Muslims apply ‘principle of ease’ during hardship
Claremont Mosque recommends dry ablution in attempt to save water
WATER plays an essential role in the lives of Muslims, not only because Islam encourages high standards of cleanliness and personal hygiene, but also because purification through ablution is a pre-requisite for performing the five daily ritual prayers.
Traditionally, ablution (known as wudu) entails a ritual of washing the hands, mouth, nose, face, head, ears, arms to elbows, and feet to ankles, each three times, at least five times a day. If, for example, a minimum of one litre were used for each ablution, this would already contribute to five litres of a Muslim’s daily consumption.
Bearing this in mind, and considering the water crisis in the City of Cape Town, which started three years ago, the Claremont Main Road Mosque immediately took modest steps to conserve this precious resource and embarked on a robust water-saving educational campaign.
As part of the mosque’s water-saving action plan, we placed spray bottles in the ablution area and stopped the water supply from the taps. We also recommended that congregants perform ablution by washing only the obligatory (fard) parts of the body (face, hands to elbows, head and feet) once instead of thrice, and in this way demonstrated that less than half a cup of water could be used to perform the ritual ablution.
Despite the fact that some congregants insisted on using the hand basin taps that were still functioning, we were able to reduce our water consumption at the mosque from a monthly average consumption of 51 kilolitres in 2016 to a monthly average of 46kl in 2017.
The water crisis has now officially escalated to the level of disaster and we are hurtling towards Day Zero when the City of Cape Town will shut down its water reticulation supply in residential areas. The mosque has therefore taken further steps to conserve water. We have closed the hand basin taps in our toilet area, and replaced them with jugs of water for washing the private parts (known as istinja) and hands.
We also recommend that Muslims make a greater effort to save water by beginning to adopt the alternative mode of ritual ablution, the dry ablution (known as tayammum). The dry ablution is a legitimate Islamic alternative and can be performed in preparation for the ritual prayer and other acts of worship instead of ablution with water.
This recommendation is based on clear evidence from the Qur’an in Chapter 5, verse 6, where God proclaims: “If you cannot obtain water (for ablution) then obtain for yourselves fine earth or sand and wipe your faces and hands with it. God does not want to make it hard and difficult for you, but wants to make you pure and clean.”
Scholars of Islam have interpreted this verse of the Qur’an to mean that if there is no water to be found or the amount of water available is sufficient only for drinking or other essential purposes, then the dry ablution, using fine earth or sand, may be adopted. The Qur’anic teaching of the dry ablution embodies the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) practice of ease in the face of hardship. He worked tirelessly to establish this principle of ease to alleviate hardship and frequently reminded his followers that:
“The Religion is easy. Any worshipper who becomes severe in adhering to the teachings of this religion will be overwhelmed. Therefore, do not be extreme in devotions. Rather, seek to perform acts of worship to the best of your ability”.
Mindful of this central teaching of Islam, all the major schools of Islamic law recognise the “principle of ease” as an essential part of Islamic jurisprudence. Among the legal maxims in Islamic jurisprudence one rule states: “Instances of hardship elicit ease.” This rule implies that whenever a hardship confronts a believer then the “principle of ease” applies. This rule applies to the water crisis we are experiencing.
We therefore recommend that all Muslim citizens adopt the performance of the dry ablution, using fine earth, sand or clay, for ritual prayers in the current dire circumstances of a water shortage. Muslims do not have to wait for the taps to run dry before embracing the dry ablution. The current water crisis should be sufficient to warrant its legitimacy.
We pray that God, the Lord of Compassion, will soon bless us with abundant rain and bring relief from the drought-stricken conditions faced by our City and large parts of the country. May we always remain good stewards of nature’s gifts.