Cleaning the front and back passages and avoiding impurities
Islam emphasizes cleanliness and makes it one of the conditions of prayer, which is repeated five times a day, being valid. The first step in this cleansing is the spotlessness of the two passages via which bodily waste, which contains a huge number of micro organisms and harmful toxins, is expelled. The Lawgiver calls this waste Najasah (impurity) and enjoins washing the front and back passages with water to remove any trace of impurity that may cling to the body or clothes. In the Hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in which he told of a man who was punished in his grave because he did not protect himself from urine and left a few drops clinging to his garment, we can see deep concern with the cleanliness of this area and with getting rid of this harmful waste and the large number of germs that it contains.
Hence the Lawgiver enjoined avoiding clothes and places that are contaminated with this waste and these impurities, and not touching them until they have been purified, and regarded that as an act of veneration. It has been discovered that neglecting the cleanliness of the back passage and genitals may be a cause of developing cancer.
In the second half of the twentieth century the west began to apply these traditions, when they realized the health benefits they contained, and they started to promote them when the benefits of washing after relieving oneself, such as protection from disease, were proved to them. A study carried out in the College of Medicine in Manchester University has proved that bacteria can break in through eight layers of toilet tissues to the hand and foul it during the process of cleaning oneself following defecation. We may understand the seriousness of the matter when we realize that one gram of faucal matter from a healthy person contains one hundred thousand million germs, and in the case of a sick person afflicted with typhoid, one gram may contain forty-five million typhoid germs, and in the case of dysentery and cholera, it is impossible to count the number of germs because the number is immense.
By means of these proper procedures and cleanliness of the entrance and exit to the body, and the skin, and the clothes and places where a person sits, sleeps and prays, he can protect himself against the most dangerous micro organisms and their toxins, which may be a cause of sickness or death.
This is in addition to the psychological benefits of purity which come as a result and reflection thereof, because it is an act of worship to Allah, the Almighty, and the Creator. It also brings benefits to the immune system, strengthening it and rising its resistance to many diseases that threaten the life of man.
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: Allah's Messenger cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses; and he said: They are all equal.
