Germs in islam? Modern Hygiene, Soap, lotus leaves, or potash?

[tariqa]

Doctors today tell us to wash our hands allot and use soap and water
in the time of the prophet (p) soap was not used as we use it today

is it really necessary to follow the new modern ways of hygiene or is water sufficient as it was in the time of the Messenger of Allah?

if germs are a worry and we should follow what is told, can lotus leaves be replaced for soap as was in the time of the messenger or potash?

[not known]

Doctors today tell us to wash our hands allot and use soap and water
in the time of the prophet (p) soap was not used as we use it today

is it really necessary to follow the new modern ways of hygiene or is water sufficient as it was in the time of the Messenger of Allah?

if germs are a worry and we should follow what is told, can lotus leaves be replaced for soap as was in the time of the messenger or potash?

:salam:

Purity is half part of Emaan

[tariqa]

can you answer the question?

[Italianguy]

can you answer the question?

I am Christian but one time i was in a desert and was about to read my Bible........I know please don't ask :) (why in a desert) since i didn't have water and soap to purify myself i used sand. And rubbed my arms and face.....it actually does wonders for your skin! It's like exfoliating. I think this is practice in Islam as well? right?

[Abu Zakariya Yahya]

Yes you're right it is a part of Islam to do this with dirt if one does no find water.

[tariqa]

exfoilating is harram in islam

[Italianguy]

exfoilating is harram in islam

Ahhhhh man, sorry....just ignore that part then :) .....what about the other part (sand)?

[Italianguy]

Yes you're right it is a part of Islam to do this with dirt if one does no find water.

Really???............Am I a Muslim or what??? ;)

[Abu Zakariya Yahya]

exfoilating is harram in islam

Why is that?

[not known]

Really???............Am I a Muslim or what??? ;)

:salam:

sorry, its not so easy :-)

[Abbe]

exfoilating is harram in islam

Really? Says who?

[Nomadic]

Anyway What is exfolating? how could being clean is haram if this is what it means?
today the environment and our life style is far from the Fitra (the natural dispostion as stipulated in Islamic ethos). so as we become more modern (adopt more unnatural way of existance) we need to provide some superfical balance by introducing additional product due to nesssity. So advent of Soap by Muslim in the golden age of Islamic civilisation is perhaps a blessing. Further we go from Sunnah of Rasullah (SAW), more the problem.
Masalam

[tariqa12]

this thread isnt really about exfoilating

i just wanted to know what does islam say about germs?
the prophet did not go to great lengths to clean and he used water very scarely
unlike we do today








if you want to know more about exfoilating check this link

http://www.************/en/ref/83565/face%20lift



Exfoliation means removing a layer of skin to expose new skin. The reason for doing that may be to remove a blemish on the skin that resulted from a burn or tear, or it may be for cosmetic purposes, to beautify the face. If it is the former, then it is permissible, because removing blemishes makes this action permissible. But if it is for the latter then it is not permissible, because that is changing the creation of Allaah, and is a kind of beautification that is not permissible in sharee’ah.

In the answer to question no. 34215 we stated that it is haraam to exfoliate the face, and that it is changing the creation of Allaah.

Face-lift operations are usually done for purposes of beautification and to remove wrinkles. This comes under the heading of changing the creation of Allaah. In the answer to question no. 47694 we have stated the ruling on cosmetic surgery, and we explained that some of it may be essential so it is permissible, and some of it may be for the purpose of beautification, and it is haraam, because it comes under the heading of changing the creation of Allaah. And we gave face-lifts as one of the examples of such operations.

In addition to what we mentioned of rulings in the two answers referred to above, we may also mention the harm caused by some of these operations.

There is nothing wrong with trying to beautify the face by means other than exfoliation, such as using some kinds of permissible creams or medicines, so long as that does not do any damage to the face.

And Allaah knows best.

