Cleanliness

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace be upon the most noble Prophet and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.

There is no religion or civilization exhorted its followers to cleanliness as Islam did. Islam considered purification, which is more inclusive than cleanliness, half of faith. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Purification is half of faith." [Reported by Muslim].

Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "Truly, Allâh loves those who turn to Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (by taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts, bodies, for their prayers)."

Allah (Glory be to Him) made purification of the body, clothes, and the place of Salah conditions for performing many acts of worship which will make the environment of a Muslim always clean. Moreover, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Removing harm from public paths is a charity." [Reported by Muslim].

According to this, the civilization of Islam has been established on the physical and moral cleanliness to the extent that Islam assigned some properties to spend on the cleanliness of masjids, paths, and water resources...etc. If Muslims apply the teachings of their Shari`ah, they shall precede all modern nations.

On the occasion of celebrating the ceremony of unity, the total improvement of the city facilities and its ways, the infrastructure, decorating public streets, and digging new roads, I say: We should realize our duty in perfecting the beauties of the city and preserving this beauty in the future. We should preserve the cleanliness of the city and not to pollute or distort it by throwing litters or garbage except in their proper places. Throwing litters randomly in streets is not permissible because it is a kind of harm. The Prophet (peace be upon him) got angry when he saw a man expectorating in the Qiblah, then he stood up, removed it, and cleaned its place.

This is not enough, but we have to cooperate to remove what others had thrown and seek the reward from Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Clean your vessels, for the Jews do not clean their vessels." This is in regard to physical cleanliness but moral cleanliness is more important, so we have to keep the city clean from adultery, fornication, homosexuality, intoxication, and drugs because the danger of these matters are severer than physical dirt. If keeping our values and purity safe in days where calling to vice is strong was recommended, keeping them today is a must.

Cleanliness is an obligatory duty, cultural obligation, and moral attitude that we should not lose or neglect. May Allah grant us success!