Ivy

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

✦

A Letter to My Daughter

My beautiful Ivy,

You are loved beyond what words can carry. Before I teach you anything else in this life, I want to teach you how to stand before Allah clean. This small book is for you. Keep it close. Read it slowly. Practice what is in it until your hands know it without your mind asking.

Wudu is not just washing. Wudu is the door to prayer. Every time you make wudu, you are preparing your body to speak with your Creator. There is nothing more important than that meeting. There is nothing more beautiful than a woman who knows how to stand before her Lord.

I love you, my beloved. I am proud of you. And I am writing this so that one day, when you are a woman teaching your own children how to make wudu, you will remember the way your father taught you.

Your father,
Mike Rashid King

What Is Wudu

Wudu is the way a Muslim cleans herself before she prays. It is the cleaning of specific parts of the body with clean water in a specific order. Allah commands it in the Quran, in Surah Al Maidah, the sixth ayah.

Wudu does two things at once. It cleans your body. And it prepares your heart. When you make wudu the right way, with the right intention, your sins fall away with the water.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught that when a believer washes her face in wudu, every sin her eyes looked at falls away with the last drop of water. When she washes her hands, every sin her hands committed falls away. When she washes her feet, every sin her feet walked toward falls away.

This is the mercy of Allah, my beloved. Hold on to it.

Why We Make Wudu

You make wudu because Allah commanded it. That is the first reason and the highest reason.

You make wudu before every prayer.

You make wudu before touching the Quran.

You make wudu so your body and your heart are ready to stand before your Lord.

A woman who makes wudu well, makes prayer well. A woman who makes prayer well, lives her life well. Everything starts with this small act of cleaning.

Before You Begin

Find a clean place. Roll up your sleeves to your elbows. Have clean water ready. Make sure nothing is on your skin that water cannot pass through.

Then make your intention in your heart. We call this niyyah.

The intention is silent. Say to yourself in your heart:

I am making wudu for the sake of Allah, to prepare for prayer.

The intention does not need to be spoken out loud. It needs to be true in your heart. Allah hears what is in your heart before He hears what is on your tongue.

T H E

Steps of Wudu

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Follow these steps in order, my beloved. Do them with care. Do not rush. Each part has its meaning, and Allah sees how you do them.

Step 1

Say Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ

Bismillah

In the name of Allah

Begin by saying Bismillah. Every good action begins with the name of Allah. This is how you open the door.

Step 2

Wash your hands three times

Wash your right hand first, all the way to the wrist. Three times. Then wash your left hand the same way. Three times. Get between your fingers. Make sure the water touches every part of your skin.

Always start with the right side, my beloved. The Prophet, peace be upon him, loved to begin with the right in everything good.

Step 3

Rinse your mouth three times

Take water in your right hand and rinse your mouth. Swish it around. Spit it out. Do this three times. The mouth that will say the words of prayer must be clean.

Step 4

Clean your nose three times

Take a small amount of water in your right hand and gently sniff it into your nose. Then blow it out using your left hand. Do this three times.

Step 5

Wash your face three times

Wash your whole face three times. From your hairline down to under your chin. From one ear to the other. Make sure the water reaches every part of your face. Do not miss the corners of your eyes or the sides of your nose.

Step 6

Wash your right arm three times

Wash your right arm from your fingertips up to and including your elbow. Three times. The elbow itself must be washed. Make sure the water covers everything.

Step 7

Wash your left arm three times

Now wash your left arm the same way. From fingertips to elbow. Three times.

Step 8

Wipe your head one time

Wet your hands. Place them on the front of your head. Wipe back to the nape of your neck. Then wipe forward, back to the front. This is done one time.

This is called masah. You are not pouring water over your head. You are wiping with wet hands. Gentle and complete.

My beloved, when your hair is long or braided, you do not need to undo it. Wipe over the front of your hair with your wet hands. The water reaching the hair is enough.

Step 9

Wipe your ears one time

With the same wetness still on your hands, put your index fingers inside your ears. Put your thumbs behind your ears. Wipe gently. One time. Inside and behind, both at once.

Step 10

Wash your right foot three times

Wash your right foot from your toes up to and including your ankle. Three times. Use your left hand to clean between your toes. Make sure the water reaches everywhere, especially the back of the heel.

A small dry spot on the heel can ruin a wudu. The Prophet, peace be upon him, warned about this. Be thorough.

Step 11

Wash your left foot three times

Now wash your left foot the same way. From toes to ankle. Three times. Between every toe.

That is the whole wudu, my beloved. Eleven steps. Done in order. Done with care.

The Dua After Wudu

When you finish your wudu, raise your eyes toward the sky and say these words. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught us this.

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَحْدَهُۥ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُۥ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُۥ وَرَسُولُهُۥ

Ash-hadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu.

I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger.

✦

Listen to this promise, my beloved.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that whoever says these words after her wudu, the eight gates of paradise are opened for her to enter from whichever one she wishes.

Eight gates of jannah, my beloved. From a few words said with truth in the heart, after a wudu done with care. This is the generosity of Allah.

What Breaks Your Wudu

Once you have made your wudu, you stay in that state of cleanliness until something breaks it. When your wudu is broken, you must make it again before you pray.

These are the things that break your wudu:

1. Using the bathroom.
2. Passing gas.
3. Falling into a deep sleep.
4. Losing consciousness for any reason.
5. Touching your private parts directly with your hand.

If any of these happen, your wudu is gone. Make it again before you pray. Do not pray without it.

A Note for When You Are Older

My beloved, as you grow into a young woman, there are a few things you should know about wudu that do not affect you yet but will one day. I am writing them here so this book stays with you for life.

Wiping over your hijab

When you start wearing the hijab, you are allowed to wipe over it with your wet hands instead of removing it. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did this with his own headcovering. This is a mercy from Allah for women.

Nail polish

Regular nail polish blocks water from reaching your nails. If your nails are not reached by the water, your wudu is not complete. Remove nail polish before wudu, or use a water-permeable polish made for Muslim women. This is not a small matter. Without water reaching every part of the wudu, the wudu is invalid and the prayer is invalid.

Makeup

Light makeup that water can pass through is fine. Heavy waterproof makeup that creates a layer between your skin and the water must be removed before wudu, the same way nail polish must be removed.

When you reach womanhood

There are a few days each month when a woman does not pray and does not make wudu. This is a mercy from Allah, not a punishment. Your mother and the women who love you will teach you about this when the time comes. There is no shame in any of it. It is simply how Allah created you, and He created you perfectly.

A Father's Final Word

✦

Ivy, my beloved daughter.

Make wudu slowly when you can. Do not rush it. Feel the water on your skin. Feel the meaning of what you are doing. You are not just washing. You are getting ready to speak to Allah.

When you are tired, make wudu.

When you are sad, make wudu.

When you do not know what to do, make wudu and pray two rakats. Allah will guide you.

This practice will be with you your whole life. From your first prayer until your last breath. Hold it close. Teach it to your children when Allah gives them to you. A mother who teaches her children to pray builds a generation that worships Allah.

You are loved beyond what your father can put into words. Allah loves you more. I will see you in jannah, inshallah.

Your father,
Mike Rashid King

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