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108-572: Wudu is an important part of ritual purity in Islam that is governed by fiqh , which specifies hygienical jurisprudence and defines the rituals that constitute it. Ritual purity is called tahara . Wudu is typically performed before Salah or reading the Quran . Activities that invalidate wudu include urination , defecation , flatulence , deep sleep, light bleeding (depending on madhhab ), menstruation , postpartum status, and sexual intercourse . Wudu

216-400: A corpse , is considered the ultimate impurity. It cannot be purified through immersion in a mikveh alone, but also requires sprinkling with the ashes of the red heifer . Since the red heifer no longer exists, this form of impurity cannot be removed. Currently, all individuals are assumed to possess the impurity of death. This has a few practical implications: it prohibits Jews from entering

324-505: A tsukubai set in the tea garden before entering the tearoom. Tsukubai are usually of stone, and are often provided with a small ladle , ready for use. A supply of water may be provided via a bamboo pipe called a kakei . The famous tsukubai shown here stands in the grounds of the Ryōan-ji temple in Kyoto , and was donated by the feudal lord Tokugawa Mitsukuni . The kanji written on

432-510: A banishing ritual be done at least once daily by Thelemites . In Wicca and various forms of neopaganism , banishing is performed before casting a circle in order to purify the area where the ritual or magick is about to take place. In his books on nocturnal witchcraft, for example, Konstantinos recommends performing banishings regularly, in order to keep the magical workspace free of negativity, and to become proficient in banishing before attempting acts that are much more spiritually taxing on

540-416: A basin called a tsukubai is provided at Buddhist temples for ablutions. It is also used for tea ceremony . This type of ritual cleansing is the custom for guests attending a tea ceremony or visiting the grounds of a Buddhist temple . The name originates from the verb tsukubau meaning "to crouch" or "to bow down", an act of humility. Guests attending a tea ceremony crouch and wash their hands in

648-557: A ceremony of the Washing of Feet , following the example of Jesus in the Gospel. Some interpret this as an ordinance which the church is obliged to keep as a commandment, see also Biblical law in Christianity . Others interpret it as an example that all should follow. Most denominations that practice the rite will perform it on Maundy Thursday . Often in these services, the bishop will wash

756-562: A collection of related dialects that constitute the precursor of Arabic, first emerged during the Iron Age . Previously, the earliest attestation of Old Arabic was thought to be a single 1st century CE inscription in Sabaic script at Qaryat al-Faw , in southern present-day Saudi Arabia. However, this inscription does not participate in several of the key innovations of the Arabic language group, such as

864-435: A corpus of poetic texts, in addition to Qur'an usage and Bedouin informants whom he considered to be reliable speakers of the ʿarabiyya . Arabic spread with the spread of Islam . Following the early Muslim conquests , Arabic gained vocabulary from Middle Persian and Turkish . In the early Abbasid period , many Classical Greek terms entered Arabic through translations carried out at Baghdad's House of Wisdom . By

972-537: A difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete His favour to you, that ye may be grateful. There are a handful of recommended acts, but if omitted, the wuḍūʾ is still valid. Sunni Muslims generally perform the following: Arabic : أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ ‎ transliteration: Ash-hadu "an la "ilaha "illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu wa "ash-hadu "anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa Rasuluhu. translation: I bear witness that none has

1080-865: A dying person is also performed. It includes bathing, which involves a threefold sprinkling of river water over the person from head to feet. Ritual cleanliness is a central part of Shinto life. In Shinto, a common form of ritual purification is misogi , which involves natural running water, and especially waterfalls. Rather than being entirely naked, men usually wear Japanese loincloths and women wear kimono , both additionally wearing headbands . In ceremonial magic , ' banishing ' refers to one or more rituals intended to remove non-physical influences ranging from spirits to negative influences. Although banishing rituals are often used as components of more complex ceremonies, they can also be performed by themselves. Banishing can be viewed as one of several techniques of magic , closely related to ritual purification and

