Ritual Purification - Islam

Islam

Islamic ritual purification is particularly centred on the preparation for ritual prayer; theoretically ritual purification would remain valid throughout the day, but is treated as invalid on the occurrence of certain acts, flatulence, sleep, contact with the opposite gender (depending on which school of thought), unconsciousness, and the emission of blood, semen, or vomit. Some schools of thought mandate that ritual purity is necessary for holding the Qur'an.

Ritual purification takes the form of ablution, in a lesser form (wudu), and greater form (ghusl), depending on the circumstance; the greater form is obligatory by a woman after she ceases menstruation, on a corpse that didn't die during battle and after sexual activity, and is optionally used on other occasions, for example just prior to Friday prayers or entering ihram.

An alternative "dry ablution"(tayammum), involving clean sand or earth, is used if clean water is not available or if suffering from an illness which would be worsened by the use of water; this form is invalidated in the same circumstances as the other forms, and also whenever water becomes available and safe to use. And is also necessary to be repeated (renewed) before every obligatory prayer.

The obligatory activities of the lesser form include beginning with the intention to purify oneself, washing of the face, arms, head, and feet. while some optional acts also exist such as recitation of the Bismillah, Oral hygiene / the brushing of the teeth, the washing of the mouth, nose at the beginning, washing of arms to the elbows and washing of the ears at the end; additionally recitation of the Shahadah. The greater form (ghusl) is completed by first performing wudu and then ensuring that the entire body is washed. Some minor details of Islamic ritual purification may vary between different schools of thought as well as scholarly opinions and between the different sects of Islam.