Wudhu (ablution) with intent

In performing repetitive ritualistic acts, it is so easy to slip into mechanical mode and to forget the beauty of what we are doing and why we are doing it. A good example of this is Wudhu (ablution). We wash without a care and without a thought, for example, for the many sins flowing out and leaving our bodies.

Here are some quotes to get you thinking and to give your Wudhu a deeper meaning:

"... He shall rinse his mouth thrice with water and say afterwards: 'O God, help me to read Thy book and glorify Thy name'. Then he shall take up water and cleanse his nose thrice and say: 'O God, grant me to enjoy the fragrance of paradise while Thou art pleased to promise it to me'...

... As he washes his face, he should say: 'O God, make my face white and bright with Thy light on the day when Thou will make the faces of Thy friends bright'...

... He should then wash his arms up to the elbows three times. The believers will come on the Day of Resurrection with brightness on their foreheads, wrists and ankles from the effect of ablution...

... When he will finish ablution thus, he should raise his head towards the sky and say: 'I testify that there is no deity but God. He is one and there is no partner for Him. I testify also that Muhammad is the servant and Apostle of God'..."

(Source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-id-Deen)

The toothstick (miswaak)

"... The Prophet said: 'Your mouths are the pathways of Quran. Cleanse them therefore with toothstick'.

The Prophet said: 'Prayer after the use of toothstick is better than prayer without its use by seventy-five times'.

He said: 'Had it not been difficult for my followers, I would have ordered them to use toothstick before every prayer'.

... Hazrat Ibn Abbas said: 'The Prophet has so repeatedly commanded us to use toothstick that we thought soon a revelation would come for its use'.

... Hazrat Ali said: 'Use of toothstick increases memory and removes phlegm'.

The Companions of the Prophet used to keep toothstick in their ears even at the time of journey..."

(Source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-id-Deen)

Suhaib Ibn Sinaan (may Allah be pleased with him)

"... 'And of mankind is he who would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah...'

Ibn Abbaas, Anas, Sa'eed bin Musayyib, Abu Uthmaan An-Nahdi, Ikrimah and several other scholars said that this Aayah was revealed about Suhayb bin Sinaan Ar-Ruumi. When Suhayb became a Muslim in Makkah and intended to migrate (to Al-Madinah), the people (Quraysh) prevented him from migrating with his money. They said that if he forfeits his property, he is free to migrate. He abandoned his money and preferred to migrate, and Allah revealed this Aayah about him. Umar bin Khattaab and several other Companions met Suhayb close to the outskirts of Al-Madinah at Al-Harrah (flat lands with black stones). They said to him, 'The trade has indeed been successful.' He answered them, 'You too, may Allah never allow your trade to fail. What is the matter?' Umar told him that Allah has revealed this Aayah (2:207) about him. It was also reported that Allah's Messenger (SAWS) said, 'The trade has been successful, O Suhayb!'..."

(Source: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, partial explanation of verse 2:207)

What a great Companion! A name and a story to inspire belief, honour, loyalty, courage, sacrifice, generosity and selflessness.

Governed to the minutest detail and proud

"Hazrat Salman said: 'The Prophet taught us everything even how to cleanse after [answering the] call of nature...'"

(Source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya-Ulum-id-Deen)

Ain't it funny when you have a conversation about a particular topic and later randomly independently stumble upon that very topic in reading, both in the same day? Anyway, the point here is that we are a people governed to the minutest detail... and proud of it. :-)>

Evils of debates

As well as the conditions to test your sincerity against (see previous post), Imam Ghazzali (may Allah have mercy on him) specifies ten evils of debates, as follows:

"(1) Envy... A debater is never free from envy and hatred. Envy is a burning fire. One who falls in it gets punishment in the world...
(2) Pride...
(3) Rancour [i.e. a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will]. A debater is seldom free from the evil of rancour...
(4) Back-biting... A debater ascribes to his opponent foolishness, ignorance and stupidity.
(5) Declaration of self-purity...
(6) Spying and prying into the secrets of [one's] adversary...
(7) Hypocrisy. A debater expresses his friendship for his adversary outwardly but he cherishes hatred for him inwardly...
(8) To turn away from truth. The most hateful thing to a debater is to reject the truth revealed to his adversary and thus he takes to deception and deceit...
(9) ... show and battering [flattering?] the people in an effort to win their favour and to mislead them. Hypocrisy is the greatest disease with which a debater is attacked and it is a major sin.
(10) Deception. Debaters are compelled to deception."

Conditions of Debates

Just found a beautiful characterisation of debates and the debater in Imam Ghazzali's Ihya-Ulum-Id-Deen. Imam Ghazzali specifies eight conditions which provide a good means of identifying when we are debating for the sake of God and when we are debating for other purposes. Here's the fifth and sixth conditions:

"(5)... the debate should be held in private in preference to open meetings in presence of noted people and in grandeur because privacy is more suitable for clear thinking and to examine what is right and what is wrong."

"(6)... the debater should like truth in the same spirit as a lost thing is searched for. He should not mind whether the truth is found by him or by his adversary. When Hazrat Umar was once given sermon, a woman pointed out to him his mistake to which he submitted. At another time, Hazrat Ali was asked a question by a man and he replied. When the man pointed out his mistake, he admitted it."