Surah al-Ma'idah (The Table) 5 : 6

Overview (Verse 6)

Getting Ready for Prayer
 
This discourse about good food and good, virtuous women is followed by a reference to prayer and regulations governing purification in preparation for prayer. “Believers, when you are about to pray, wash your faces, and your hands and arms up to the elbows, and pass your wet hands lightly over your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, purify yourselves. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or if one of you has come from the toilet, or if you have been in intimate contact with women and can find no water, then have recourse to pure dust, passing therewith lightly over your faces and your hands. God does not want to impose any hardship on you, but He wants to purify you, and to bestow on you the full measure of His blessings, so that you may be grateful.” (Verse 6)
 
It is not by mere coincidence that regulations on purification are mentioned together with regulations on hunting, consecration and dealing with those who turned the Muslims away from the Sacred Mosque. Nor is it unrelated to the general context of this sūrah. Indeed, it comes at the right place to serve a definite purpose. Firstly, this is a reference to another aspect of the good things of life: a pure enjoyment of the spirit which is mentioned together with good food and virtuous women. In prayer, a believer finds enjoyment that surpasses that of all material luxuries. It is the enjoyment of a meeting with God in an atmosphere of purity and total devotion. When the pleasures of food and marriage have been outlined, reference is made to a higher level of enjoyment, namely, purification and prayer. Together, both types of enjoyment are necessary for man.
 
Secondly, the regulations governing purification and prayer are the same as other regulations outlined in the sūrah, whether relating to food and marriage, permissible and forbidden hunting, or to human relations in times of peace and war: all these regulations are devotional. In their totality, they constitute the religion acceptable to God. In Islam, there is no difference between what is termed as “rulings on worship” and “rulings governing human transactions”. This division has been established by scholars to serve the requirements of classification. It is not essential to the Divine way of life or to Islamic law. The Divine way of life comprises both aspects which together form the religion and the law God has laid down for people to follow. Neither category has any precedence over the other. Indeed, neither can be properly fulfilled without the other. Islam cannot be properly implemented in the life of the Muslim community unless both sets of rulings are strictly followed.
 
All these regulations are “contracts” which the believers are ordered by God to fulfil. All of them are devotional in the sense that a Muslim fulfils them in order to earn God’s pleasure. They are all manifestations of a Muslim’s submission to God. We cannot separate worship from transactions except in scholarly classification. Both types indicate aspects of worship, duties and contracts made with God. To violate any of them is to violate the basic contract of believing in God. It is to this fundamental fact that the Qur’ānic ordering of the regulations outlined in this sūrah refers.
 
Too Valuable an Obligation
 
“Believers, when you are about to pray...” Prayer is a meeting with God. Anyone who is about to offer a prayer stands up in front of God Himself, makes his supplication to Him, and addresses Him in a highly intimate manner. Therefore, it is important to prepare for it properly. In this respect, it is necessary to undergo a physical purification to help with the spiritual preparation. Perhaps this is the reason, as we understand it — though God alone knows the truth — for the requirement of ablution, the essential parts of which are detailed in this Qur’ānic verse: to wash one’s face, hands and arms to the elbows, to wipe one’s head lightly with one’s wet hand and to wash one’s feet up to the ankles. These requirements are the subject of very minor differences among scholars, perhaps the most important of which is whether they should be done in the order they are mentioned in this verse or done without following any particular order. This type of ablution is required for a minor invalidation of purity, such as going to the toilet or releasing wind. A shower or a bath in which one washes all one’s body is required to remove a state of ceremonial impurity which happens as a result of ejaculation whether through a wet dream or when awake, sexual intercourse and also women’s menstruation.
 
Having outlined the requirements of ablution in both ordinary and total situations, the Qur’ānic verse speaks of dry ablution which may replace either type. This is a concession of which Muslims may avail themselves in the following situations: when water is not available; when a person is ill and needs to have an ordinary ablution, i.e. wuđū’, or when he is required to have a grand ablution, i.e. ghusl, but where water may be harmful to him; and when a person is travelling and needs to perform either type of ablution.
 
