A Day in Your Life – No. 3: How to do wudhu properly…

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu Alaikum.

 [This is the series with all the lovely bathroom pics, remember?]

So where were you?

Well, currently you’re in the bathroom, dying to rush out and get some coffee.

Sorry, that’s going to have to wait. It’s time for Fajr and you need to do wudhu (ablution) first.

So, now you need to head over to the wash basin (or sink, if you prefer).

Photo courtesy of Artceram

[Why do I get the feeling that you’re still thinking about the coffee?]

So, how do you do wudhu?

Well, you do it the way the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) did it, of course.

If you’re a beginner, please read this post on my New Muslim blog.

If you want something more advanced, then try this book: The Prophet’s (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) Wudhu

Apart from doing the external actions the proper way, don’t forget to renew your intention when doing wudhu.

How can you do that? Well, one of the ways is to remember the many virtues of doing wudhu. Here’s one of them:

إذا توضأ العبد المؤمن ، فتمضمض ، خرجت الخطايا من فيه ، فإذا استنثر خرجت الخطايا من أنفه ، فإذا غسل وجهه خرجت الخطايا من وجهه ، حتى تخرج من تحت أشفار عينيه ، فإذا غسل يديه خرجت الخطايا من يديه ، حتى تخرج من تحت أظفار يديه ، فإذا مسح برأسه خرجت الخطايا من رأسه ، حتى تخرج من أذنيه ، فإذا غسل رجليه خرجت الخطايا من رجليه ، حتى تخرج من تحت أظفار رجليه ، ثم كان مشيه إلى المسجد ، وصلاته نافلة له

It was narrated from Abdullah As-Sunaabihi that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: “When the believing slave performs wudhu and rinses his mouth, his sins come out from his mouth. When he sniffs water into his nose and blows it out, his sins come out from his nose. When he washes his face, his sins come out from his face, even from beneath his eyelashes. When he washes his hands, his sins come out from his hands, even from beneath his fingernails. When he wipes his head, his sins come out from head, even from his ears. When he washes his feet, his sins come out from his feet, even from beneath his toenails. Then his walking to the masjid and his salah will earn extra merit for him.” [Sunan An-Nasai, Hadeeth No. 103. Graded “sahih” by Al-Albani in Sahih Sunan An-Nasai, Hadeeth No. 103]

[Note: The sins being mentioned here are minor sins and not major sins. What’s the difference? I’ll write a future post on that, insha-Allah, when I start a new series on the major sins.]

So, try to remember this hadeeth whilst you’re doing wudhu. You’ll notice a big change in your wudhu.

You could also try to use a siwak. That will get you even more rewards!

So, now that you’ve finished your nice, proper, refreshing wudhu, what next?

Well, you need to leave the bathroom and recite the required dhikr (remembrance). After that, you would recite the adhkar (remembrances) for wudhu (i.e. those recited after it).

However, that’s for the next part.

To be continued…

A Day in Your Life – No. 2: What to do after you say the dhikr for waking up…

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu Alaikum.

Right then. After having recited the required dhikr (remembrance), you’re wide awake.

[Note: There are more adhkar that you can recite, apart from the aforementioned one.]

Is it time for the coffee now?

Of course not.

Now you head to the bathroom (or whatever you call it at your end of the world).

Now, what did  the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) do before he entered the bathroom?

كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا دخل الخلاء قال : اللهم إني أعوذ بك من الخبث والخبائث

Narrated Anas: Whenever the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) went to answer the call of nature, he used to say, “Allah-umma inni audhu bika minal khubuthi wal khabaith i.e. O Allah, I seek Refuge with You from all offensive and wicked things (evil deeds and evil spirits).” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No.1, Hadeeth No. 144]

So, the dhikr is:

[Yes, you can say bismillah before this dua. That’s mentioned in another narration.]

[Note to those who can’t read Arabic: All the transliterations can be found in this book.]

Then, you enter with your left foot.

So, here you are. Now what?

Erm, well, now you can do whatever it is that you do in the bathroom…

After you finish doing whatever it is you were going (and I really hope that brushing your teeth was part of the agenda), you do wudhu (ablution).

Why?

Well, I’m assuming that the time is either:

a) Fajr

or

b) Before Fajr

If it’s after Fajr, then it means that you missed Fajr.

And that’s a no-no.

So, if it’s Fajr time, you need to do wudhu so that you can pray Fajr. If it’s before that, there’s time to pray some rakaahs (units) of tahajjud.

So, you do wudhu the prophetic way.

What’s the “prophetic way” of doing wudhu?

Well, that’s for part 3, insha-Allah….

A Pictorial Summary of how NOT to start a new day…

Assalamu Alaikum.

Most of us start our day in the same way.

[Yes, that rhymes.]

How do we start it?

Like this:

[Actually, the correct sequence would be “wake up, run to the bathroom (or whatever you call it) and then smell the coffee”….]

Of course, some might prefer to wake up and smell:

However, that still isn’t the right way to start the day.

So, just how are we supposed to start it?

Like this.

After we do that, then we can have the coffee / tea, insha-Allah.

A Day in Your Life – No. 1: What to do after you open your eyes…

Assalamu Alaikum.

Yes, I’ve started a new series and yes, I am planning to complete all the other series especially the tennis one, insha-Allah.

What’s this series about? Well, we always seems to have these “Ramadan schedules” floating around just before the greatest month comes.

The sad part about these “Ramadan schedules” is that most of the things in them are meant to be done on a daily basis, not just in Ramadan.

So, this series is a step by step guide on how we can improve ourselves in the “little” aspects that occur from the time we wake up until the time we go to sleep. If we implement these things, then most of our day will resemble those “Ramadan schedule” days, insha-Allah.

So, the first thing that happens in the morning is that we open our eyes and then what?

Well, what usually happens to many people is that they yawn, stretch themselves and then rush towards:

Or if you live in certain parts of the world:

However, that’s not what we are supposed to do.

We’re supposed to remember Allah before we remember to answer the call of nature.

So what do we do?

We do what the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) did of course.

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّـهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّـهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّـهَ كَثِيرًا

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.” [Surah Al-Ahzab (33) : 21]

So, what did he do after he woke up?

كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا أراد أن ينام قال : ( باسمك اللهم أموت وأحيا ) . وإذا استيقظ من منامه قال :  الحمد الله الذي أحيانا بعد ما أماتنا وإليه النشور

Narrated Hudhaifa (radiallahu anhu): Whenever the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) intended to go to bed, he would recite: “Bismika Allahumma amutu wa ahya (With Your name, O Allah, I die and I live).” And when he woke up from his sleep, he would say: “Al-hamdu lil-lahil-ladhi ahyana ba’da ma amaatana; wa ilaihin-nushoor (All the Praises are for Allah Who has made us alive after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection). “ [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No. 8, Hadeeth No. 336]

So, the dua is:

[Courtesy of Make Dua.]

[Note: Sleep is a minor death. When you realise this, both the duas mentioned above will make sense.]