How important is it to be clean? Surah An-Nisa (Surah 4 – The Women) states
O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying or in a state of janabah, except those passing through [a place of prayer], until you have washed [your whole body]. And if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and find no water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and your hands [with it]. Indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving. (Surah An-Nisa 4:43)
The command in Surah An-Nisa is to clean our face and hands with clean earth before prayers. Outer cleanliness is important.
Surah Ash-Shams (Surah 91 – The Sun) also tells us that our Soul – our inner self is equally important.
By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it;
And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;-
Truly he succeeds that purifies it,
And he fails that corrupts it! (Surah Ash-Shams 91:7-10)
Surah Ash-Shams tells us that if our Soul, or inner self, is purified, then we have succeeded, whereas if our soul is corrupted then we have failed. Isa al Masih PBUH also taught about inner and outer Cleanliness.
We saw how the words of Isa al Masih (PBUH) had power teach with authority, to heal people, and even to control nature. He also taught to expose the condition of our hearts – to cause us to examine our inner person as well as the outer. We are familiar with outer cleanliness, which is why wudu before prayers is performed and why eating halal meat is practiced. The prophet Muhammad (PBUH), according to hadith said that
“Cleanliness is half of faith…” (Muslim Ch. 1 Book 002, Number 0432)
The Prophet Isa al Masih (PBUH) also wanted us to think about the other half – that of our inner cleanliness. This is important because though humans can see the outside cleanliness of other people, for Allah it is different – He also sees the inner. When one of the kings of Judah who outwardly kept all the religious obligations, but did not keep his inner heart clean the prophet of that time came with this message:
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (2 Chronicles 16:9 of Zabur)
As that message declared, inner cleanliness has to do with our ‘hearts’ – the ‘you’ that thinks, feels, decides, submits or disobeys, and controls the tongue. The prophets of Zabur taught that it was the thirst of our hearts that was at the root of our sin. Our hearts are so important that Isa al Masih (PBUH) emphasized this in his teaching by contrasting it with our outer cleanliness. Here is how the Injil records the different times that he taught about inner cleanliness:
Clean the Inside as well as the Outside
(‘Pharisees’ are mentioned here. They were the Jewish teachers in that day, similar to imams today. Isa mentions giving a ‘tenth’ to God. This was the required Jewish Zakat.)
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” (Luke 11: 37-44)
Touching a dead body made a Jew unclean according to the Law. When Isa (PBUH) said that people walk over ‘unmarked graves’ he meant that they were unclean without them even ‘knowing it’ because they were neglecting inner cleanliness. If we neglect this we could become as unclean as the unbeliever who has no regard for any cleanliness.
The heart defiles the religiously clean person
In the following teaching, Isa al Masih (PBUH) quotes from the prophet Isaiah (PBUH) who lived 750 BC. ( here for information about Isaiah)
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”…
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” (Matthew 15:1-20)
In this encounter, Isa al Masih (PBUH) pointed out that we are quick to build our religious obligations from ‘human traditions’ rather than from the message of God. At the time of the prophet, the Jewish leaders ignored their obligation before Allah to care for their aged parents by giving their money to religious causes instead of helping their parents.
Today we face the same problem of disregarding inner cleanliness. But Allah is very concerned with the uncleanness coming from our hearts. This uncleanness will result in our condemnation on the Day of Judgment if it is not cleaned.
Beautiful on the Outside but on the Inside full of wickedness
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23: 25-28)
Isa al Masih (PBUH) is stating what we all have seen. Following outward cleanliness can be quite common amongst believers in God, but many are still full of greed and indulgence on the inside – even those who are religiously important. Obtaining inner cleanliness is necessary – but it is much harder. Allah will judge our inner cleanliness very carefully. So the issue raises itself: How do we clean our hearts so that we can enter the Kingdom of God on the Day of Judgment? We continue in the Injil for answers.