Have you ever felt like your whole body is being washed off by the stress accumulated from the day? As your hands stand bare against the cool, running water; one feels like breathing again. What if I said that you would be in contact with relishing water at least five times a day, and in turn, gaining spiritual relish (even if you don’t realize it)?
Well, that is what Wudu (الوضوء) stands for– a breathing moment for the soul and the washing of sins for Muslims. Five times a day, it is mandatory (farz) for Muslims to pray, and to be able to take wudu (the act of washing certain parts of the body in certain steps). Although over the years most Muslims have done this task almost daily, it might be that only recently we, as a common people, have been able to understand the physical benefits of taking wudu. Just as it stood, one of the “simple” and maybe overlooked aspects is washing the feet.
Our feet, each part in their own way, is connected to our body. One part to the heart, another to the chest, shoulders, etc. Now imagine washing five times a day, with cold water. Still think good results will come? I mean, who washes their feet around five times in a single day? It’s such a controversial part of us that some people don’t seem to even want it to be seen by others. That’s exactly what some, or many praying Muslims experience. Possibly, they once were forced into a situation where the time to pray was running out, and they needed to take wudu in a public restroom. Yup, washing their feet in a public restroom. However, what benefits does this (for some, embarrassing) act do?
Between the feet grows bacteria, and over time can cause the feet to smell (or become infected). After a simple search, one might see the common solution to this problem: Washing the feet. Why? Because it is such a simple act (minus emotionally for some), basically free compared to all the other products one needs to buy, and most easy to access.
Another subtle effect of the feet relies on its helpfulness to blood circulation (not just the feet, but the whole body overall gets a “boost” from contact with cold water). Washing daily helps the blood vessels “exercise,” preventing future aching, muscle and chest pain, and other diseases.
People pay, like, a lot, to the point where their whole lives might be spent earning money for one treatment or surgery. If people paid just ten minutes for those five wudus, then not only would they save more money for other matters, be healthy, have a feet that don’t smell, and be at peace inside their soul for accomplishing their tasks in Islam. Seeing wudu as just an act of “body cleansing” might be a huge disrespect to the action itself. Wudu is, in the first place, done solely because Allah (God) has ordered them. Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings upon him) demonstrated it in accurate steps as how to really perform it (as he is the example who teaches us in detail the things mentioned a little bit in the Quran). Muslims in the past might not have known its true benefits, yet they committed their time and energy into something they knew was right. They did it purely because they believed. This generation not only has the chance to do wudu for its spiritual gains, but be aware of the accompanying physical gains.
We, as the most recent generation, get to have insight on the different benefits of wudu like none other (most likely), and all of this could help believers become stronger in their faith, as well as give them more thought into the realities behind each act prescribed in Islam (the right ones of course). Not to mention, they get a free pass in dealing with so many present and future problems that one might question at some point just how much of a miracle those daily wudu’s are.