1188-455: A house where a death has recently occurred, Hindus are expected to take baths. Women take a head bath after completing their four-day menstrual period . In the traditions of many Indigenous peoples of the Americas , one of the forms of ritual purification is the ablutionary use of a sauna , known as a sweatlodge , as preparation for a variety of other ceremonies. The burning of smudge sticks

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1296-483: A lesser extent and more recently from Turkish, English, French, and Italian. Arabic is spoken by as many as 380 million speakers, both native and non-native, in the Arab world, making it the fifth most spoken language in the world, and the fourth most used language on the internet in terms of users. It also serves as the liturgical language of more than 2 billion Muslims . In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Arabic

1404-630: A millennium before the modern period . Early lexicographers ( لُغَوِيُّون lughawiyyūn ) sought to explain words in the Quran that were unfamiliar or had a particular contextual meaning, and to identify words of non-Arabic origin that appear in the Quran. They gathered shawāhid ( شَوَاهِد 'instances of attested usage') from poetry and the speech of the Arabs—particularly the Bedouin ʾaʿrāb  [ ar ] ( أَعْراب ) who were perceived to speak

1512-517: A number of Eastern Christian churches ( Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches). A cantharus is a fountain used by Christians for ablution before entering a church . These ablutions involve the washing of the hands, face, and feet. The cantharus is traditionally located in the exonarthex of the church. The water emitted by a cantharus is to be running water. The practice of ablutions before prayer and worship in Christianity symbolizes "separation from sins of

1620-469: A point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems to be dramatic. Others have described a 'dimension of purity' that is universal in religions that seeks to move humans away from disgust (at one extreme), to uplift them towards purity and divinity (at

1728-462: A practical precaution of cleanness, which was also interpreted symbolically. "In the third century there are traces of a custom of washing the hands as a preparation for prayer on the part of all Christians, and from the fourth century onwards it appears to have been usual for the ministers at the Holy Mass or divine liturgy ceremonially to wash their hands before the more solemn part of the service as

1836-462: A script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic . On the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B , Thamudic D, Safaitic , and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic . Linguists generally believe that "Old Arabic",

1944-465: A single language, despite mutual incomprehensibility among differing spoken versions. From a linguistic standpoint, it is often said that the various spoken varieties of Arabic differ among each other collectively about as much as the Romance languages . This is an apt comparison in a number of ways. The period of divergence from a single spoken form is similar—perhaps 1500 years for Arabic, 2000 years for

2052-522: A symbol of inward purity." Traditionally, Christianity adhered to the biblical regulation requiring the purification of women after childbirth; this practice, was adapted into a special ritual known as the churching of women , for which there exists liturgy in the Church of England 's Book of Common Prayer , but its use is now rare in Western Christianity . The churching of women is still performed in

2160-503: A type of Arabic. Cypriot Arabic is recognized as a minority language in Cyprus. The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the linguistic phenomenon of diglossia , which is the normal use of two separate varieties of the same language, usually in different social situations. Tawleed is the process of giving a new shade of meaning to an old classical word. For example, al-hatif lexicographically means

2268-754: A typical prerequisite for consecration and invocation . In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram (banishing: LBRP; invoking: LIRP) must be learned by the Neophyte before moving on to the next grade ( Zelator ). For actual workings Aleister Crowley recommends a short, general banishing, with a comment that "in more elaborate ceremonies it is usual to banish everything by name." In Liber Aleph vel CXI , Crowley recommended that

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2376-499: A variety of regional vernacular Arabic dialects , which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. Classical Arabic is the language found in the Quran , used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate . Classical Arabic is prescriptive, according to the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh ) and the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as

2484-593: A verse instead; if the latter choice is taken, ablutions are still required before the recital of the special verse. Bahá'u'lláh , the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, prescribed the ablutions in his book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas . These ablutions have a significance beyond washing and should be performed even if one has bathed oneself immediately before reciting the obligatory prayer; fresh ablutions should also be performed for each devotion, unless they are being done at

2592-562: A way of life (See Romans 12:1, and John 13:5-10 (the Washing of the Feet)). Prior to praying the canonical hours at seven fixed prayer times , Oriental Orthodox Christians wash their hands, face and feet (cf. Agpeya , Shehimo ). The use of water in many Christian countries is due in part to the Biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation. The bidet

