wudu

[munir rana]

Salam Everyone

By the word wudu we generally mean ablution which means the act of washing oneself. But in Arabic uses of the word refers to face.
In Verse 5:6 we see wudu means face and Gusul means washing.
Then why do we use wudu for ablution?

Best regards.

[Anjum]

Salam Munir,

I guess as of Quran...one should purify themselves by doing ablution before prayers..that...wash your face, arms, wipe your head and wash your feet...as far as ghusl is concerned...i dont think...that it has some special meaning to it...We are ordered to bath...after intercourse...before praying...These words have mostly derived from the so called Hadeeth...which...differentiate..Wudu and Ghusl...whereas...wudu is just an act of purifying yourself before prayer...
Hope this helps..

Regards,
Anjum

[deleted]

You're right, it just means وَجْهُ, the verse states:

فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ

Which is, "then wash your face (وَجْهُ), and your hands, up to your elbows".

So in 4:43 when it states to wash, it is the wash God has described here in 5:6 then isn't it?

[munir rana]

Salam to all

Thanks to Anjum and elliah

In a concordance I see that wudu means face. So that i became curious to know that why it denotes ablution in our day to day practice.

*W J H
WAJH n.m. (pl. wujah) -a face, countenance; a will; a beginning; proper form, true form; favour, honour; (with prep. li-) for the sake of; (inqalaba 'ala wajhihi) to turn completely over, to fall away utterly

And in various word to word translation of The Quran wudu is translated as face also.

Thats why I asked. Otherwise it is very much in practise that wudu means ablution and `gushl' is already absorbed in our (Bangla) vocabulary too as bath.

Thanks.

best regards.

[deleted]

Might as well call it الْمَرَافِقِ, eh?