This is the season of rains when water is everywhere but none for drinking. This is the season in which the sky opens up its generous bowl to pour down water in abundance. But the earth has no room to accommodate the gesture. This is a period when plants and animals feel that their needs for survival have been grossly exceeded. The world is said to be flooded with water everywhere and humanity becomes restive. The bounties of Allah seem to be too much for the need of man. In Europe, Asia, Africa and America, the story is one and the same. The world is grappling with a deluge.
When this happens, the tendency is for the scientists to lay blame at the door on what they will call global warming. They will give many reasons including the depletion of the Ozone Layer as the cause. But Muslims have no choice but to thank Allah and request for a moderation of His largess. This is the time to realise that moderation rather than excess of anything is the best in man’s life. In Islam, there is no cause or effect of a matter that is not known or cannot be controlled by Allah. Whatever happens in the life of man is by His permission.
The world is like a queue. You enter it at a point and come out of it at another point. This is one major lesson which every Muslim has come to learn through the observance of daily prayers (Salat). In Salat alone where queues are essential, a lot of lessons are there to learn.
The very basic lesson to learn in Salat is hygiene. If you newly embrace Islam, you have to undergo a ritual bath called Ghuslu-s-Shahadah or Ghuslu-d-dukhul fil Islam. It is performed with water. When you want to observe any Salat, be it obligatory or supererogatory, you must perform ablution with water. This is called Wudu. If there is no water, you take to Tayammam (dry ablution). As a Muslim, after an intercourse with your spouse, you must perform a ritual bath called Ghuslul Janabah before you can observe any Salat. When a Muslim woman completes her monthly menstrual period she must perform a ritual bath called Ghuslul Haydah before she can resume observance of Salat. A Muslim woman who has just completed her blood-dripping period following child delivery must perform a ritual bath called Ghuslu-n-Nifas before she can resume observance of Salat. A newly born baby in Islam must be taken through a mandatory bath called Ghuslul Wiladah which is also done with water.
Muslim pilgrims must commence their Hajj or Umrah activities with a ritual bath called Ghuslul Hajj or Umrah at their respective Miqat before they enter the condition of Ihram. When a Muslim, male or female is dead, a ritual bath is performed on his or her body. This bath is called Ghuslul Janazah. Anybody who carries out a bath on a dead body must also undergo a ritual bath of purification called Ghuslu-t-Taharah mina-n-Najasah (bath for purifying self from filth). This is because a dead body in Islam is like a filth which must be disposed of as soon as possible before it starts to decompose and thereby constitute health hazard for the living. Whoever touches such filth has had a share of it and must therefore cleanse up before observing any Salat. Such a person cannot participate even in Salatul-Janazah on the body of the deceased person which he has just cleaned up until he has taken the purification bath.
Muslims are expected to clean up with water through ablution at least five times a day. And, as a prophetic tradition prescribes, they are also expected to perform ritual bath on Fridays in preparation for Salatul Jum’ah though such bath is Sunnah (optional) rather than Fard (obligation). Naturally, women, especially Muslim women utilise water much more than men. They are the ones who take care of the children and, in the process; they clean up for them many times a day. Besides, women are the ones who must clean up for menses every month. They are the ones who must clean up ritually after 40 days, following child delivery. They are the ones in charge of matrimonial kitchens where they use water day and night. Thus, when the demography of women in any society is compared to that of men one can imagine the quantity of water consumed daily or weekly by women.
Given the fact that water plays a central role in the life of a Muslim therefore, two important conclusions can be reached. One is the fact that Islam is absolutely a religion of purity. And that is why Prophet Muhammad was reported to have said that “Allah is pure and He will not accept anything impure.” The second is that Muslims are the greatest consumers of domestic water in the world. This is because, besides using water socially, commercially or domestically like other human beings, an average Muslim uses additional one third of total water used by any non-Muslim on a daily basis.
It is therefore understandable why Muslims feel more worried when there is dryness and water cannot be easily accessed. This is what led to the idea of a special prayer called ‘Salatul Istisqai’ (rain-seeking prayer). This prayer randomly observed by Muslims when shortage of water becomes acute cannot be observed with water ablution. It is a way of reconfirming to Allah that the main purpose of our existence on earth is to worship Him just as the purpose of keeping domestic animals is to serve man. Salatul Istisqai which is usually followed by heavy rainfalls is a major evidence of an existing covenant between Allah and His faithful servants. The wonderful effect of that Salat contradicts any scientific theory. Non-Muslim meteorologists have always wondered how possible it is for rain to fall at an impossible time, following a congregational prayer by some Muslim faithful in a locality or region. But to their amazement, they have regularly seen the potency of such prayer in bringing rain not only for Muslims but for all and sundry. The question is: ‘can any other religious group do same to the advantage of mankind? This one trillion Naira question is still begging for answer even almost one and a half millennia after the introduction of Salatul Istisqai as a bringer of rain.
That Salatul Istisqai actually brings rain even in a severely dry season remains a puzzle to unbelievers especially in the West who see everything, including God, as a product of science.