[Rahma_09]

with reagrds to ur question on using soap instead of lotus leaves which was used in the time of Rasulullah sallahu alaihi wasallam, then accoring to what am taught its allowed, regardless of it being two diffrent things, it still acts as a cleanser, during the time of rasulullah sallahu alaihi wasallam they would wash the body of the dead with lotus leaves but obviously now in our time soap would be used to cleanse and wash body. allahu alam

[tariqa]

that wasnt my question

my question was what would be better

sticking to what the prophets people did
or what we introduce?

sticking to the sunnah is always better is it not?

if the prophet (p) used lotus leaves
then so should we?

[bugmenot]

:ws:

Depends, did he :saw: obligated it on us? Remember 'sunnah' has a broad meaning

[Rahma_09]

tariqa, if u wanna use lotus leaves, go ahead use it. there was no such thing as soap, shamppoo etc back then and if there was who knows the prophet sallalhu alahi wsallam would have made use of it, allahu alam. did rasulullah tell us that we must use lotus leaves as oppose to anythjing else newly invented.?? the bottom line is both act as a cleanser! doesnt matter what u use to clean urself, the fact that it cleans, is sufficient! (of course the product shouldnt contain haram ingredients.) seriously post ur question to a knowledgable sheikh, maybe then u can tell us what they said in regards.

[tariqa]

but sister rahma
what about the siwak
there was no toothpaste at that time either and we still use siwak over toothpaste

if its the sunnah then perhaps it is better that we follow the sunnah

instead of taking newly invented matters

thats what im trying to get at

the sunnah is always highly recommended isnt it?

also i was showing that the prophet had lotus leaves in that time but he didnt use lotus leaves allot
he used plain water to clean for allot of his task

which may show that germs were not that important to him or perhaps it was that germs wasnt as much of a threat as it is today

allah knows best

[Rahma_09]

they never had a hoover back then, never had a phone, they used to communicate via letters, shall we all start tiring ourselves with a broom now, i can list loadsss of things that did not exist duirng the time of Rasulullah. why make things hard upon ursefl?

its not like its sinful to use new invention. like someone else said sunnah has a broader meaning. Nabi sallahu alaihi wasallam lived in makkah then medina, are we going to move and live there? after all it is sunnah. anyhow our deen is easy, its the people that make it harder upon themselves, using lotus leaves or whatever else is not gonna make us a better muslim.

the miswak is a diffrent story, many ahadith speak about the prophet sallahu alahi wasallam telling us to use the miswak, e.g the hadith of ibn umar narrated Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam said 'Make a regular practice of the miswak, for verily, it is healthy for the mouth and it is a Pleasure for the Creator (i.e. Allah is pleased with the Muslim who uses the Miswak)'." - Bukhari. And we know there are a number of benefits in using the miswak as well as it being sunnah.

[tariqa]

sister
i dislike to i disagree with you..
but at the same time i understand what you are saying

i however see that you say the siwak is different
however there was no toothpaste at the time
if there was perhaps he would have used toothpaste
perhaps he would have not

also
i understand it is not sinful to use soap and using lotus leaves will not make you a better muslim
but if we are doing it because the prophet (s) did it, would that not increase our rewards? indeed!
living in madina
even though it is hard
there are muslims that walk to hajj because they love the blessings
and they have no cars
but they do it the harder way and they are rewarded for this

no one is saying its obligatory that you must make it easy on yourself nor hard on yourself...

but perhaps you will be rewarded for either...
allah knows best





as far germs are concerned in islam
the prophet had a choice to use soap (lotus leaves) and he did not use it as much

just as it was his custom to not use a towel after getting out of the shower or bath..
he had a choice and still did not use them
this is the point i have been trying to make to show that perhaps it is better that we use less water, less soap, less towels, and learn maintenance as the prophet did..
he did not wash his hands 15 times a day...
why should we do it now because we fear germs if he did not fear germs in his time?

....allah knows best