Surah 4. An-Nisaa'

65This is the second Commandment about drinking. The first Commandment (Al-Baqarah: 219) was that drinking is an evil thing and Allah does not approve of it. Accordingly some of the Muslims began to refrain from it from that time. The majority of them, however, did not give it up and often offered the Prayer in a state of intoxication and made blunders in their recitations. Probably, this second Commandment came in the beginning of A.H. 4 and prohibited the offering of the Prayer while one was drunk. As a result they changed the timings of their drinking so as not to clash with the timings of the Prayers. Some time after this, the Commandment about total prohibition as contained in Al-Ma'idah: 90-91 was sent down.

Incidentally, the word sukr (state of intoxication) as used in the Text also implies that this Commandment prohibits not only drinkig but every kind of intoxicant. Moreover, though every intoxicating thing is in itself unlawful, the offence of intoxication is doubled and becomes more heinous, when the Prayer is offered in such a state.

66For the same reason, the Holy Prophet has instructed that when one feels sleepy, and doses again and again during the Prayer, one should give up his Prayer and go to sleep.

Some people from this verse argue that the Prayer of the one who does not know the meaning of its Arabic Text, is no Prayer at all. But apart from the fact that it is an unnecessary hardship, the Arabic words of the Qur'an do not support this version. The Qur'an does not say, "unless you understand its meaning" or "unless you understand what you are saying" but it says "unless you know what you are saying". That is, one should be in his senses to know what he is uttering with his tongue lest he should recite, say, a poem, instead of the text of the Prayer.

67The Arabic word janabat literally means being far off and stranger, and the word ajnabi (stranger) is derived from the same root. As an Islamic term it refers to that state of uncleanliness and impurity that is caused by the emission of seed by sexual intercourse or in sleep because this makes a person stranger to cleanliness.

68A section of the jurists and commentators,such as 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Anas bin Malik, Hasan Basri and Ibrahim Nakha'i and others deduce from the words, "when passing on the way," that one should not enter a mosque in a state of "uncleanliness" except when one has to pass through it for some urgent piece of business. Another section of them, such as Hadrat 'Ali, Ibn 'Abbas, Said bin Jubair and some others conclude from this that if one becomes "unclean" when on a journey, one may cleanse oneself by wiping one's face and hands with pure dust, if water is not available. As regards entering a mosque in such a state of "uncleanliness", the latter section is of the opinion that one may sit in the mosque after performing his ablutions ( wudu). But there is almost a consensus of opinion that if one becomes "unclean" on a journey and water is not available for a bath, one may cleanse oneself with pure dust and offer the Prayer. However, the former section derives this opinion from the Traditions and the latter bases this concession on this part of verse 43.

69There is a difference of opinion as to implication of "if you have touched women." Hadrat 'Ali, Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Mesa Ash'ari, Ubaiyy Ibn Ka`b, Said bin Jubair, Hasan Basri and several other jurists are of the opinion that here "have touched" means "have had sexual intercourse". Imam Abu Hanifah and those of his way of thinking and Imam Sufyan Thauri have adopted the same interpretation. On the contrary, Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas`ud and 'Abdullah bin 'Umar and (according to some traditions) Hadrat `Umar also are of the opinion that the word "touched" actually means "touching with the hand" and Imam Shafi`i has adopted this version. Some jurists, such as Imam Malik, have adopted a middle course and expressed the opinion that if the touch between a man and a woman is of sexual nature, they shall have to make fresh ablutions for the Prayer but if. their bodies touch each others without any feeling of sensuality, there is nothing wrong in this.

70If one has to perform ablutions or take a bath before offering one's Salat and water is not available, one is allowed to resort to tayammum; or, if one is sick and there is a danger that the disease would worsen if one performs ablutions or takes a bath, one is allowed to resort to tayammum even if water is available.

Literally tayammum means "to turn to"; that is, one should turn to pure dust when water is not available, or if its use is harmful. There is a difference of opinion concerning the method of performing tayammum. The majority of the jurists, such as Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafi`i and Imam Malik, prescribe that one should strike one's hands on pure dust and wipe one's face with them; then one should again strike one's hands and wipe one's hands up to the elbows with them. This method has been prescribed by some Companions of the Holy Prophet and their followers such as Hadrat `Ali, `Abdullah bin `Umar, Hasan Basri, Sha'bi and Salim bin `Abdullah and others. But some jurists such as `Ata', Mak-hul, Auza`i and Ahmad bin Hanbal consider it enough to strike one's hands only once on pure dust and wipe the face and the hands up to the wrists and not up to the elbows. The Ahl-i-Hadith, in general, follow this method.

For the performance of tayammum, it is not essential only to strike one's hands on pure earth: any dusty thing or dry piece of earth suffices for this purpose. Some people object to this method of cleansing; they say, "How can one be cleansed by striking one's hands on dust and wiping the face and hands up to the elbows with these? Let them look upon this method from the psychological point of view. Tayammum helps keep alive the feelings of cleansing oneself and of the sanctity of the Prayer, even if one is not able to use water for a long time. Thus, a Muslim will always keep in view the rules of purity and cleanliness prescribed by the Islamic Code and will scrupulously be mindful of his state of cleanliness and purity for the observance of the Prayer.