Cleanliness is an important part of a Muslim’s life. It is part of our faith because if we are always clean, this will encourage us to do more good deeds that will increase our faith and strengthen our relationship with Allah.
The main purpose of Allah sending us in this world is to worship him. If we do not stay clean then how will we carry out the worship Allah.
In a Hadith it is narrated:
عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكِ الْأَشْعَرِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الْإِيمَانِ
‘Cleanliness is half of Imān’
1. Great emphasis has been placed on cleanliness and it is mentioned numerous times in both the Qur’ān and the Ḥadīth to show its paramount importance in Islām.
2. The reason why it is so important is that it is a pre-requisite, a condition for prayer. Before a person can engage in certain types of prayer like Ṣalāt, Ṭawāf or reading the Qur’ān, a person must be in a state of Purity. Being in a state of physical purity also safeguards people from many illnesses and diseases.
We all are aware that Allah is jameel (beautiful) and loves jamal (beauty), and cleanliness is part of beauty, so therefore we should take extra care in keeping our environment and more-so ourselves clean physically and spiritually as this will be a result of Allah being pleased with us.
It is very sad to say that nowadays a person keeps his focus only on the outer self, meaning keeping his clothes, body, house etc clean, but rather a person should keep his focus on cleansing himself spiritually I.e the heart.
In a Hadith it is narrated:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَنْظُرُ إِلَىٰ صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَی
قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ
“Indeed, Allah does not look at your bodies nor at your appearances, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds.”
When the Prophet ﷺ says that Allah does not look at our bodies or appearances, it means that physical beauty, wealth, clothing, race, or social status have no value by themselves in the sight of Allah.
Therefore we learn that we need to focus on purifying our hearts more than impressing people.
May Allah grant us the abitly to practice upon this
Ameen