The sūrah refers to the reasons requiring ordinary ablution by the phrase: ‘or if one of you has come from the toilet’, which indicates answering a call of nature in any way. As for what requires total ablution, washing one’s whole body, the sūrah uses a gentle expression indicating sexual contact: “Or if you have been in intimate contact with women.” In any of these situations, a person who cannot find or use water may not offer his prayer until he has performed dry ablution. He should select a clean surface, on the earth itself or anything associated with it, even if it is the saddle of his horse or mule, or a wall. He must make sure that the surface is free from impurity. He strikes it with both hands, shakes it and wipes it over his face, and then wipes it over his hands up to the elbows. Some scholars say that one strike is sufficient to wipe over the face and both hands, while others say two strikes are required, one to wipe the face and the other to wipe the hands. There are other differences among scholars about what is meant by “or if you have been in intimate contact with women”. Is it any touch or contact? Or is it sexual intercourse? Or is it any touch associated with sexual thoughts? Similarly, scholars speak about whether any illness allows dry ablution, or whether it is only an illness that makes the use of water harmful. Moreover, it is perhaps more correct to say that if water is too cold or if the person fears that using the water may cause him harm, then dry ablution is permissible.
 
The verse concludes with this comment: “God does not want to impose any hardship on you, but He wants to purify you, and to bestow on you the full measure of His blessings, so that you may be grateful.” (Verse 6)
 
As we have already said, purification is an essential requirement before a meeting with God. In both ordinary and total ablution, i.e. washing certain parts of one’s body or the whole of one’s body, the requirement of purification is met physically and spiritually. In dry ablution, only the spiritual part is fulfilled. It is considered sufficient when water is not available or can be harmful. God does not want to afflict people or to overburden them or cause them any difficulty in meeting their religious duties. He simply wants them to be blessed with the grace of purification and to make them feel His grace so that they show their gratitude to Him. When they do, He increases and even multiplies His grace. This clearly illustrates how the easy Islamic code of living combines a gentle and practical approach with Divine blessings.
 
This Qur’ānic verse states clearly the Divine purpose behind the requirements of ablution, ordinary and total: “He (God) wants to purify you, and to bestow on you the full measure of His blessings, so that you may be grateful.” When we reflect on this statement, we are bound to see the thread of unity and complementarity Islam establishes between worship and other legislation. Washing some parts of our bodies as we do in ablution, wuđū’, or having a full bath, ghusl, as we do in total ablution, are not merely meant for physical cleanliness. Otherwise, some pedantic people these days might claim that we have no need for the rituals of the primitive Arabs, since our standards of civilization mean that we take a bath regularly and keep our bodies clean. The fact is that this is a double- fronted exercise to unite the cleanliness of the body with the purification of the soul in the same act of worship a believer addresses to his Lord. The spiritual side is certainly stronger because when it is not possible or inadvisable to use water, dry ablution, which fulfils only this stronger aspect, is deemed sufficient. Moreover, this religion of Islam is a complete way of life which addresses all situations in all societies and stages with a unified and consistent system. In this way, its purpose is realised in all situations in one way or another. Let us then make sure that we fully understand the purpose of Islam before passing a judgement that may not be based on sound knowledge or Divine guidance. We must also maintain an attitude of propriety when we speak about God and His legislation.
 
Talking about dry ablution as a substitute for ablution with water leads us to consider the fact that Islam is especially keen that obligatory prayer be regularly attended to, in other words without fail. This provision added to similar ones relating to offering prayer in times of fear, or in the case of illness, when it can be offered in seated or reclining positions, shows that every impediment preventing anyone from offering prayers is removed. Islam takes extra care that prayer is offered at its defined times. Indeed, Islam relies heavily on this particular aspect of worship to achieve its educational and reform purposes, so as to mould human nature in a satisfactory shape. As prayer is a meeting with God, a believer feels that when he stands in front of God, this contact is so profoundly important to him that he would not wish to lose it even in the most critical of situations. No difficulty should prevent a Muslim from this meeting with his Lord. He derives from it reassurance, happiness and a contented heart. To him, this is a treasure too valuable to lose.