Fiqh Lessons
Part I


The Muslim Ummah has been favored by the code of hygience that no other religion enjoins on its followers as Islam enjoins on its adherents. The purpose of ritual purification is that a Muslim prepares himself for Salah which is the most important act of worship during which Allah faces His slave.
Besides, Allah Himself is pure and loves and accepts every pure thing in terms of acts of worship, utterances, and earning.
Cleanliness is referred to in Islam as purification, and it is a precondition for the validity of Salah. Allah says:

Verily Allah loves, the repentant and He loves those who clean themselves.1


The Kinds of Najasah (Ritual Impurities):
1. The dead animal2, except for fish and locust.
2. Swine flesh.
3. Human urine.
4. Al-Waddi (white prostatic fluid) and Al-Madthi3 .
5. Urine and dung of animals whose flesh is not lawful to consume, such as swine, donkeys, mules, dogs, and the like.

Sunan al-Fitrah
1. Trimming mustaches.
2. Growing beards. (This is not just an option or voluntary).
It is incumbent of every Muslim according to the command of the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention:

‘Grow the beards and trim the mustaches.’ 4

There is a grave warning from Allah against disobeying His Messenger, may Allah exalt his mention, saying:

Let those who disobey his command beware lest a fitnah, or painful tormet befall them.5

Since the beard is one of the main features of manhood, then shaving it off is an act which calls for the curse of Allah.
Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, said:

“Allah curses men who copy women and women who copy men.’ 6

3. Using the Siwak.
4. Sniffing water (a procedural step of wudhu).
5. Trimming fingernails and toenails.
6. Washing the knuckles.
7. plucking, or shaving off armpit hair.
8. Shaving off pubic hair.
9. Istinjaa.
The narrator said:

‘I forgot what was the tenth, unless it is rinsing the mouth during wudhu.’ 7

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, said:
There are five things of the fitrah:
1. Al-Istihdaad, (shaving off pubic hair).
2. Circumcission, which is a must for the males, based on the the following command of Allah:

Then We revealed to you (the command) to follow the deen of Ibraheem8 . Besides it is one ofthe rituals that differentiate the Muslims from the Christians.

3. Trimming mustaches.
4. Trimming the fingernails and toenails.
5. Plucking or shaving off the hair of the armpit.
9

1 Q. 2:222

2 This includes animals that are lawful for food but are not slaughtered in accordance with Islamic rites, or that died by other than slaughtering.

3 Prostatic fluid emitted as result of sexual excitement.

4 Bukhari, Muslim and others.

5 Q. 24:63

6 Bukhari

7 Bukhari and Muslim.

8 Q. 16:23

9 Bukhari