Exploring the characteristics of the fitrah
Ulama Institute #1
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The religion of Islam has been established upon purification. Allah has informed His creation how He has created mankind with a pure and natural disposition. Allah ﷻ says:
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًۭا ۚ فِطْرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِى فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا ۚ(سورة الروم : ٣٠)
“So direct your face toward the religion, inclining towards the truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created [all] people (Soorat ar-Room: 30)
The word fitrah in this verse refers to the pure natural condition in which Allah creates a person when he/she is in the womb of his mother. This condition of purity consists of two essential parts; an internal purity and an external one. The internal purity could be described as the purity of belief since every newborn child is born without the impurity of kufr and shirk. The extemal purity involves the way that each child has been born into a state of physical purity undefiled by physical impurities and contaminants.
In a hadeeth narrated by ‘Aa’ishah which is found in Saheeh Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ says:
مِنَ الْفِطْرَةِ فَصُ الشَّارِبِ وَإِعْفَاءُ اللَّحْيَةِ وَالسَّوَاكَ وَاسْتِنْشَاقُ الْمَاءِ وَفَصُ الْأَطْفَارِ وَغَسْلُ الْبَرَاجِمِ وَنَتْفُ الْإِبِطِ وَحَلْقُ الْعَانَةِ وَانتَقَاصُ الْمَاء. (مسلم)
“Ten acts are from the fitrah: trimming the moustache, letting the beard grow, using the tooth-stick, snuffing water in the nose, clipping the nails, washing the finger joints, removing the hair from the armpits, shaving the pubic hair and istinjaa.” (as well as the rinsing of the mouth). [Muslim]
In this hadeeth, the Prophet ﷺ mentions ten actions that help mankind to preserve the state of physical purity that Allah created them in. The Prophet mentions (1) Trimming the moustache (2) Letting the beard grow (3) Using the tooth-stick (4) Snuffing water in the nose (5) Clipping the nails (6) Washing the knuckles Removing the hair from the armpits (7) Shaving the pubic hair (8) Istinjaa’ (9) Rinsing the mouth.
- Trimming the moustache: Trimming the moustache is an affair that has been established in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ . The Prophet said:
مَنْ لَمْ يَأْخُذُ مِنْ شَارِبِهِ فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا ، (أحمد)
“Whoever doesn’t trim the moustache is not one of us.” [Ahmad]
- Maintaining the beard: The word maintaining here means to preserve the beard by allowing it to grow. The Prophet ﷺ commanded Muslim men to grow their beards and to preserve them just as he also commanded the Muslims to oppose the customs and behavior of the mushrikoon. The Prophet said:
خَالِفُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَهُرُوا اللَّحَى وَأَحْفُوا الشَّوَارِبَ ، ( البخاري)
“Be distinguished from the mushrikoon; preserve your beards and trim your moustaches.” [al-Bukhaan]
The mushrikoon that he is referring to here are the majoos because they used to shave and trim their beards.
- Using the tooth-stick: Many different narrations concerning the superiority of the tooth- stick have been authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ . Some say that the number of these ahaadeeth may number one hundred. From these narrations is the hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah which mentions that the Prophet said:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ أَنْ رَسُولَ اللهُ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لَوْلَا أَنْ أَهُقُ عَلَى أُمَّتِي أَوْ عَلَى النَّاسِ لَأَمَرْتُهُمْ بالسواك مَعَ كُلَّ صَلَاةِ ، ( البخاري)
“Aboo Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said, If I had not found it hard for my followers or the people, I would have ordered them to clean their teeth with siwaak for every prayer (salah).” [al-Bukhaan]
- Snuffing water in the nose: The Prophet commanded the believers to flush their nostrils with water when he said:
إِذَا تَوَضًا أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَسْتَنْشِقُ بِمَنْخِرَيْهِ مِنَ المَاءِ ثُمَّ لِيَنْتَشِرُ ، (مسلم)
“When anyone amongst you (performs ablution), then he must snuff his nostrils with water and then flush them out.” [Muslim]
- Clipping the nails: Anas described the time period that was prescribed for clipping the fingernails in his statement:
وقتَ لَنَا فِي قَصَ الشَّارِبِ وَتَظْلِيمِ الْأَطْفَارِ وَنَتْفِ الْإِبط وَخَلْقِ الْعَانَةِ أَنْ لَا تَتْرُكَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةٍ، (مسلم)
“A time limit has been prescribed for us for clipping the moustache, cutting the nails, plucking hair under the armpits, shaving the pubic hairs, that it should not be neglected for more than forty nights.” [Muslim]
- Washing the finger joints;
- Removing the hair from the armpits;
- and the command to shave the pubic hair can all be found in the narration of ‘Aa’ishah that was mentioned in the beginning of this lesson.
- Istinjaa‘: Anas ibn Malik described the purification of the Prophet when he said:
وَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا خَرَجَ لِحَاجَتِهِ أَجِيءُ أَنَا وَغَلَامٌ مَعَنَا إِدَاوَةً مِنْ مَاءٍ .. ( البخاري)
“Whenever Allah’s Apostle went to answer the call of nature, I along with another boy used to accompany him with a tumbler full of water.” [al-Bukhan]
The water mentioned in this narration was used for the purpose of making istinjaa’.
- Rinsing the mouth: In the long hadeeth of Humraan, the servant of ‘Uthmaan described how ‘Uthmaan used to rinse his mouth whenever he would make wudhu. and offers a two-rak’at prayer during which he does not think of anything else (not related to the present prayer) then his past sins will be forgiven. “.” [al-Bukhan]
Every single one of these actions assists Muslims in preserving their physical purity while they draw closer to Allah by obeying His Prophet. Certainly, the characteristics of the fitrah are not limited to the ten mentioned in the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah. But in examining these ten characteristics of the fitrah that have been explicitly mentioned in the Sunnah of the Prophet, we are better able to understand the type of purity that Allah expects from us and how to maintain it.
