TODAY'S HADITH
"He who performed ablution well, his sins would come out from his body, even coming out from under his nails."
TODAY'S REFLECTION
Water on the hands, and for a few seconds the day can't reach us.
We've done this thousands of times, often while finishing an argument in our heads. Today we could actually be there for one.
Most of us carry the day somewhere we can't see it. A message we haven't answered sits in the jaw. A bill sits in the shoulders. A hard word from this morning sits somewhere under the ribs, and we only notice when someone asks why we look so tired.
It takes only a little more attention, and the tap can stay off while we pause.
The jaw has been clenched since morning. The shoulders have crept up toward the ears. So as we rinse the mouth, we let the jaw go, and as we wash the arms, we let the shoulders drop.
Today's hadith says a wudu done well carries our sins out of the body, right down to the fingernails. So the water was never only about clean hands. It's a small way back to Allah, five times a day, and the body gets to come along.
That pairing is our own small habit, and nothing has been added to the wudu (the washing before prayer) itself.
Some of us will find we're tired, and some of us close to tears at a bathroom sink. Both are allowed.
There's nothing to fix at the sink. Noticing is enough for today: this is where it was sitting, and for a few seconds it can sit somewhere else.
On days without prayer, the same check works in a chair. A heaviness that stays for weeks deserves a doctor or a counsellor, and a slow wash shouldn't have to do that job.
By lunch the jaw will clench again. That's alright. The next wudu comes around soon enough, and the water will be waiting.
FIRST RIPPLE
At the next wudu today, let the jaw go at the first rinse and drop the shoulders when the water reaches the arms.
REFLECT ON THIS
Where in my body have I been keeping today's worries?
QUICK QUESTION
How do you like the new look?
A DU'A FOR YOU
Our reader Shreen asked us to make du'a for her nephew Ahmed, who is eleven. Say ameen with her:
Ya Allah, grant Ahmed complete shifa and lighten every load he carries. Make his body strong, open his mind and his heart to learning, and help him through each struggle with ease. Make him successful in his deen and his dunya, a comfort to his family, and someone You love. Ameen Ya Rabbal Aalameen.