2700-470: A wider audience." In the wake of the industrial revolution and European hegemony and colonialism , pioneering Arabic presses, such as the Amiri Press established by Muhammad Ali (1819), dramatically changed the diffusion and consumption of Arabic literature and publications. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi proposed the establishment of Madrasat al-Alsun in 1836 and led a translation campaign that highlighted

2808-504: Is mustahabb , a recommended act ( مستحب ), but it becomes obligatory in special conditions such as prayer, reading the Quran , tawaf , etc. Wudu, in a hadith of Abu Hurairah discussing the Day of Resurrection , said that Muhammad, when asked if he would be able to recognize Muslims, said, "Yes, you would have a mark which other people will not have. You would come to me with a white blaze on your foreheads and white marks on your feet because of

2916-585: Is a minimum level of comprehension between all Arabic dialects, this level can increase or decrease based on geographic proximity: for example, Levantine and Gulf speakers understand each other much better than they do speakers from the Maghreb. The issue of diglossia between spoken and written language is a complicating factor: A single written form, differing sharply from any of the spoken varieties learned natively, unites several sometimes divergent spoken forms. For political reasons, Arabs mostly assert that they all speak

3024-443: Is a ritual meant to purify one's self and one's home, usually performed before important occasions, like weddings. During the ceremony, mantras are chanted and then consecrated water is sprinkled over all of the participants and the items used. In the ritual known as abhisheka (Sanskrit, "sprinkling; ablution"), the deity's murti or image is ritually bathed with water, curd, milk, honey, ghee, cane sugar, rosewater, etc. Abhisheka

3132-542: Is a sister language rather than their direct ancestor. Arabia had a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. The term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula , as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece . In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g. Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It

3240-482: Is also a special form of puja prescribed by Agamic injunction. The act is also performed in the inauguration of religious and political monarchs and for other special blessings. The murtis of deities must not be touched without cleansing the hands, and one is not supposed to enter a temple without a bath. Sūtaka are the Hindu rules of impurity to be followed after the birth of a child ( vṛddhi sūtaka ). Sūtaka involves

3348-579: Is also believed by some indigenous groups to cleanse an area of any evil presence. Some groups like the southeastern tribe, the Cherokee , practiced and, to a lesser degree, still practice going to water , performed only in moving bodies of water such as rivers or streams. Going to water was practiced by some villages daily (around sunrise) while others would go to water primarily for special occasions, including but not limited to naming ceremonies , holidays , and ball games . Many anthropologists that studied with

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3456-424: Is also to be performed when one is defiled and could not perform ghusl. Ritual purification#Islam Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of uncleanliness , especially prior to the worship of a deity , and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness . Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness

3564-469: Is believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hejaz , Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in

3672-474: Is common in predominantly Catholic countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing , and in some traditionally Orthodox and Lutheran countries such as Greece and Finland respectively, where bidet showers are common. Various traditions within Hinduism follow different standards of ritual purity and purification. Within each tradition the more orthodox groups follow stricter rules, but

3780-408: Is credited with establishing the rules of Arabic prosody . Al-Jahiz (776–868) proposed to Al-Akhfash al-Akbar an overhaul of the grammar of Arabic, but it would not come to pass for two centuries. The standardization of Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century. The first comprehensive description of the ʿarabiyya "Arabic", Sībawayhi's al - Kitāb , is based first of all upon

3888-468: Is credited with standardizing Arabic grammar , or an-naḥw ( النَّحو "the way" ), and pioneering a system of diacritics to differentiate consonants ( نقط الإعجام nuqaṭu‿l-i'jām "pointing for non-Arabs") and indicate vocalization ( التشكيل at-tashkīl ). Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (718–786) compiled the first Arabic dictionary, Kitāb al-'Ayn ( كتاب العين "The Book of the Letter ع "), and

3996-478: Is derived from Classical Arabic . This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā ( اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ "the eloquent Arabic") or simply al-fuṣḥā ( اَلْفُصْحَىٰ ). Arabic is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of

