What purity (taharah) means, and its two kinds
Why cleanliness matters in Islam, the two kinds of ritual purity, and why prayer without it does not count.
Taharah means being clean and pure. In Islam it means your body is free from dirt, and free from the kind of impurity that stops you from praying.
You must be pure to pray. If you pray without being pure, your prayer does not count.
There are two kinds of purity: small purity, which you get by making wudu, and big purity, which you get by taking a full bath (ghusl). We will learn about wudu first.
Taharah means cleanliness or purity. In Islamic terminology it refers to being free from both major and minor impurity, whether that impurity is physical or ritual.
| What is said | Who said it |
|---|---|
| "Islam is pure, so adopt purity, for only the pure will enter Paradise." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| "The key to Paradise is prayer, and the key to prayer is purity." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| "Purity is half of faith." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| Allah loves a pure worshipper who keeps to the rules of the Shariah. | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| "Keep your bodies clean and pure." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
These are a few of the many hadiths on the virtues of purity.
Purity is a condition for the validity of prayer. Without it the prayer is not valid; some scholars have gone further and said that knowingly performing prayer without purification can lead to disbelief.
| Kind | How it is achieved |
|---|---|
| Minor purity (taharah sughra) | Wudu (ablution) |
| Major purity (taharah kubra) | Ghusl (the full ritual bath) |
The rules of wudu are explained first, in the sections that follow.
Taharah is cleanliness or purity; in the terminology of fiqh it denotes freedom from both major and minor impurity, whether physical (a najasah on the body) or ritual (a hadath).
| What is said | Who said it |
|---|---|
| "Islam is pure, so adopt purity, for only the pure will enter Paradise." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| "The key to Paradise is prayer, and the key to prayer is purity." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| "Purity is half of faith." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| Allah loves a pure worshipper who keeps to the rules of the Shariah. | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
| "Keep your bodies clean and pure." | The Holy Prophet ﷺ |
These are a few of the many hadiths the source text cites on the virtues of purity.
Taharah is a condition (shart) for the validity of salah; without it the prayer does not stand. The source text further notes that some scholars have held that praying knowingly without purification can amount to disbelief.
| Kind | How it is achieved |
|---|---|
| Taharah sughra (minor purity) | Wudu |
| Taharah kubra (major purity) | Ghusl |
The rules of wudu are treated first, before ghusl and tayammum, in the sections that follow.
Terms on this page
Related
- The virtues of wudu The rewards the hadith describe for wudu, from the eight gates of Paradise to protection from Satan.
- Why prayer matters What Salah is, why it stands before every other act of worship, what abandoning it costs, and the blessings it brings.
- Menstruation, postnatal bleeding, and the rulings of major impurity What hayd and nifas are, how long they last, what is forbidden during major impurity, and when prayer and intercourse resume.
- The conditions for prayer to be valid The six external conditions: purity of body, clothes and place, covering the awrah, facing the Qibla and the intention, with what each requires.