WORSHIP: GHUSL (MAJOR ABLUTION)

The major ablution (ghusl) is the means of cleanliness and religious purification. The circumstances that require purification are considered major impurities in the Islamic faith. There are three main reasons for major ablution: major ritual impurity due to sexual intercourse or discharge of semen, completion of menstruation, and giving birth.

In addition to the situations stated above, performing ghusl is necessary for every person who embraces Islam. A woman who embraces Islam during her menstrual period must perform ghusl immediately after her monthly cycle ends.

There are three obligatory acts of performing ghusl:

1. Filling and gargling the mouth with water once.

2. Breathing water up into the nostrils once.

3. Washing the entire body so that no area of the body remains dry.

WORSHIP: ABLUTION

Ablution is the preparation for Prayer, our most vital duty of servitude. In these terms, ablution is virtually a gown of purification we must wear before we stand before God in worship. We must wear this gown, or in other words, perform the ritual of purification to perfection. Ablution is an important form of worship commanded in the Islamic faith to eliminate all kinds of physical and spiritual impurities.

Consider this verse of the Qur’an:

O you who believe! When you rise up for the Prayer, (if you have no ablution) wash your faces and your hands up to (and including) the elbows, and lightly rub your heads (with water), and (wash) your feet up to (and including) the ankles. (Al-Maedah 5:6).

The Islamic faith deemed the ritual purification compulsory in order to perform certain forms of worship, in particular the Prayer.

The noble Prophet likens the Prayer, and therefore the ablution, to a stream passing in front of our homes, and informs us that if any believer was to bathe in that stream five times a day he would be free of any impurity. Every believer who performs the ritual of purification (ablution) with the intention of standing before God in worship is paying particular importance to purification of the soul rather than physical purification.

Obligatory Acts of Ablution

- Washing the face

- Washing the arms including the elbows

- Wiping over the head

- Washing the feet up to the ankles

Words of the Noble Prophet

The Messenger of God said, “Whoever goes to sleep in a state of purity will have an angel over his head and he will not awaken until the angel says, ‘O Lord, forgive your servant for he has slept in a state of purity.’” * * *

“Whenever the time for Prayer comes, an angel says, ‘O people! Rise and extinguish the fire that you kindled to burn yourselves (with your sins)!’ So the people rise up, perform ablution and perform the Noon Prayer. Due to this they are forgiven for their sins committed since daybreak. The same is repeated at the time of the Late Noon, Evening and Night Prayers. Then people go to bed, but there are some who occupy themselves in good, while some in evil, deeds.”

Questions

1) Which of the angels’ duties given below is incorrect?

A) Jibril (Gabriel) is the angel of revelations.

B) Mikail (Michael) is the angel responsible for questioning in the grave.

C) Israfil (Raphael) is the angel in charge of blowing the horn.

D) Azrail (Azrael) is the angel of death.

2) How many angels did God send to the noble Prophet following his supplication during the Battle of Badr?

A) 10 B) 100 C) 1000 D) 10,000

3) Every person is appointed two angels. One of these angels records the person’s good deeds, while the other records his sins. Which of the names given below is the name of these angels?

A) Jibril C) Israfil

B) Mikail D) Kiraman Katibin

4) Which of the following is not a cause for performing ghusl (major ablution)?

A) Sexual intercourse or discharge of semen

B) Menstruation

C) Giving birth

D) Sleep

5) The verse “Every soul is bound to taste death” (Al Imran 3:185) is mainly confirmation of which of the following?

A) Belief in the angels

B) Belief in the Hereafter

C) Belief in the Holy Books

D) Belief in the Prophets