An Eco-Friendly Wudhu

Salaam Minara Family,

Shall we sit with this image for just a minute?

Take a deep breath and ….

notice the hypnotizing clarity of the blues and greens as they ripple before becoming one;

observe the composed motion of the vibrations as the gentle tinkle of the waterdrop meets its body.

Close your eyes and ….

hear the melodious chime of water hitting the surface, unhurried but intentful;

feel the velvety caresses of the water as your hand gently journeys through the stream.

Subhan Allah the ni’mah [blessing] of water is just phenomenal.

We’ve been reflecting a little on our privileged stance around water. It’s a seemingly small blessing but only because we quite literally have it on tap, and so we forget the magnitude of this Mercy of Allah.

فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ وَلَكَ الشُّكْرُ

To You Alone [Allah] belongs all praise and all thanks.

As we strive to perfect our prayer practice, let’s reflect together on our water usage when making wudhu. A mindful prayer begins even before the physical salah and our relationship with water is the difference between a good wudhu and a greater one.

Ok, so have a little think about your current wudhu practice…

Warm water gushing, tap blasting, cold tap ready to rescue just in case the temperature enters dangerous territory and of course, lingering longer than necessary under the shower head if you happen to be showering and decide to make wudhu…

Sound familiar friends?

You bet we are and - quite honestly, we’re guilty too 😳.

Ok but let’s look at the numbers because numbers do not lie.

Did you know that an average, a single person household in the UK uses 149 litres of water per day? In a four person household, that’s coming up to 600 litres of daily water usage.

A running tap on average uses a whopping 6 litres a minute. So imagine a standard drinking glass holds 250 ml, four glasses of water holds 1 litre.

That means:

6 litres of water x 4 glasses of water = 24 glasses.

If it takes you on average 3 minutes to perform a quick wudhu, [and your tap’s running], you’ve just used 18 litres of water or 72 glasses of water.

It’s mind boggling!

Our noble Prophet ﷺ in comparison used only one mudd of water [Bukhari, 200].

In modern day measurements, one mudd equates to 750ml .That means we are on average using 24 times more water than the Prophet used and if that’s difficult to understand, we can at least quite fairly conclude, we’re using more than necessary!

Islam really advocates for moderation and we see this even in ablution.

Narrated by Abu Huraira, the Prophet ﷺ said: Do not waste water even if you perform your ablution on the banks of an abundantly flowing river. [Ibn Majah, 419]

This hadith highlights the principle of extravagance even in a virtuous act like wudhu and, even when water may be abundant as it does feel for us alhamdulillah. It is a gentle reminder to be mindful of our consumption regardless of the availability of resources.

Read on as we share some tips on embracing a eco-spirited wudhu and honouring our relationship with water as one of Allah’s infinite blessings.

Here’s to transforming a shallow wudhu in to a deeper one! 🙌🏽

We’re sharing tips of varying challenge here - feel free friends to select your difficulty level to accommodate your practice 💙🩵

1. Turn off the tap between the washing of each limb.

2. Install a tap aerator which basically limits your water consumption by separating the water flow into many streams and mixing the water with air.

3. Don’t open the tap at maximum limit. Keep the flow light.

4. Use a cup or a glass to gargle your mouth.

5. Don’t use a running tap at all and instead fill a jug or bucket with water for ablution.

6. Aim to use only a litre of water. This might take some time so start with smaller steps like the above and then refine your usage.

7. Fill up a jug and make wudhu outside where the water will nourish both the soul and the nature in the wild. [Psssst. this one’s Minara’s favourite suggestion!]

8. Leave enough time to perform wudhu gently and calmly so that you aren’t pressed to drown yourself under a cascade of water to make your salah in time!

Bismillah - challenge is on friends! Which one are you taking?

Before even the existence of the earth and the skies, it was water that Allah created. Water sustains life, water nourishes. We need water to eat and drink; animals and the eco-system need water to survive. The human body is 50-70% water and water covers about 71% of the earth’s surface subhanAllah. Water cleanses and purifies.

As custodians of this earth, this is our promise to in sha Allah to become mindful of our water consumption, practice modesty and moderation in our ablution and prayer practice and by default, express our gratitude for a blessing in a world where famines destroy and water wells are dry and yet Allah continues to - in all the senses of the word - shower us.

So… water you waiting for… it’ll be a splash! 💦😜

The Minara Team