4104-462: Is no god but Allah Alone with no partner and I testify that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger', without the eight doors of the Garden being opened to him so that he can enter by whichever of them he wishes." The water of Wudu must be muṭlaq , meaning pure or unmixed (not necessarily chemically pure). The name of a liquid that is normally regarded by individuals as water. Other acts performed during wuḍūʾ and

4212-462: Is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean. Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease , and figure prominently from the earliest known religious systems of the Ancient Near East . Some writers connect the rituals to taboos . Some have seen benefits of these practices as

4320-566: Is not present in the spoken varieties, but deletes Classical words that sound obsolete in MSA. In addition, MSA has borrowed or coined many terms for concepts that did not exist in Quranic times, and MSA continues to evolve. Some words have been borrowed from other languages—notice that transliteration mainly indicates spelling and not real pronunciation (e.g., فِلْم film 'film' or ديمقراطية dīmuqrāṭiyyah 'democracy'). The current preference

4428-883: Is official in Mali and recognized as a minority language in Morocco, while the Senegalese government adopted the Latin script to write it. Maltese is official in (predominantly Catholic ) Malta and written with the Latin script . Linguists agree that it is a variety of spoken Arabic, descended from Siculo-Arabic , though it has experienced extensive changes as a result of sustained and intensive contact with Italo-Romance varieties, and more recently also with English. Due to "a mix of social, cultural, historical, political, and indeed linguistic factors", many Maltese people today consider their language Semitic but not

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4536-611: Is often translated as " partial ablution" , as opposed to ghusl , which translates to " full ablution", where the whole body is washed. An alternative to wudu is tayammum or " dry ablution ", which uses clean sand in place of water due to complete water scarcity or if one is suffering from moisture-induced skin inflammation or illness or other harmful effects on the person. Qur'an 2:222 says "For God loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean." Qur'an 5:6 says "O believers! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to

4644-556: Is performed daily, before sunrise, with hair covered and after evacuation of bowels or before religious ceremonies (see wudu ). The tamasha is a triple immersion in the river without a priest being required to do it. Women perform it after menstruation or childbirth, men and women after sexual activity or nocturnal emission, touching a corpse or any other type of defilement (see tevilah ). Ritual purification also applies to fruits, vegetables, pots, pans, utensils, animals for consumption and ceremonial garments ( rasta ). Purification for

4752-415: Is required, including following menstruation ( niddah ), childbirth , sexual relations , nocturnal emission , unusual bodily fluids , skin disease , death ( corpse uncleanness ), and certain animal sacrifices . Generally, the ritual in these circumstances consists of immersing the whole body in a special bath (a mikveh ). In addition, the oral law specifies other situations when ritual purification

4860-608: Is required, such as after performing excretory functions , meals , and waking . In these circumstances, typically, only the hands are washed. These regulations were variously observed by the Israelites . Purification was required so ritually impure individuals would not defile the Tabernacle and receive the kareth or execution. Nowadays, in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem , many of

4968-759: Is seen in European languages (mainly Spanish and to a lesser extent Portuguese , Catalan , and Sicilian ) owing to the proximity of Europe and the long-lasting Arabic cultural and linguistic presence, mainly in Southern Iberia, during the Al-Andalus era. Maltese is a Semitic language developed from a dialect of Arabic and written in the Latin alphabet . The Balkan languages, including Albanian, Greek , Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian , have also acquired many words of Arabic origin, mainly through direct contact with Ottoman Turkish . Arabic has influenced languages across

5076-584: Is the variety used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by some of the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" ( فُصْحَى fuṣḥá ) are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic. Some of the differences between Classical Arabic (CA) and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) are as follows: MSA uses much Classical vocabulary (e.g., dhahaba 'to go') that

5184-413: Is to avoid direct borrowings, preferring to either use loan translations (e.g., فرع farʻ 'branch', also used for the branch of a company or organization; جناح janāḥ 'wing', is also used for the wing of an airplane, building, air force, etc.), or to coin new words using forms within existing roots ( استماتة istimātah ' apoptosis ', using the root موت m/w/t 'death' put into

