowing the dust off his hands, and in a third hadith he hit his hands against a wall
and wiped his face and hands, again without blowing. So the blowing is not a required
part of the tayyaymum.

Once you have done this, it is as if you made wudu, and everything that is halal for you
after wudu is halal for you after tayyaymum.

Everything that breaks wudu also breaks tayyaymum.