This booklet is written by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi and it is published by Vancouver Islamic Educational Foundation. It is an important guide for Muslims explaining the rules and spiritual significance of Najasat and Taharat, Wudu, Ghusl and Tayammum.
The author in the preface explains his attitude of this booklet as following:
In 1984 I published a series known as `The Laws of the Shari'ah' which included booklets on The Tendency of Rationalizing the Shari`ah Laws, Ijtihad, Taqlid, Taharat Najasat, Wudu Ghusl, and Khums. The books were very well received by the readers in various parts of the world, al-hamdu li ' l-lah. Imam Mahdi Association of Bombay has translated the first three booklets in Urdu and is using it as a text in its study circle programs.
In 1987 when the time for the third printing of Taharat Najasat and Wudu Ghusl came, I decided to combine the two into one. But while combining, I thought of rewriting the two booklets and add some more discussions in them. But the rewriting was put off because of my studies and various other activities. Finally, this year Allah blessed me with an opportunity to rewrite and finalize this book, and the result is what you see in your hands.
The booklets Taharat Najasat and Wudu Ghusl were just simple explanations of the rules of ritual purity in Islam. In this book, I have extensively quoted the relevant Qur'anic verses and the ahadith. Moreover, I have added two new discussions: a section on “Our Outlook Towards the Najasat” which deals with an issue which is very important for the Muslims living in a non-Muslim society, and a chapter “From Ritual to Spiritual” which attempts to relate the ritual purification to the spiritual purification.
This chapter is in response to a need which I observed in the Muslim communities of various places with whom I have been working during the last seven years. Fortunately, the rituals are practiced by many; but unfortunately they are considered as just ritual and nothing more. I think it is very essential for the Muslims to know how to utilize the daily rituals of taharat, wudu, ghusl and salat for their spiritual upliftment.
The new chapter could still be expanded by including the spiritual significance of the daily prayers, an issue which I discussed in twelve lectures during the Muharram of this year. But in this book I wanted to confine myself to the spiritual purification that was relevant to the ritual purifications. And so I left the other aspects of spiritualism for some future work, insha Allah.
I hope the readers will find this new chapter informative and useful; and I would specially like to urge the leaders of the Muslim organizations in the West to read this chapter and try to implement its teachings in the way they think, behave and deal with the people.
