﴿ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًۭا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌۭ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءًۭ فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًۭا طَيِّبًۭا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍۢ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴾

“O YOU who have attained to faith! When you are about to pray, wash your face, and your hands and arms up to the elbows, and pass your [wet] hands lightly over your head, and [wash] your feet up to the ankles. And if you are in a state. requiring total ablution, purify yourselves. But if you are ill, or are travelling, or have just satisfied a want of nature, or have cohabited with a woman, and can find no water-then take resort to pure dust, passing therewith lightly over your face and your hands. God does not want to impose any hardship on you, but wants to make you pure, and to bestow upon you the full measure of His blessings, so that you might have cause to be grateful.”

The purpose of salat (prayers) is to purify a man of all evils. Ablution, or wudu, is the preparation of the body for this religious rite. When a man intends to offer prayers, he first goes in search of water. Water is a great gift of God which is the best thing for washing all the impurities out of man. Similarly, salat is a ‘divine spring’ in which a man bathes and purifies himself of evil emotions and vicious thoughts. Initiating the process of ablution (wudu) when a man puts water on his hands, he is, in effect, praying, ‘O, God! Save these hands of mine from indulging in evil, and let whatever evil deeds I have indulged in through them be washed off.’ Then he rinses his mouth and washes his face. At that time his soul prays silently, ‘O, God! Kindly remove the bad effects of any improper food I have put in my mouth; the evil words I have uttered, and the evil things I have seen.’ Thereafter, when he takes water in his hands and massages his head with his hands, his whole existence is moulded by the prayers, ‘O, God! Wash away the bad effects of the evil ideas conceived by my mind and wrong plans devised by me, and cleanse and purify my mind.’ When he washes his feet, this action of his becomes the entreaty before his Lord, that He may cleanse his feet of the dust of evil and make them (his feet) never tread any path except the path of righteousness and justice. In this way, the whole process of ablution assumes, so to say, the practical shape of the prayer, ‘O, God! Make me a person who turns away from wrongs and one who keeps himself clear of evils.’ In normal circumstances, ablution is enough to create feelings of cleanliness in man, but the state of impurity (resulting from sex) is an extraordinary condition. So, in this state, washing of the whole body (ghusl) has been prescribed. However, God does not like to cause his subjects any unnecessary hardship. Therefore, in case of any practical difficulties in taking a full bath, dry ablution (tayammum) has been declared as sufficient to revive the feeling of cleanliness. The simplicity of the methods prescribed for ablution and bathing is a great blessing of God. In this way physical cleanliness is linked with purity under the Islamic law. In case of any difficulties, permission for dry ablution is an additional blessing, because this saves one from the excesses of which many other religions suffered.