5292-496: Is used if clean water is not available or if an illness would be worsened by the use of water; this form is invalidated in the same circumstances as the other forms, and also whenever water becomes available and safe to use. The fard or "obligatory activities" of the lesser form include beginning with the intention to purify oneself, washing of the face, arms, head, and feet. while some mustahabb "recommended activities" also exist such as basmala recitation, oral hygiene, washing

5400-516: Is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the industrial and post-industrial era , especially in modern times. Due to its grounding in Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic is removed over a millennium from everyday speech, which is construed as a multitude of dialects of this language. These dialects and Modern Standard Arabic are described by some scholars as not mutually comprehensible. The former are usually acquired in families, while

5508-445: The Lisān al-ʻArab ). Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) largely follows the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties and has adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary

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5616-504: The Jordan River . After emerging from the water, the worshipper is anointed with holy sesame oil ( misha ) and partakes in a communion of sacramental bread ( pihta ) and water. Other rituals for purification include the rishama and the tamasha which, unlike masbuta , can be performed without a priest. The rishama (signing) is performed before prayers and involves washing the face and limbs while reciting specific prayers. It

5724-654: The Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church , worshippers sprinkle themselves with holy water before entering the nave of the Church or approaching the altar . In Reformed Christianity , ritual purity is achieved through the Confession of Sins, Assurance of Forgiveness, and Sanctification . Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers offer their whole being and labor as a 'living sacrifice'; and cleanliness becomes

5832-441: The Quran . Ritual purification takes the form of ablution, wudu and ghusl , depending on the circumstance; the greater form is obligatory by a woman after she ceases menstruation, on a corpse that did not die during battle, and after sexual activity, and is optionally used on other occasions, for example just prior to Friday prayers or entering ihram . An alternative tayammum ("dry ablution"), involving clean sand or earth,

5940-561: The Xth form , or جامعة jāmiʻah 'university', based on جمع jamaʻa 'to gather, unite'; جمهورية jumhūriyyah 'republic', based on جمهور jumhūr 'multitude'). An earlier tendency was to redefine an older word although this has fallen into disuse (e.g., هاتف hātif 'telephone' < 'invisible caller (in Sufism)'; جريدة jarīdah 'newspaper' < 'palm-leaf stalk'). Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to

6048-527: The monks or nuns to wash up before the Daily Office . Catholic religious orders of the Augustinians ' and Benedictines ' rules contained ritual purification, and inspired by Benedict of Nursia encouragement for the practice of therapeutic bathing; Benedictine monks played a role in the development and promotion of spas . The principle of washing the hands before celebrating the holy Liturgy began as

6156-494: The northern Hejaz . These features are evidence of common descent from a hypothetical ancestor , Proto-Arabic . The following features of Proto-Arabic can be reconstructed with confidence: On the other hand, several Arabic varieties are closer to other Semitic languages and maintain features not found in Classical Arabic, indicating that these varieties cannot have developed from Classical Arabic. Thus, Arabic vernaculars do not descend from Classical Arabic: Classical Arabic

6264-419: The "learned" tradition (Classical Arabic). This variety and both its classicizing and "lay" iterations have been termed Middle Arabic in the past, but they are thought to continue an Old Higazi register. It is clear that the orthography of the Quran was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; rather, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to record an archaic form of Old Higazi. In

6372-454: The 11th and 12th centuries in al-Andalus , the zajal and muwashah poetry forms developed in the dialectical Arabic of Cordoba and the Maghreb. The Nahda was a cultural and especially literary renaissance of the 19th century in which writers sought "to fuse Arabic and European forms of expression." According to James L. Gelvin , " Nahda writers attempted to simplify the Arabic language and script so that it might be accessible to

6480-562: The 4th to the 6th centuries, the Nabataean script evolved into the Arabic script recognizable from the early Islamic era. There are inscriptions in an undotted, 17-letter Arabic script dating to the 6th century CE, found at four locations in Syria ( Zabad , Jebel Usays , Harran , Umm el-Jimal ). The oldest surviving papyrus in Arabic dates to 643 CE, and it uses dots to produce the modern 28-letter Arabic alphabet. The language of that papyrus and of

