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.’”
This practice of licking fingers or having them licked by others after eating can be seen as unhygienic by modern standards, as it involves direct contact with saliva, which can spread bacteria and viruses.
6. Using Water in Unhygienic Ways
Two narrations from Sahih Bukhari highlight practices involving the sharing of water that contrast with modern hygiene standards. In Sahih Bukhari 77:
“Narrated Mahmud bin Rabi`a: When I was a boy of five, I remember, the Prophet (ﷺ) took water from a bucket (used for getting water out of a well) with his mouth and threw it on my face.”
And in Sahih Bukhari 188:
“Abu Musa said: The Prophet asked for a tumbler containing water and washed both his hands and face in it and then threw a mouthful of water in the tumbler and said to both of us (Abu Musa and Bilal), ‘Drink from the tumbler and pour some of its water on your faces and chests.'”
These narrations describe the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) using water in ways that involve direct contact with the mouth or sharing water that has been used for washing. By today’s hygiene standards, such practices can facilitate the spread of germs and contaminants due to potential exposure to saliva and other bodily fluids, challenging the notion of cleanliness.
7. Use of Camel Urine
Several hadiths document the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) advising the use of camel urine for medicinal purposes. For example, in Sunan Ibn Majah 3503:
“It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that some Bedouins from ‘Uraynah came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and became Muslim, but the climate of Al-Madinah did not suit them and they became sick. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to them: ‘Why don’t you go out to some camels of ours and drink their milk and urine?’ So they did that, and when they had recovered, they killed the herdsman of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and drove off the camels. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent people after them, and they were caught. He had their hands and feet cut off, and their eyes gouged out.”
Similar narrations appear in Tirmidhi 2042, Nasai 4027, and Nasai 4024. From a contemporary perspective, using animal urine is considered unhygienic and potentially harmful due to the presence of bacteria, pathogens, and waste products. Modern medicine and hygiene practices strongly discourage such use, highlighting a significant contrast with these historical recommendations.
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, the guidance on handling a fly in a drink, the practice of licking fingers after eating, sharing water in unhygienic ways, and the use of camel urine—illustrate practices that, when viewed through the lens of modern hygiene, challenge the traditional narrative of cleanliness in Islam.