Wuduu is the Arabic word ablution. In the Muslim World, it varies from one sect to nother on how it is done. We only follow the Quran, as it is the only thing all Muslims agree on. The Quran presents this ritual to be exactly as follows;

O you who believe! When you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you are under an obligation to perform a total ablution, then wash (yourselves) and if you are sick or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith, God does not desire to put on you any difficulty, but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favor on you, so that you may be grateful. Surrat ul Maa'idah, 5:6.

So, from the above verse we learn four steps to completing the ablution;

1. To wash our faces,
2. To wash our hands to the elbows,
3. To wipe our heads,
4. To wipe our feets to the ankles.

That sounds like a very simple thing to follow, right? Well, Muslims have different ablutions - from six to eight steps! For example, Muhammad washed his nose, as "recorded" in the 'Hadiths. The man lived in the desert long ago. Of course, he would have dust in his nose so he would wash it. However, those who follow the Hadiths to the letter are now enforcing this on Muslims who lives luxurious palaces and dust-free areas! What many Muslims do not realize is that anything after the four steps is not from God. It is a personal choice. If you want to go an extra mile and have a 12-Step ablution, fine. Just don't say God requires it of you. He doesn't.

Someone once asked why did God bother with such "stupid" steps to prayer? This is not meant to burden anyone, but to prepare the believer for the act of prayer(i.e, connecting with God.) If you haven't already realized, whenever you have contact with nature, it humbles your being. Even the most unaware person gets humbler with nature's touch. Thus, when you wash up, you are already half-way there. Without meaning to mock God, try to approach salat without washing up first. You feel uptight and weird! Did you ever wonder why you are always happy after you take a shower(provided you don't have unnatural things piss you off on the way)??? The same reason above; nature is just your mother, makes you feel all humble.

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