JAMB Islamic Religious Knowledge Past Questions & Answers - Page 129

There are steps in performing Sunnah of ablution, here are the guidelines
- To intend for ritual purification.
- Taking the name of Allah, the Exalted, at the start of the Wudhu .
- Performing the steps of the Wudhu in [its proper] sequence.
- Each step [of washing] should be performed three times. Each of the three times must be complete - for example, one cannot wash different parts of his face each of the three times such that ultimately his entire face is washed. On the contrary, one should wash his face completely thrice.
- Each step should be done immediately after the previous one, such that the washed parts of the body do not dry up. This is waivered if one is forced to go get more water.
- Washing the two hands before inserting them into the container [of water], [especially] after the person performing Wudhu has awaken from his sleep.
- Rinsing the mouth three times; taking water to the back of the mouth unless one is fasting.
- Inhaling water to the soft upper part of the nose and exhaling it three times. The right hand should be used to inhale water and the left hand should be used while exhaling it.
- Washing the face thoroughly three times. All parts [of the face] must be washed, including the corners of the eyes and the various grooves on the face.
- [For men,] combing the beard thoroughly with wet hands such that water reaches the skin beneath.
- Wash arms up to just above the elbows, using the other hand, to rub the running water thoroughly over the arm.
- Wiping the ears - the index fingers washing inside every fold of the front of the ear and the thumb wiping behind the ear.
- Wiping from forelock to back of the head. Use all fingers other than index finger and thumb, as index finger and thumb are reserved for the ears.
- Combing the fingers and washing in between toes with the little finger.

In Islam, ablution, or Wudhoo', is to wash one's face, hands, arms, head and feet with water. Allah, the Most High, Says (what means): "O you who have believed! When you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles..." [Quran 5:6]
Allah does not accept the prayer of one who nullified his ablution until he performs it again.

At-Tirmidhi began the study of hadith at the age of 20. From the year 235 AH (849/850) he traveled widely in Khurasan , Iraq, and the Hijaz in order to collect hadith. He wrote many books and was one of the six compilers of Hadith.
Tirmidhi was blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi. His blindness is said to have been the consequence of excessive weeping, either due to fear of Allah or over the death of al-Bukhari.

"Verily, the lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know. Thus, he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, and he who falls into doubtful matters will fall into the unlawful as the shepherd who pastures near a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily, every king has a sanctum and the sanctum of Allah is his prohibitions. Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the entire body is sound, and if corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart. "

The Muwatta' of Malik b. Anas (d. 795 CE) is the first written treatise of Islamic law. This is the introduction to the forthcoming translation of this foundational work of Islamic law. It represents the apogee of Islamic law in its earliest phase.