Allah Almighty says: {O you who believe, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles...} until the end of the verse: {Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.} [Surat al-Mā’idah: 6]
1) Ablution is a favor from Allah Almighty upon this Ummah, as it contains outward purification in the form of cleanliness and inward purification represented by complying with the command of Allah and His Messenger.
2) The verse includes description of ablution and bathing and the ruling on dry ablution - all without any inconvenience or difficulty. Allah Almighty is more merciful to us than ourselves. All what He legislated is good and beneficial for us, and all what He prohibited is harmful and bad for us.
3) A person should receive favors with gratitude, observing the commands and prohibitions of Allah Almighty and believing what He revealed.
1024/1 - Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: “My nation will come forth on the Day of Judgment like the ‘Ghurr (bright faces) Muhajjalīn’ (bright hands and legs) from the traces of ablution.”
So whoever can lengthen his Ghurrah should do so. [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
Ghurr: pl. of Agharr (having a white blaze on the forehead); derived from 'Ghurrah': the white blaze on the forehead of a horse.
Muhajjalīn: pl. of Muhajjal (having white legs); meaning their hands and legs are bright and radiant because they were washed in ablution.
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1) It shows the merit of ablution. It will be a light for the believers in this Ummah on the Day of Judgment, as an exclusive privilege for them.
2) It highlights the merit of this Ummah as Allah Almighty has given it certain characteristics to the exclusion to other communities. In a Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “You have distinctive features not possessed by anyone else but you.” [Narrated by Muslim]
3) Acts of worship leave a trace and light on the face, unlike sins, which bring darkness to the face. So, a believer should strive to bring brightness to his face through acts of piety and beware of blackening it by the darkness of sins.
Regarding the words “Whoever can lengthen his Ghurrah should do so”, the scholars said: This sentence is not part of the Prophet’s statement; rather, it was said by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) out of his desire to urge people to increase their Ghurrah, which is not possible (because the area of the face is limited). Commenting on this, Ibn Al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy upon him) said in his poem (what means):
Abu Hurayrah said that from his own accord, and it is recognizable by those who have knowledge
It is not possible to lengthen the Ghurrah as well, and this is crystal clear
1025/2 - He also reported: I heard the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: “The adornment of the believer will reach as far as his ablution reaches.” [Narrated by Muslim]
1) Part of the merit of ablution is that the parts of the body included in it will be an adornment with which the believer, male or female, will be adorned in Paradise.
2) Recompense for a deed should be of the same nature of the deed. Allah Almighty rewards the believers with jewelry of gold, silver, and pearl at the places where ablution is made, as recompense for their regular performance of it in the worldly life.
1026/3 - ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “He who performs ablution perfectly, his sins will leave his body until they come out from under his fingernails.” [Narrated by Muslim]
1027/4 - He also reported: I saw the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) perform ablution like this ablution of mine and then he said: “He who performs ablution like this, his past sins will be forgiven and his prayer and walk to the mosque will be a supererogatory act of worship.” [Narrated by Muslim]
1028/5 - Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If a Muslim – or a believer – performs ablution, when he washes his face, every sin he has committed with his eyes is washed away with water, or with the last drop of water; when he washes his hands, every sin he has committed with his hands is washed away with water, or with the last drop of water; and when he washes his feet, every sin that his feet walked towards is washed away with water, or with the last drop of water, until he comes out cleansed of sins.” [Narrated by Muslim]
1) Ablution is a great act of worship, as it leads to forgiveness of sins, even the smallest of them, which lie under the fingernails.
2) When a Muslim, during ablution, feels sincerity to Allah Almighty and adherence to the Prophet’s Sunnah and recalls forgiveness of sins due to his ablution, all this is worship for which he will be rewarded. A fortunate person is the one guided to these meanings in terms of awareness and action.
3) They show the merit of this Ummah, as Allah Almighty grants them great rewards for small deeds.
4) The Companion in the Hadīth followed the Prophet’s example and was keen to convey his guidance to the Ummah. This is a sign of the honor and virtue of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). May Allah show mercy to those who follow in their footsteps!
5) Allah Almighty is merciful to this Ummah, as He legislated for them simple acts of worship for which He forgives many sins. Expiations of sins are a divine mercy towards the believers.
His statement “his prayer and walk to the mosque will be a supererogatory act of worship,”
supererogatory linguistically means surplus or addition. A similar meaning occurs in the verse that says: {And from [part of] the night, pray with it as supererogatory [worship] for you.} i.e. as additional worship for you. The Hadīth means that his prayer and walk to the mosque is an addition to the forgiveness of sins as a result of his ablution and initial prayer, which is the Sunnah prayer to be offered after ablution.
