During his official visit to the Republic of Iraq, H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, delivered a speech on Saturday evening, 17 Ramadan 1444, corresponding to 8 April 2023, in front of the crowds of worshipers at Al-Imam Al Azzam Mosque in Baghdad in which he explained in detail the wonderful meanings of the hadith narrated by Imam Muslim on the authority of Abi Malik Al-Ash’ari, who said: The Messenger of God, PBUH, said: “Purity is half of iman (faith). ‘Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah)’ fills the scales, and ‘subhan-Allah (how far is Allah from every imperfection) and ‘Al-hamdulillah (praise be to Allah)’ fill that which is between heaven and earth. And the salah (prayer) is a light, and charity is a proof, and patience is illumination, and the Qur’an is a proof either for you or against you. Every person starts his day as a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or causing its ruin.”

His Excellency explained that moral purity means the purity of the heart from all diseases that afflict it, including hypocrisy, gossip, backbiting, hatred, jealousy, deceit, lying, telling falsehood, perjury, and other diseases that are known as diseases of the hearts. By preventing the soul from committing sins that the noble Sharia, and in the Sunnah of the Prophet, PBUH, such as injustice, transgression, aggression, hypocrisy, pride, and so on, considering that the forbidden things are all considered impurities and obscene, then they should be purified by repentance to Allah, and abandoning those sins.

As for physical purity, His Excellency explained that it means the purity of the body, food, drink, dwelling, and clothing from all dirt, and impurities, in order to preserve the soul from what threatens its safety and ability to comply with the command of his Lord, to avoid His prohibitions.

His Excellency clarified that Sharia has explained to us how to achieve both types of purification referred to above in an original and accurate manner, and he mentioned a number of prophet’s supplications that help purify the heart from the diseases that afflict it, including: “O God, purify my heart from hypocrisy, my action from vain show, my tongue from falsehood and my eyes from wrongful glances, for Thou knowest the surreptitious looks of the eyes and what is concealed in the breasts”. His Excellency stressed that Muslims should persevere in these supplications, and avoid falling into diseases of the heart, by avoiding all sins of the heart.

His Excellency pointed out that physical purity also means hygiene by using water in order to remove dirt and impurities. Islam has chosen to achieve this type of purification by means of ablution, ghusl, toothpicks, and what is known as Sunnan Al-Fitrah (Sunnahs of natural instinct), such as clipping nails, plucking armpits, shaving the pubic hair, istinja (washing the knuckles), trimming the moustache, and others.

His Excellency concluded by saying that purification is considered a part of faith if both of the aforementioned types are achieved in it, which means that a Muslim must strive to be morally pure by avoiding diseases of the heart and soul, and physically pure by persevering in removing impurities and dirts from his body, food, beverage, house, and clothes.

His Excellency’s speech received great praise from the worshipers, and the meeting was moderated by H.E. Sheikh Allama Dr. Ahmed Hassan Al-Taha, the chief scholar of the Iraqi Fiqh Academy.