Islamic Vocabulary
Starting with
this issue, we will be including a new section on the Islamic vocabulary
providing detailed explanation. Some of the words may not necessarily have
any Islamic/Arabic origin but they have been adopted to specify the doctrines,
rites, ceremonies, customs along with the other technical and theological
terms presently used in the Islamic world.
Ablution: The Arabic
word is wudu. The Holy Prophet described ablution as 'the half of faith and
the key of prayer' and is founded on the authority of the Holy Qur'an:
"0' Believers!
when ye prepare yourselves for prayer, wash your faces and hands up to
the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles." (Quran
5:6)
The ablution need not be
performed before each of the five stated periods of prayer, when the person
is conscious of having avoided every kind of impurity since the last performance
of the ablution.
The private parts of the
body must also be purified when necessary. When water cannot be procured,
or would be injurious to health, the ablution may he performed with clean
dust or sand. This ceremony is called Tayammum.
The Islamic Bulletin
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