Allah Loves those who are Ritually Pure, would you like to Join!
Taharah: Ritual purity and cleansing
Salaat is a very significant Pillar of Islam. It is called the “Gift of Mi`raaj” became obligatory during Prophet Muhammad (Sallahu Alaih wa Sallam, cited hereafter as SAWS) ascension to the heaven just before his Hijra (migration) to Madina.
When performing Salaat, one stands before Allah and communicates with Him. Although His presence is unseen, He is always with you. Therefore, it is essential to maintain Taharah by ensuring that your body, clothing, and place of worship are pure, unpolluted, and ritually cleansed.
This commitment to purity goes beyond dressing sharply for a job interview or an important event. In Salaat, you stand before Allah—the Creator of the Universe and the Owner of everything. Consequently, you must approach this act of worship with utmost ritual purity, presenting yourself respectfully and attentively before Him.
People represent the image of Allah on earth. They are the best of Allah’s creation (Ahsan al Khaliqeen) in the Qur’an. Allah is pure and loves ritual purity (Taharah) and love those who stays with ritual purity. The Qur’an says:
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
(Verily, God loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and He loves those who keep themselves pure. Q. 2:222).
Ritual purity goes beyond simply showering, dressing well, or preparing to go to work. It involves protecting oneself from impurities that can affect not only one’s mindset, soul, and physical health but also the environment as a whole.
Muslims are Allah’s custodians on earth, responsible for taking care of themselves and the world around them. Consider this responsibility when the Qur’an instructs the Prophet (SAWS) to begin preaching Islam with the command: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ And purify your garment, وَٱلرُّجْزَ فَٱهْجُرْ And shun all defilement (Q. 74:3,4).
The Prophet (SAWS) applied the Qur’anic ritual purity on himself and modeled a humane behavior which the Qur’an praised: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ (for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life).
Emphasizing on the significance of ritual purity, the Prophet (SAWS) said الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الإِيمَانِ (Purification is half the faith( Iman)). (Sahih Muslim 223 (Book 2, Hadith 1) He further said: إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ يُحِبُّ الطَّيِّبَ نَظِيفٌ يُحِبُّ النَّظَافَةَ (‘Indeed Allah is Tayyib (good) and he loves Tayyib (what is good), and He is Nazif (pure) and He loves ritual purity, (Jami at-Tirmidhi 2799 (Book 43, Hadith 72)
Allah loves those believers who are of sound mind, healthy, good looking, and ritually pure. We are ambassadors of Islam living in America and Europe, and people observe our actions and behavior.
What is unique about Islam is that while many of its values are embraced in America and Europe, ritual purity is often missing. A similar situation existed in Makkah, where the people possessed many admirable qualities yet lacked ritual purity. That is why Allah commanded Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) to exemplify ritual purity—not only by maintaining purity of intention, mind, and soul but also by dressing well and looking handsome—so that people in Makkah and elsewhere could witness the transformative impact of Islam’s humane behavior and gentleness.