By Imam, Sheikh Dr AbdulKadir Al-Salman
The First Khutbah
All praise is due to Allah, who has purified the hearts of His close servants from the filth of polytheism and vain desire, adorned their outward selves with purity and cleanliness, and made purification half of faith. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, sent as a mercy to the worlds. May Allah bless him, his family, his Companions, and all who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgement.
O servants of Allah, I exhort you — and myself with you — to the fear of Allah, for it is the finest provision and the greatest cause of success in this world and the next.
O Muslims, our discourse today concerns a mighty gateway among the gateways of the religion, and a noble trait among the virtues of Islam, by which the believer is known and by which our religion is distinguished from all others — namely, cleanliness.
Cleanliness is not a trivial matter, nor a mere refinement of civilised life; it is one of the firmly established foundations of the religion, like faith, prayer and the purification of the soul. Allah, Most High, says:
Indeed, Allah loves those who turn to Him in repentance, and loves those who purify themselves.
Allah has thus bound His love to those who purify themselves, and whoever Allah loves has surely triumphed.
First: Purity of the Inner Self
The first thing to which Islam attends is the purity of the inner self — the purification of the heart from polytheism, unbelief and hypocrisy, and from arrogance, self-conceit, envy, ostentation, rancour and hatred.
For the heart is the seat of Allah’s regard. He, Most High, says:
The Day when neither wealth nor children shall avail, save him who comes to Allah with a sound heart.
And Allah, Most High, swore in Surah al-Shams by eleven oaths concerning a single matter — the purification of the soul — saying:
By the sun and its brightness, and the moon when it follows it, and the day when it reveals it, and the night when it enshrouds it, and the heaven and Him who built it, and the earth and Him who spread it, and the soul and Him who
proportioned it, and inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness — he has indeed prospered who purifies it, and he has indeed failed who corrupts it.
So whoever purifies his heart has prospered, and whoever defiles it with sins and grudges has failed and lost.
Second: Purity of the Outward Self
1. Purity of the body:
Islam has enjoined the cleanliness of the body and has prescribed the ten practices of the natural disposition: trimming the moustache, letting the beard grow, using the siwak, drawing water into the nose, trimming the nails, washing the
knuckles, plucking the hair of the armpits, shaving the pubic hair, cleansing oneself after relieving nature, and rinsing the mouth.
It has prescribed ablution for every prayer, and both obligatory and recommended ritual bathing, so that the Muslim may remain pure and clean in his body, his clothing, and his place.
2. Purity of the mouth and teeth:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
(Were it not that I would burden my community, I would have commanded them to use the siwak at every prayer.)
And in another narration: (at every ablution.)
The mouth is the passage of the Qur’an and of the remembrance of Allah, and so nothing befits it but what is sweet and clean.
3. Purity of clothing:
Allah, Most High, said to His Prophet (peace be upon him):
And your garments, purify them.
And he (peace be upon him) said:
Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.
And he said: Whoever keeps his garment clean, his cares are lightened.
Know, O servants of Allah: it is no part of true renunciation of the world to wear worn-out and filthy clothes when one is able to afford better — for Allah loves to see the trace of His favour upon His servant, and cleanliness is part of faith.
I say this, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you; so seek His forgiveness, for He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
The Second Khutbah
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the master of the Messengers, Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
O servants of Allah, fear Allah and know that cleanliness does not stop at the body and clothing; it extends to the houses of Allah, the streets, and the environment in which we live.
1. Cleanliness of the mosques:
Allah, Most High, says: And purify My House for those who circumambulate it, and those who stand in prayer, and those who bow and prostrate.
The houses of Allah are most deserving of being cleaned, perfumed and maintained — not by mere ornamentation and display, but by cleaning, by perfume, and by true upkeep through prayer, remembrance and circles of knowledge.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would urge the cleaning and perfuming of the mosques, and he counted those who did so among the people of virtue and reward.
2. Cleanliness of the streets and the public environment:
O my brethren, it is a matter of regret that we see our streets and markets filled with bags, peelings and tins, thrown about with indifference, until filth has become the hallmark of some of our neighbourhoods — and this has nothing to do with Islam whatsoever.
And among the gravest things that pollute the environment and ruin minds and homes is the taking of narcotics in the roads, markets, schools and airports — indeed, in the homes before the eyes of children — so that the atmosphere is polluted, morals are corrupted, and generations are lost.
It is deeply painful to see a man relieve himself in the streets, foul the public water from which people drink, and harm passers-by with his stench and his filth — though he (peace be upon him) said: (Beware of the two things that bring curses) — that is, beware of what brings down the curse of people upon you, such as relieving oneself in their pathways and in their shade.
O servants of Allah, the Muslim is clean in himself, clean in his home, clean in his mosque, clean in his street and clean in his town. He does not accept filth, he does not tolerate disorder, and he leaves no bad trace wherever he alights.
Conclusion:
Islam draws inspiration from the past through its purity, lives in the present through its beauty, and looks to the future through its clarity.
Allah, Most High, says:
Allah does not intend to impose any hardship upon you, but He intends to purify you and to complete His favour upon you, that you may be grateful.
So purify your hearts of grudges, and purify your bodies, your clothing, your homes, your mosques and your streets, that Allah may purify you and love you — for Allah loves those who purify themselves.
O Allah, purify our hearts of hypocrisy, our deeds of ostentation, our tongues of falsehood and our eyes of treachery. O Allah, make us among those who turn to You in repentance, and make us among those who purify themselves. O
Allah, set right our land, protect our children from narcotics and corruption, and make us among the people of cleanliness, beauty and faith.
O servants of Allah, verily Allah enjoins justice and good conduct and giving to kin, and forbids indecency, wrongdoing and transgression; He admonishes you, that you may take heed.
• Imam, Sheikh Dr AbdulKadir Al-Salman, the Ubandoma of Ilorin Emirate, Imam and Khatib of the National Mosque of Nigeria, Abuja
