6 September 2010 / ,
Abu Malik al-Ash’ari reported that the Prophet Muhammad said: “Cleanliness is half of faith and [reciting the phrase] ‘All praise is due to God’ fills the scale, and ‘Glory be to God’ and ‘All praise is due to God’ fills up what is between the heavens and the earth, and prayer is a light, and charity is proof [of one’s faith] and endurance is a brightness and the Holy Quran is a proof on your behalf or against you.
All men go out early in the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves.” In the Islamic tradition, cleanliness and purification are requirements for the performance of worship and are directly connected to the maintenance of faith, and so Muslims are expected to live up to high hygienic standards. The Quran also highlights this topic: “O you who believe! When you intend to offer prayer, wash your faces and your hands [forearms] up to the elbows, rub [by passing wet hands over] your heads, and [wash] your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of janaba [i.e., post sexual relations], purify yourself [bathe your whole body].” (Quran 5:6)