6588-812: The 8th century, knowledge of Classical Arabic had become an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world, both for Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, Maimonides , the Andalusi Jewish philosopher, authored works in Judeo-Arabic —Arabic written in Hebrew script . Ibn Jinni of Mosul , a pioneer in phonology , wrote prolifically in the 10th century on Arabic morphology and phonology in works such as Kitāb Al-Munṣif , Kitāb Al-Muḥtasab , and Kitāb Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ    [ ar ] . Ibn Mada' of Cordoba (1116–1196) realized

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6696-525: The Cherokees like James Adair tried to connect these groups to the Lost Tribes of Israel based on religious practices including going to water, but this form of historiography is mostly Christian "wish fulfillment" rather than respectable anthropology. Yuquot Whalers' Shrine on Vancouver Island was used by chiefs to prepare ritually for whaling . Islamic ritual purification is particularly centred on

6804-412: The Middle East and North Africa have become a badge of sophistication and modernity and ... feigning, or asserting, weakness or lack of facility in Arabic is sometimes paraded as a sign of status, class, and perversely, even education through a mélange of code-switching practises." Arabic has been taught worldwide in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools. Universities around

6912-672: The Qur'an is referred to by linguists as "Quranic Arabic", as distinct from its codification soon thereafter into " Classical Arabic ". In late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged in the Hejaz , which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra , most strongly in Judeo-Christian texts, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from

7020-622: The Qur'anic mandate for wuḍūʾ comes in the sixth ayat of al-Ma'idah. The āyah has been translated by Muhammad Habib Shakir . O ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; Rub your heads (with water); and your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, Allah doth not wish to place you in

7128-561: The Romance languages. Also, while it is comprehensible to people from the Maghreb , a linguistically innovative variety such as Moroccan Arabic is essentially incomprehensible to Arabs from the Mashriq , much as French is incomprehensible to Spanish or Italian speakers but relatively easily learned by them. This suggests that the spoken varieties may linguistically be considered separate languages. With

7236-516: The Torah's laws about purification have no practical implication and are no longer observed. However, purification from the niddah status is still observed by contemporary Orthodox Jews and (with some modifications and additional leniencies) some Conservative Jews , as its practical implications are highly relevant: a woman who is impure with this status is forbidden to have sexual contact with her husband. Corpse uncleanness , or coming into contact with

7344-554: The United Nations , and the liturgical language of Islam . Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages , Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have borrowed words from it. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary,

7452-790: The basic anti-materialistic teachings of Buddhism . The Bible has many rituals of purification relating to menstruation , childbirth , sexual relations , nocturnal emission , unusual bodily fluids , skin disease , death , and animal sacrifices . Oriental Orthodox Churches such as the Coptic Orthodox , Ethiopian Orthodox , Eritrean Orthodox , places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings, and its followers adhere to certain practices such as observing days of ritual purification. Before praying, they wash their hands and face in order to be clean before and present their best to God. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds of hand washing for example after leaving

7560-460: The body that has not been washed, cleaned or dried improperly can be redone. Theoretically, one can perform one wuḍūʾ for Salah and this wudu would be considered valid for the rest of the day, unless you nullify it by certain means. Muslims believe that certain acts invalidate the wudu (often referred to as 'breaking wudu' and 'losing wudu'), although the Qur'an does not explain most of these, and rules differ among schools. According to Sunni Islam,

7668-479: The body through the two extremities. Cutting one's hair or nails does not invalidate wudhu but he or she should wipe the area with water. Muslims who are unable to perform the prevailing form of ablution due to skin disease, a disability, or a lack of clean water, etc. are recommended to perform tayammum, sometimes called 'dry ablution', using sand or dust instead of water. Such ritual purity may also be accepted in cases in weather where it would be dangerous. Tayammum

