What is Ablution - Wudu and Ghuslu

What is Ablution? 

Ablution is the act of purifying the body/soul from stain (dirt), before worshipping Allah. It is also a ritual birth. This ablution can be perform using either water,  sand or stones,  provided all the elements are pure and clean from any type of impurities.

Ablution is the link between a believer's acts of worship(Al-Ibaadah) to his Lord(Allah), without ablution our prayers is incomplete or sometimes, it is render as invalid. Ablution perfect our worship and strengthen our belief towards our Ibaadah(worship).

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said,  that "Who ever pray without ablution is a disbeliever" This ablution must be performed before any obligatory act of worship in Islam, such as solaat ( The five daily prayers).

When ever ablution is performed,  a spiritual light as been initiated to the body/soul, as the saying of the wise  "performing Ablution upon ablution, is light upon light"

The term Wudu or Ghuslu can be referred to as Ablution in Islam,  as both term is a ritual birth but the two different terms are categorised since  one is an act of performing minor ritual birth(Wudu) and the other is an act of performing major ritual birth (Ghuslu).

The types of Ablution (Ritual birth) in Islam. 

There are mainly two types of ablution, 

• The Minor Ablution - WUDHU and
• The Major Ablution - GHUSLU  

WUDHU is the type of ablution that is performed to purify ones self from minor impurities like,  defecation, stain from animals or gutter and something of that nature, Allah says in the glorious Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:6

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِۚ...

Oh you who are believers, when you rise to [offer] prayer, wash your faces and also your forearms to the elbows and do wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles...

That's how important ablution is in Islam,  as it perfect our ibaadah(worship). 

There are obligatory parts of WUDHU and the sunnah acts. 

The 7 Obligatory parts of WUDHU include:

1. Intention
2. Washing of the face ( including mouth & nose).
3. Washing of the forearms reaching the elbow. 
4. Wiping over the entire head. 
5. Washing of the feet reaching the ankle. 
6. Sequence 
7. Succession.

The SUNNAH acts/ parts of WUDHU include:

1. Washing the hands to the wrist 3 times. 
2. Rinsing of the nose 3 times 
3. Rinsing of the mouth 3 times. 
4. Letting water reach ever part during wash. 
5. Use of Siwak (tooth stick). 
6. Inserting wet finger into thick beard. 
7. Starting with every right organs before the left. 
8. Sequence of all the obligatory parts.

You should remember to

Read: How To Perform Wudu (Minor Ablution)

GHUSLU is the type of ablution that is performed when ever someone engaged in major impurity like Janaba(sexual intercourse / menstruation) , Nifas and Haidoh. Allah say in the glorious Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:6

وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُۚ مَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ 

And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.

One have to perform Ghusl whenever he/she is not clean from major impurities  so as to make one clean in the presence of the Almighty Allah. Ghuslu is a trust between a worshiper and his Lord(Allah). Visit this page to know the full etiquette of Ghuslu.

Do remember to

Read on: How To Perform Complete Ghuslu 
And also: The 40 Minor Signs Of The Judgement Day.