Introduction

Juristic Rulings Relevant to Purification, Prayer, and Funerals
Written by His Eminence Shaykh, the erudite scholar
Muhammad ibn Sālih al-‘Uthaymīn
May Allah forgive him, his parents, and all Muslims

Introduction
All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whoever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, Who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger; may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family and Companions and those who follow them with good conduct until the Day of Judgment.

Indeed, the worship of Allah is not complete or accepted until it is based on two main things: sincerity to Almighty Allah, and following His Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). Allah Almighty said: {And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth} [Al-Bayinah: 5] Sincerity to Allah means that the deeds of a person are done solely for the sake of Allah Almighty and to comply with His commands. Following the Messenger of Allah is to act in accordance with the directives of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), without adding to them or eliminating from them. Such would not be achieved without learning his Sunnah (his words, actions, and way of doing things).

Therefore, it is crucial for the individual to be keen on basing all his acts of worship on proof from the Book of Allah Almighty (the Qur’an) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) so that he worships Allah with insight, without doubting the correctness of the path he is following, and so that he is mindful that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is his leader and role model in the deed he is doing. This would increase his love for Allah and His Messenger and make him feel that he is drawing close to Allah Almighty by virtue of that deed.

It should be noted that some acts of worship have diverse forms, especially the repetitive ones such as ablution, bathing, and prayer.

The wisdom behind this (and Allah knows best) is in the following aspects:
First:
to make it easy for the religiously-accountable person to choose any of those forms and still be a follower with whichever form he chooses and performs.

Second:
to ward off the boredom of observing one form of worship.

Third:
to enliven the heart in fulfilling the act of worship, because regular observance of one form of worship turns it into a habit,

which may cause the individual to do it or say it without being fully conscious of it given the repetition of the action. By contrast, moving from one form to another induces activeness of the heart to fulfill worship to Allah Almighty and to follow His Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).

Scholars (may Allah have mercy upon them) differed over this type of worship: should the individual adhere to one form of worship whereby he chooses the most inclusive or most authentic and commit to it? Or is it better that he alternates between the different forms of worship? The preponderant view is to alternate between them. This way he would be observing all forms of worship in addition to adhering to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), unless one form is peculiar to a specific situation, in which case this particular form is to be observed such as some forms of the prayer of fear. Under this category of acts of worship that have various forms are some rulings related to purification, positions of prayer, and what is recited in it.

We have compiled what was written in summary or revised of juristic rulings relevant to the topics of purification, prayer, and funerals, relying therein on verses from the Qur’an or the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).

We ask Allah Almighty to make our work sincere for His sake alone, and to make it a means for the preservation of His Shariah (Islamic law) and the benefit of mankind; for He is, indeed, All-Generous and All-Kind.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His slave and Messenger our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them with good conduct until the Day of Judgment.
Muhammad ibn Sālih Al-‘Uthaymīn