Cleanliness is Part of Our Way of Life, Deen

Cleanliness is Part of Our Way of Life, Deen


  Written By Greg (Juraij) Horton from FRM News
As I walked into the Muslim facility/establishment I notice a man cleaning. From the looks of him I was pretty sure he wasn’t Muslim, so I decided to take the opportunity to approach him and try, with the help of Allah, to talk with him about Islam and possibly see what he knows. He was from a Hispanic background and Al Hamdu’lillah I am fluent in Spanish so I began to have dialog with him. I asked him what he knew about Islam and further began to explain the oneness of Allah and the pillars of Islam.

After a short time he asked me a question: “This facility/establishment is a Muslim facility, right?” I paused for a second thinking I would have hoped he knew that from appearance of brothers and sisters throughout, but I simply answered his question with, “yes it is.” Then he said, “Then why would I want to become Muslim?” After hearing him say that I felt insulted and anger began to boil inside, but then he continued:“We clean seven buildings a day and among all of the building this is the most disgusting and dirtiest.” He went on to explain to me about all of the filth and mess he has to clean from the various areas to the bathrooms. After he finished I told him that uncleanness is not Islamic, and I ended our conversation with explaining the beauties of Islam and the etiquette of being a Muslim.

This story was relayed to me from a fellow Muslim brother. Unfortunately I’m sure many of us can talk about similar stories like this where our behavior as Muslims have quite frankly brought shame to the beautiful deen of al-Islam. Why am I telling this story and what can we learn from it?

… Firstly our actions that we do everyday, small or big, can affect not just a person’s view of us, but most importantly their view of our beautiful deen, the deen of Allah … Islam.

At the end of the day what we do will be attributed not only to us as individuals, but to Islam. During the time of the Prophet (saw) and the suhaba’s --- their actions, behavior and conduct --- were just as much apart of their daw’ah to the people as the speech that came out of their mouths.

… Secondly, cleanliness is threaded within our deen and if we don’t implement it in our lives we could, as a result, not practice our deen fully or correctly.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:
Cleanliness is half of faith and al-Hamdu’llilah (praise be to Allah) fills the scale, and Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah) and al-Hamdu’lillah (praise be to Allah) 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 Qur'an 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. (Sahih Muslim).

Are we neglecting half of our faith? Let us first start with ourselves, family and children. We should practice the etiquette of cleanliness --- not just in our homes, but while in the public.

… Lastly, don’t be the cause of misguidance for someone. Whether we are aware of it or not our actions can ultimately help a person decided to explore and/or accept Islam, or turn them away and want nothing to do with Islam. Of course this is all by the will of Allah (swt).

Actions speak louder than words
We can talk day and night and debate with others about the beauties of Islam, but if our actions, lives, behaviors are opposite of these words, what message are we delivering to our family, neighbors and community? I remind myself and my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Islam, for the sake of Allah. May Allah make us among those that hear, obey, and most importantly… implement.



For clarification and/or further insight, you may contact Greg Horton at: editor@frmnews.net