Taharah

All you want to know about Taharah

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Part of a series on the Islamic creed: Aqidah
Five Pillars of Islam
Shahādah - Profession of faith Ṣalāt - Prayers Zakāh - Paying of alms (giving to the poor) Ṣawm - Fasting during Ramadan Hajj - Pilgrimage to Mecca
Six articles of belief
Tawhīd - Oneness Prophets and Messengers in Islam Islamic holy books Angels The Last Judgment Predestination
Principles of the Religion (‘Uṣūlu d-Dīn)
Tawhīd - Oneness ‘Adalah - Justice Nubuwwah - Prophethood Imāmah - Leadership The Last Judgment
Practices of the Religion (Furū'u d-Dīn)
Ṣalāt - Prayers Ṣawm - Fasting during Ramadan Hajj - Pilgrimage to Mecca Zakāh - Poor-rate Khums - One-fifth tax Jihad - Struggle Commanding what is just Forbidding what is evil Tawallā' - Loving the Ahl al-Bayt Tabarrá - Disassociating Ahl al-Bayt's enemies
Ismaili 7 pillars
Walāyah - Guardianship Ṭahārah - Purity & cleanliness Ṣalāt - Prayers Zakāh - Purifying religious dues Ṣawm - Fasting during Ramadan Hajj - Pilgrimage to Mecca Jihad - Struggle
Others
Kharijite Sixth Pillar of Islam. This box: view • talk • edit

This article is about Hygiene in Islam.

For the Jewish Taharah ritual preparation for burial, see Bereavement in Judaism, preparing the body — Taharah.

Purity (Arabic: طهارة‎, Tahara) is an Ismaili pillar of Islam.

The Qur'an says: “In it there are men who love to observe purity and Allah loves those who maintain purity.”^{[Qur'an 9:108]}

Observing cleanliness of the body, the clothes and the surroundings is obligatory upon every Muslim, and this is considered as one of the pillars of Islam for the Ismailis.

Before offering prayers it is necessary to perform wudhoo and in certain cases Wudhoo and Ghusl both. The purifying agent is always pure water. However, during times when water is not available or is scarce, symbolic wudhoo and Ghusl can be performed with clean dry warth which is know as 'Tayammum'.

If the body or clothes show traces of blood, puss, urine, faeces, semen or alcohol then Taharat becomes essential. The clothes should be washed and the affected part of the body cleaned with pure water or the whole body given as Ghusl as the case may be.

A person must not touch the Qur'an if the person is not in the state of Taharat. The Qur'an says: “None shall touch it but those who are clean.”^{[Qur'an 56:79]}

Cleaning teeth is also very important. Muhammad is reported to have said that the angels of mercy turn away from a person whose mouths emits foul smell because of unclean teeth. It is not only unhygienic to neglect cleaning teeth but also an anti-social habit likely to repel people from one's presence.

Smoking

The mixed views on the subject came about because cigarettes are a more recent invention and did not exist at the time when the Qur'an was written in the 7th century A.D. Therefore, one cannot find a verse of Qur'an or words of Muhammad saying clearly that "Cigarette smoking is forbidden." However, there are many instances where the Qur'an gives us general guidelines, and calls upon Muslims to use their reason and intelligence, and seek guidance from Allah about what is right and wrong. It is universally understood that cigarette smoking causes a number of health problems that often ultimately result in death.