7776-662: The body, such as magical spellworking . Arabic Arabic (endonym: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ , romanized :  al-ʿarabiyyah , pronounced [al ʕaraˈbijːa] , or عَرَبِيّ , ʿarabīy , pronounced [ˈʕarabiː] or [ʕaraˈbij] ) is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world . The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic , including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic , which

7884-567: The conversion of Semitic mimation to nunation in the singular. It is best reassessed as a separate language on the Central Semitic dialect continuum. It was also thought that Old Arabic coexisted alongside—and then gradually displaced— epigraphic Ancient North Arabian (ANA), which was theorized to have been the regional tongue for many centuries. ANA, despite its name, was considered a very distinct language, and mutually unintelligible, from "Arabic". Scholars named its variant dialects after

7992-408: The detailed acts of the wuḍūʾ can be classed into three types: The obligation of the following actions is debated among the schools of fiqh, though if not deemed obligatory they are considered recommended: It is not sufficient for one to pass wet hand over the feet. Under certain conditions, it can be done over slippers or traditional leather footwear called khuffayn . Shi'a Muslims also believe

8100-468: The elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles. And if you are in a state of full impurity, then take a full bath. But if you are ill, on a journey, or have relieved yourselves, or have been intimate with your wives and cannot find water, then purify yourselves with clean earth by wiping your faces and hands. It is not Allah's Will to burden you, but to purify you and complete His favor upon you, so perhaps you will be grateful." Wudu by itself

8208-577: The emergence of Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include: There are several features which Classical Arabic, the modern Arabic varieties, as well as the Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions share which are unattested in any other Central Semitic language variety, including the Dadanitic and Taymanitic languages of

8316-728: The eve of the conquests: Northern and Central (Al-Jallad 2009). The modern dialects emerged from a new contact situation produced following the conquests. Instead of the emergence of a single or multiple koines, the dialects contain several sedimentary layers of borrowed and areal features, which they absorbed at different points in their linguistic histories. According to Veersteegh and Bickerton, colloquial Arabic dialects arose from pidginized Arabic formed from contact between Arabs and conquered peoples. Pidginization and subsequent creolization among Arabs and arabized peoples could explain relative morphological and phonological simplicity of vernacular Arabic compared to Classical and MSA. In around

8424-593: The fact that they participate in the innovations common to all forms of Arabic. The earliest attestation of continuous Arabic text in an ancestor of the modern Arabic script are three lines of poetry by a man named Garm(')allāhe found in En Avdat, Israel , and dated to around 125 CE. This is followed by the Namara inscription , an epitaph of the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays bar 'Amro, dating to 328 CE, found at Namaraa, Syria. From

8532-493: The feet of the clergy, and in monasteries the Abbot will wash the feet of the brethren. Many ancient churches were built with a large fountain in the courtyard. It was the tradition for Christians to wash before entering the church for worship. This usage is also legislated in the Rule of St. Benedict , as a result of which, many medieval monasteries were built with communal lavers for

8640-495: The following invalidates wudu: According to Shia theology, the following invalidate wudu: Belching and vomiting do not invalidate wudhu; however, it is strongly recommended that the individual rinse his or her mouth following the latter. Bleeding is not considered to invalidate wudhu either, as Ja'far al-Sadiq made it clear in Hadith that a bad wound is not caused to repeat wudhu. This concept further extends to parasites that may exit

8748-501: The fourth most useful language for business, after English, Mandarin Chinese , and French. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet , an abjad script that is written from right to left . Arabic is usually classified as a Central Semitic language . Linguists still differ as to the best classification of Semitic language sub-groups. The Semitic languages changed between Proto-Semitic and

8856-742: The globe throughout its history, especially languages where Islam is the predominant religion and in countries that were conquered by Muslims. The most markedly influenced languages are Persian , Turkish , Hindustani ( Hindi and Urdu ), Kashmiri , Kurdish , Bosnian , Kazakh , Bengali , Malay ( Indonesian and Malaysian ), Maldivian , Pashto , Punjabi , Albanian , Armenian , Azerbaijani , Sicilian, Spanish, Greek, Bulgarian, Tagalog , Sindhi , Odia , Hebrew and African languages such as Hausa , Amharic , Tigrinya , Somali , Tamazight , and Swahili . Conversely, Arabic has borrowed some words (mostly nouns) from other languages, including its sister-language Aramaic, Persian, Greek, and Latin and to

