The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (26 page)

Ablutions
.

Ritual cleansings to remove impurity and to mark transitions from profane to sacred states, etc. They are often, therefore, associated with
rites
of passage. In Judaism, ablution is ritual washing intended to restore or maintain a state of ritual
purity
is rooted in
Torah
. A complete list of when it is required was compiled by Samson b. Zadok (13th cent. CE): see Joseph
Caro's
Shul
an Arukh
. OH 4. 18.
In Christianity, in addition to the general sense in which
baptism
might be regarded as ‘an ablution’, the word has a technical sense. The ablutions are the washing of the fingers and of the
communion
vessels after the communion.
In Islam, ritual purity (
ah
ra
) is required before carrying out religious duties, especially
al
t
(worship). Ablution is of two kinds:
ghusl
and wu
’ (regulations being given in the
Qur’
n
, 5. 7), with a third kind substituting for the others where necessary:

1. Ghusl, major ablution: complete washing of the body in pure water, after declaring the
niyya
(intention) to do so. It is obligatory after sexual relations whereby a state of
jan
ba
(major ritual impurity) is incurred. It is recommended before the prayer of Friday and the two main feasts (
‘id al-a
and
‘
d al-fi
r
), and before touching the Qur’
n. For the dead, ghusl must be carried out before burial.
2. Wu
’, minor ablution, is required to remove
adath
, minor ritual impurity which is incurred in everyday life. Wu
’ should usually be carried out before each of the five times of daily prayer.
3. Where water is not available, clean sand may be used, rubbed upon the body; this method,
tayammum
, can be substituted for wu