We looked at the narration in which the Prophet Muhammad, may God grant him blessings and peace, said:

“The key to Paradise is prayer, and the key to prayer is ablution.”

So the path to a high quality salat begins with a high quality wudhu...

But how can you transform your relationship with wudhu so that it becomes much more than just a technical requirement for prayer to be valid?

How can you achieve a Wonderful Wudhu?

Well think about the importance we give to our physical appearance when presenting ourselves before other people...

Whether it's for a video call or meeting, or a physical interaction with others, we tend to give attention to the way that we look.

Why? It's because...

- we respect ourselves

- we care about the impression that our appearance creates with others.

To overdo this is egotistic, but not to do it at all is shameless.

Believers are supposed to be presentable, right?

Well just as our outward appearance and our clothes need some fixing or cleaning regularly, so do our inner selves.

Our forgetfulness, heedlessness and sinfulness all have the effect of dirtying our inner appearance and darkening our hearts.

When we're about to stand in front of our Lord in prayer, we should become acutely aware of Him seeing us and of the impurities that we have accumulated.

He doesn't just perceive our outer selves, but He sees right inside of us and through us…

"Whatever you may say aloud, He knows what you keep secret and what you keep hidden." (Qur’an 20:7)

Don't we want to stand before Him in a state of inner purity?

Don't we want to look good in front of Him?

Well wudhu helps us do just that.

How?

Let's look at these incredible words attributed to the final messenger, may God grant him blessings and peace:

“None of you begins the ablution and rinses their mouth and nose but that the sins of their face, mouth, and nose fall away. 

They do not wash their face as God commanded them but that the sins of their jaws fall away with the water.

They do not wash their arms up to the elbows but that the sins of their hands to their fingertips fall away with the water. 

They do not wipe their head but that the sins of their head to their temples fall away with the water.

They do not wash their feet to their ankles but that the sins of their feet to their tips fall away with the water.

If they stand to pray, thanking, praising, and glorifying God as He deserves and devoting their heart only to God...

...their sins will depart from them like the day they were born from their mother.”

Wudhu is indeed wonderful...

I hope this helps you develop a more meaningful and positive relationship with wudhu.