Forgiveness Falls Like Rain On Our Hands

by Mehreen

Doing wudu (ablution) before performing Salat is considered to be just one of those daily things in a Muslim’s life. Very rarely do we actually pay attention to doing wudu properly – I can attest to that myself. At times, I’m just like “wash hands, rinse mouth, clean nose, wash face, arms, ears, feet,” just get done. I personally never bothered much to “perfect” my wudu, partly because I never understood the great rewards that lay in performing this simple act.

Umar ibn al-Khattab narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said, “There is no one amongst you who does wodoo’ and does it properly and does it well, then he says…

“I bear witness that there is no God except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger” …except the gates of Paradise will be open to him and he may enter through whichever of them he wishes.” (Muslim)

SubhanAllah! Paradise for doing wudu properly?! That’s quite a catch! And hold on, it just gets better – check this out:

Humraan, the freed slave of Uthman, said that he heard Uthman say that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Whoever does wudu as I have done it, then prays two rak’ahs in which he focuses completely on his prayer, his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Muslim)

SubhanAllah and Alhamdulillah that Islam is such a merciful deen. Indeed, it is beyond us to comprehend the Mercy of Allah (swt)- imagine, being forgiven for ALL of our sins just because we tried our best to focus on wudu and then prayed with khushoo. We sin so much everyday, and yet we have so many opportunities to clean our slates! Dawud Wharnsby Ali, in his nasheed “Life Returns,” sums it all up pretty well:

“We are the cracked earth, the thirsty, dirty spirit of man. If we gasp, we will be heard. Forgiveness falls like rain on our hands.“