Imagine arriving at someone’s home and finding the following:
Old, torn bin-bags lie strewn across the yard with their contents littering the lawn. As you enter, you see that the floor is grimy, with suspicious stains dotting it at irregular intervals. The walls are splattered with a slimy liquid, and rat droppings line the skirting.
Would you like to live in such a home? Obviously not! The home is so filthy that it’s probably unfit for human habitation!
Although the house described above is fictional, the reality is that many people are careless and negligent regarding hygiene and cleanliness in the home. Some people don’t flush the toilet after relieving themselves… Some don’t place their dirty dishes and utensils into the sink, but leave them out the entire night to collect cockroaches… Some leave their dirty clothing piled on the floor and casually forget about it… Some spill their beverage or drop food onto the floor and don’t bother to clean it…
Islam is a religion of cleanliness and is second-to-none, in fact far better than all, in this aspect. Viewing the injunctions of istinjaa, wudhu, ghusal, removing unwanted hair, trimming the nails, etc., we can easily understand that cleanliness is a priority in Islam. In some ahaadeeth it is even mentioned that the angels of Allah Ta‘ala are inconvenienced by foul odours. Hence, the lack of cleanliness can even cause one to be deprived of the du‘aa and assistance of the angels!
Some people allow their homes and clothing to remain dirty and feel that this is actually part of simplicity, and they feel that being particular regarding cleanliness is against simplicity! Obviously, this is incorrect. If a person’s home is simple and his clothing is simple, then cleanliness demands that he keeps them clean.
We should thus strive to keep our homes clean. Be it the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen or any other area, we should ensure that it is kept clean and tidy at all times (not only when our in-laws come to visit!).
May Allah Ta‘ala bless us all with external as well as internal cleanliness and purity, aameen.