The word ablution applies to washing some parts of the body preparatory to the performance of Prayer. This is a prerequisite which must be fulfilled, otherwise the Prayer will not be considered valid. The Hadith clearly instructs that one should wash one’s hands three times with water and then clean one’s mouth by rinsing with water three times.
Then, the nose should be internally cleaned by pushing a little water into the nostrils three times.
And then the entire face should be washed three times.
After this, the whole of the forearm up to and including the elbow should be washed three times each, starting with the right.
Then, having wetted the hands with some water again, a pass should be made over the head with both hands, palms downwards with thumbs outstretched so that almost the whole head is covered by this in a passing motion. At the end of this motion, the ears should be cleaned with the tips of the forefingers. The forefinger of the right hand is used for the right ear and the forefinger of the left hand is used for the left ear. The finger tips move along the crevices and grooves of the outside ear and are dipped slightly into the ear holes.
After passing the finger tips around the grooves of the external ear and dipping them into the ear holes, all fingers are joined together and the hands are inverted so that the palms now are facing outwards. With the back of the hands, a pass is made from the nape of the neck to the front of the neck.
Lastly the feet should be washed up to the ankles inclusive, three times each, again beginning with the right. If for some reason, the limbs are washed just once, or twice, during the ablution, the ablution is still complete, even though the best form of ablution is that which we find in the established Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa) which is to wash the limbs three times. Thus the ablution is completed.
It is essential that the following prescribed prayer be recited for ablution:
Transliteration:
Allahummaj‘alni minat-tawwabina waj‘alni minal mutatahhirin.
Translation:
O Allah make me of those who seek forgiveness and make me of those who are cleansed.
This is ablution in normal circumstances when one is healthy and the use of water is not medically inadvisable, and where clean water is easily available. In case of illness or non-availability of water, there is a simple substitute for ablution in the following form which is called Tayammum.
If a clean dusty surface or a solid surface is available, one should pat the surface with the open palms of both hands, and make a motion with both hands passing them over one’s face. Then, one should pass the hands over the back of each other successively. If too much dust accumulates on the hands, then one is permitted to dislodge the excess. This is only a token ablution to remind one that whenever possible, proper ablution should be performed.
It is essential that one should offer Prayer while one’s ablution is intact. If one’s ablution remains intact then even with one ablution, more than one Prayer can be performed. This means that the state of ablution is necessary when one performs Prayer but for each Prayer repetition of ablution is not necessary if the previous ablution is still valid.