1029/6 - He also reported: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) went to the cemetery and said: “Peace be upon you, O dwellers of abode of the believers! We, if Allah wills, will follow you. I wish that we could see our brothers.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, are we not your brothers?” He said: “You are my Companions, but my brothers are those who have not come into the world yet.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, how will you recognize those of your Ummah who are not born yet?” He said: “Say, if a man has white-footed horses with white foreheads among horses which are pitch black, will he not recognize his own horses?” They said: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah!” He said: “They will come with bright faces and white hands and feet from ablution; and I will arrive at the Basin ahead of them.” [Narrated by Muslim]
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1) It is permissible to visit the graves, as they remind us of the Hereafter. The reason behind the reported prohibition of visiting the graves is that people in the initial phase of Islam had recently left polytheism; that is why the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) feared that their hearts would be attached to the graves. So, he prohibited them from visiting them. Thereafter, when monotheism and faith settled in people’s hearts, he encouraged them to visit the graves, and the prohibition was thus abrogated.
2) It is Sunnah for a Muslim to give this greeting when he visits the graves: “Peace be upon you, dwellers of the abode of the believers.”
3) The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were brothers and companions to the Prophet; but those who came later are his brothers, not his companions.
4) The trace of ablution in the face and limbs on the Day of Judgment will be a sign characterizing this Ummah, out of Allah’s grace and bounty.
5) We may supplicate Allah to have mercy on the dwellers of the graves, but we may not ask those in the graves to supplicate for us, as they have no power to bring about benefit or cause harm.
1030/7 - He also reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Shall I inform you of that by which Allah erases sins and raises ranks?” They said: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah!” He said: “Performing ablution thoroughly despite difficulties, taking many steps to mosques, and waiting for the next prayer after the last prayer; that is the Ribāt, that is the Ribāt (standing vigil for the sake of Allah).” [Narrated by Muslim]
1) The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were keen to know the ways of good and act upon them. That is the believer; he inquires about the gates of goodness to be among those who enter through them.
2) Ablution – performed without intentional difficulty – expiates sins, provided no harm is involved; otherwise, it should not be made; rather, a person should perform dry ablution to avoid harm.
3) A person is not required or recommended to do anything that causes him hardship or harm. On the contrary, the easier the worship, the better.
4) It shows the merit of congregational prayer in the mosque. If a person goes to the mosque from a distant place, he gets a greater reward, provided he does not go to a distant mosque on purpose.
1031/8 - Abu Mālik al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Purity is half of faith.” [Narrated by Muslim]
It was cited in its entirety in the chapter on patience
The chapter also contains the Hadīth reported by ‘Amr ibn ‘Abasah (may Allah be pleased with him) cited above in the latter part of the chapter on hope. It is a great Hadīth indeed that includes lots of good things.
1) Purity includes both physical purification by ablution (Wudū) and bathing (Ghusl); and moral purification, like freedom from polytheism, doubts, spite, and rancor.
2) Half of faith is to attain both outward physical purification and inward moral purification through removing tangible impurities and getting rid of vices and different types of polytheism, religious innovations, and sins.
The other half is possessing virtues, such as noble manners and good deeds.
As regards Al-Nawawi’s statement: “The chapter also contains the Hadīth reported by ‘Amr ibn ‘Abasah (may Allah be pleased with him) cited above in the latter part of the chapter on hope. It is a great Hadīth indeed, which includes lots of good things,”
the Hadīth has been previously cited with the number 438, and the part of it that focuses on the merit of ablution says: “When a person begins ablution and rinses his mouth and nose, the sins committed by his face, mouth, and nostrils are washed out. Then if he washes his wrist...” to the end of the Hadīth.
1032/9 - ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If anyone of you performs ablution thoroughly and then says, ‘Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharīka lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasūluh’ (I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone without any partner and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger,’ the eight gates of Paradise will be opened for him and he may enter from whichever of them he wishes.” [Narrated by Muslim]
An addition by Al-Tirmidhi says: “Allahumma ij‘alni min at-tawwābīn waj‘alni min al-mutatahhirīn (O Allah, make me of those who are constantly repentant and those who constantly purify themselves).”
1) Performing ablution according to the Prophet’s guidance is a reason for entering Paradise.
2) Proclaiming the testimony of faith after ablution constitutes a combination of both inward purification and outward purification.
3) It points out the merit of performing ablution thoroughly and completely according to the Prophet’s guidance. A believer should be keen to learn the Prophet’s guidance in ablution just as he is keen to learn it concerning prayer.