I first took part in the observance of Salatul Istisqai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as a student in that country, in 1976. The two rakat prayer had hardly been concluded when rain started in torrents. It rained for nine hours continuously in that desert country and flooded the entire Emirates like the deluge incurred by Prophet Nuh (Noah) as contained in history. It took more than a week before normal social and commercial activities could fully resume. I have since participated in the same exercise twice thereafter in Nigeria and in Saudi Arabia. The effect of Salatul Istisqai is not necessarily immediate. At times, it may take a week or more before rain starts pouring. And, if, after some time, following the observance of Salatul Istisqai, rain does not come, the Salat can be repeated. Allah has a design for everything. He knows when rainfall will best serve the need of man. And in seeking such a favour, Muslims must not try to jump the gun.
During Hajj in 2007, when the weather became too dry to bear, the Saudi authorities called on all Muslim residents and pilgrims to rise up and cry to Allah for heavenly water through Salatul Istisqai. Thus in cities like Madinah, Riyadh, Dammam, Dhahran, Yambu’, Jubail, Abha, Asir Taif and the likes, millions of Muslims, residents and pilgrims alike, queued up before the Almighty Allah, crying for water to come from heavens. The prayer was led from the great sanctuary of Makkah (Al- Haram) and I was a participant.
In the observance of Salatul Istisqai, any Imam who leads it is expected to recite Suratul Fatihah as often done in any other Salat. He follows it up with any other chapter or verses in the Qur’an but it is preferable that rain or water-related chapters or verses are recited. These recitations are done aloud. And they are followed by emotional supplications made passionately to Allah while pleading for rainfall.
Any participant in such prayer is expected to be in a sober mood and be absolutely confident that the prayer would be accepted. The essence of raising one’s hands to Allah in prayer is to further confirm that there is no intermediary between man and Allah in worship and in prayer. Allah Himself emphasises this in the Qur’an by saying to Prophet Muhammad thus: “When my servants ask you about Me, tell them that I am very close to them. I accept the prayers of those who seek from Me but let such seekers expect the giving from Me alone; let them be confident in My ability to accept prayer so that they may be guided aright”. However, there is need to correct the wrong notion being spread around that dresses must be worn inside out by those who will partake in Salatul Istisqai. There is nothing like that in Islam.
The effect of Salatul Istisqai in bringing rains is just symbolic of all other prayers by Muslims. No genuine Muslim prayer is ever turned down by Allah. Acceptance of prayer may not be exactly in accordance with human expectation, it may not be as promptly as man wants it but eventually, a Muslim will realise that his prayer has been accepted by Allah without an intermediary. Right now, about three million Muslims are performing Hajj in the Holy Land each of them using an average of 10 litres of water for Salat alone daily. And each will spend an average of one month in the Holy Land. This is happening in desert cities like Makkah and Madinah where no visible rivers flow. Yet, water is abundantly available for everyone even at the height of over 110 floors in sky scraper buildings. How else can one feel the mercy of Allah?
Unknown to the non-Islamic world, performance of Hajj every year is a great blessing to humanity rather than just a mere act of worship by Muslims. Hajj is the biggest congregation of human beings on earth. Allah loves and respects congregations of pious people who praise Him and pray to Him for the needs of the world. That congregation is essential for the continuity of human existence. There is no country in the world today without Muslim pilgrims joining their brethren from other parts of the world in requesting Allah to save the world from perishing. And each year, as such prayers are accepted, the world is confirmed saved despite the evil moves of Yajuj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) as well as their agents who are ignorantly pursuing their own destruction every minute. Thus, like Salatul Istisqai which brings water to everybody and not Muslims alone, Hajj is to the benefit of mankind and not Muslims alone. Thus, its preservation must be ensured by everybody in the interest of continued human existence.
Without water, it will be difficult to observe Salat or to fast in Ramadan or to give Zakat or to perform Hajj. Without water, it will be impossible to bear children and bring them up, or to keep farms and sustain them. Water is life. But this is not for Muslims alone. The difference is that Muslims use part of the water to show gratitude to Allah by worshipping Him. Others use it for mundane life alone which is sheer vanity.
Knowledge is like water which softens the earth for seeds to germinate and for plants to be nourished to fruition. Knowledge in Islam is much more important than worship. No one can validly worship Allah without knowledge. And if for this reason alone, it should behove the entire Muslim Ummah of the world to join and cooperate in using water to worship Allah. That is the essence of knowledge. It cannot be trivialised.
As this year’s Idul Adha comes up today, ‘The Message’ hereby congratulates our numerous readers for witnessing another festival wishing them many pleasant returns of it. But ‘The Message’ will be shirking its responsibility if it fails to comment on a fabricated Hadith now making the rounds. The so-called Hadith is quoted as saying that observance of Salatul Jum’at is not obligatory on whoever observes ‘Idul Adha on a Friday. This fabricated Hadith cannot be reasonably attributable to Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Salatul Adha is optional while Salatul Jum’ah is obligatory. It will therefore be unreasonable to quote Prophet Muhammad as expressing such an obnoxious Hadith. ‘Id Mubarak! Kullu ‘Amin wa antum bilkhayr.
