CLEANLINESS IN ISLAM

wearing showy apparel. In Islam, the devotee is required, ideally to worship in clothes which are simple, and above all, clean. In the realm of spiritual development, one of the principal elements is purification through penitence. As the Quran says “God loves those who turn to Him in repentance and purify themselves.” (2: 222) Just as repentance frees body and soul of worldly moral duress, so does water remove impurities from body and clothing. Islam accordingly, exhorts one to turn in remembrance to God, thus purifying the soul. The mosque, the focal point of Islamic life, is called in a Hadith the “home of the pious people.” As the Quran puts it: “There you shall find men who would keep pure. God loves those who purify themselves” (9: 108). We are asked, therefore, to clean the mosque, ridding it of noise and dust, just as Abraham and Ishmael were enjoined “to cleanse our House (the Kabah) for those who walk around it, who meditate in it, and who kneel and prostrate themselves.” (2: 125) Following the examples of the sanitising of the mosque, Muslims are urged to keep their bodies pure by ablution and bathing, their clothes clean by regular washing and their houses and their surrounding spotless. These practices are incumbent upon every Muslim. According to a Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said, “God is pure and loves purity,” which means that cleanliness and purity are on the highest scale of cardinal virtues. What God loves is undoubtedly of supreme value. Every Muslim must, in consequence, lead a life marked by cleanliness and purity in order to earn the approval of his Creator. o Just as repentance frees body and soul of worldly moral duress, so does water remove impurities from body and clothing. Peace of Mind Peace of mind can be attained by making all efforts to change what we can, and learning to live with the things which we cannot change.