The narrative of cleanliness in Islam is often upheld as a cornerstone of the faith, emphasizing both spiritual and physical purity. However, a closer look at certain practices and teachings from Islamic sources reveals aspects that challenge this narrative. Here, we examine three specific examples that directly contradict the notion of stringent cleanliness in Islam.
1. The Well of Buda’ah: Purity of Contaminated Water
One of the most striking examples comes from Sunan Abi Dawud 67:
“I heard that the people asked the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ): Water is brought for you from the well of Buda’ah. It is a well in which dead dogs, menstrual clothes and excrement of people are thrown. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied: Verily water is pure and is not defiled by anything.
Abu Dawud said I heard Qutaibah b. Sa’id say: I asked the person in charge of the well of Bud’ah about the depth of the well. He replied: At most the water reaches pubes. Then I asked: Where does it reach when its level goes down ? He replied: Below the private part of the body.
Abu Dawud said: I measured the breadth of the well of Buda’ah with my sheet which I stretched over it. I them measured it with the hand. It measured six cubits in breadth. I then asked the man who opened the door of garden for me and admitted me to it: Has the condition of this well changed from what it had originally been in the past ? He replied: No. I saw the color of water in this well had changed.”
This hadith suggests that water from a well known to contain dead animals, menstrual cloths, and human waste was considered pure by the Prophet Muhammad. The physical description of the well’s depth and the visible change in the water’s color due to contamination starkly contrasts with modern standards of water purity and hygiene.
2. Muhammad’s Example of Single Bath
Islamic tradition holds the actions of Prophet Muhammad as exemplary, yet certain hadiths regarding his personal hygiene practices raise questions. According to Sunan Abi Dawud 218 (Sahih):
“Anas reported: One day the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) had sexual intercourse with (all) his wives with a single bath. Grade: Sahih (Al-Albani)”
This hadith is considered Sahih, or authentic, which in Islamic scholarship takes precedence over less authentic narrations. However, there’s a contradictory hadith from Sunan Ibn Majah 590:
“It was narrated from Abu Rafi’ that: The Prophet went around to all of his wives in one night, and he had a bath after each one of them. It was said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah, why not make it one bath?’ He said: ‘This is purer, better and cleaner.’ Grade: Hasan (Darussalam)”
Despite the Hasan hadith suggesting a practice of multiple baths for increased purity, the Sahih hadith indicates a less rigorous approach to personal hygiene in intimate relations, directly challenging the narrative of meticulous cleanliness in Islam.
3. Practice of Tayammum
The practice of tayammum, or dry ablution, is another point of contention. When water is unavailable, Muslims are allowed to use clean earth or dust for purification before prayer. Sunan an-Nasa’i 313 states:
“It was narrated that ‘Ammar bin Yasir said: ‘I became Junub while I was on a camel and I could not find any water, so I rolled in the dust like an animal. I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and told him about that, and he said: ‘Tayammum would have been sufficient for you.'”
Consider a scenario where an individual, having bathed, travels to a desert. If they become ritually impure by passing gas, they are instructed to perform tayammum with desert sand, which could very well contain contaminants like camel feces. This practice, while practical, does not align with modern standards of cleanliness, further questioning the emphasis on purity in Islam.
4. Housefly in Drink/Food
The handling of a housefly falling into a drink, as described in Islamic teachings, provides another example. Sahih al-Bukhari 3320 narrates:
“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said ‘If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink) and take it out, for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.'”
Similarly, Sunan Ibn Majah 3505 states:
“It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘If a fly falls into your drink, dip it into it then throw it away, for on one of its wings is a disease and on the other is a cure.'”
From a scientific perspective, this practice is highly unhygienic. Flies are known carriers of pathogens, and dipping a fly into a drink would likely increase contamination, not neutralize it. This recommendation directly opposes contemporary hygiene practices, undermining the narrative of cleanliness in Islam.
5. Getting your fingers licked after eating:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, ‘When you eat, do not wipe your hands till you have licked it, or had it licked by somebody else.”
Conclusion
These examples from Islamic texts – the use of water from a contaminated well, Muhammad’s single bath after multiple sexual encounters, the practice of tayammum with potentially contaminated desert sand, and the guidance on handling a fly in a drink – illustrate practices that, when viewed through the lens of modern hygiene, challenge the traditional narrative of cleanliness in Islam. While these practices might have had contextual relevance in the 7th century, they starkly contrast with today’s understanding of health and sanitation. This analysis does not aim to undermine the spiritual aspects of cleanliness in Islam but to highlight how certain historical practices might not align with contemporary standards of physical cleanliness. For critics, these instances serve as evidence against the myth of cleanliness in Islam, while for believers, they might prompt a reevaluation of how these teachings are understood and applied in modern times.