8964-579: The inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts. In 1997, a bureau of Arabization standardization was added to the Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization of the Arab League . These academies and organizations have worked toward the Arabization of the sciences, creating terms in Arabic to describe new concepts, toward

9072-608: The language. Software and books with tapes are an important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education; most teach Modern Standard Arabic, but some teach regional varieties from numerous countries. The tradition of Arabic lexicography extended for about

9180-599: The late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koine" distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd , probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra . During the first Islamic century, the majority of Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax. Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali ( c.  603 –689)

9288-645: The latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal. The women in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church are prohibited from entering the church temple during menses ; and the men do not enter a church the day after they have had intercourse with their wives. Baptism , as a form of ritual purification, occurs in several religions related to Judaism, and most prominently in Christianity ; Christianity also has other forms of ritual purification. Many Christian churches practice

9396-420: The latter is taught in formal education settings. However, there have been studies reporting some degree of comprehension of stories told in the standard variety among preschool-aged children. The relation between Modern Standard Arabic and these dialects is sometimes compared to that of Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin vernaculars (which became Romance languages ) in medieval and early modern Europe. MSA

9504-883: The many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many regional variants; geographically distant varieties usually differ enough to be mutually unintelligible , and some linguists consider them distinct languages. However, research indicates a high degree of mutual intelligibility between closely related Arabic variants for native speakers listening to words, sentences, and texts; and between more distantly related dialects in interactional situations. The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows , as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media such as poetry and printed advertising. Hassaniya Arabic , Maltese , and Cypriot Arabic are only varieties of modern Arabic to have acquired official recognition. Hassaniya

9612-491: The mouth, nose at the beginning, washing of arms to the elbows and washing of the ears at the end; additionally recitation of the Shahada . The greater form (ghusl) is completed by first performing wudu and then ensuring that the entire body is washed. Some minor details of Islamic ritual purification may vary between different madhhabs "schools of thought". The Hebrew Bible mentions a number of situations when ritual purification

9720-768: The need for a lexical injection in Arabic, to suit concepts of the industrial and post-industrial age (such as sayyārah سَيَّارَة 'automobile' or bākhirah باخِرة 'steamship'). In response, a number of Arabic academies modeled after the Académie française were established with the aim of developing standardized additions to the Arabic lexicon to suit these transformations, first in Damascus (1919), then in Cairo (1932), Baghdad (1948), Rabat (1960), Amman (1977), Khartum  [ ar ] (1993), and Tunis (1993). They review language development, monitor new words and approve

9828-424: The one whose sound is heard but whose person remains unseen. Now the term al-hatif is used for a telephone. Therefore, the process of tawleed can express the needs of modern civilization in a manner that would appear to be originally Arabic. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any nationality can be assumed to speak both their school-taught Standard Arabic as well as their native dialects, which depending on

9936-535: The other extreme), away from uncleanliness to purity, and away from deviant to moral behavior (within one's cultural context). In the Baháʼí Faith , ritual ablutions (the washing of the hands and face) should be done before the saying of the obligatory prayers , as well as prior to the recitation of the Greatest Name 95 times. Menstruating women are obliged to pray, but have the (voluntary) alternative of reciting

10044-549: The overhaul of Arabic grammar first proposed by Al-Jahiz 200 years prior. The Maghrebi lexicographer Ibn Manzur compiled Lisān al-ʿArab ( لسان العرب , "Tongue of Arabs"), a major reference dictionary of Arabic, in 1290. Charles Ferguson 's koine theory claims that the modern Arabic dialects collectively descend from a single military koine that sprang up during the Islamic conquests; this view has been challenged in recent times. Ahmad al-Jallad proposes that there were at least two considerably distinct types of Arabic on

10152-475: The practice of keeping socially isolated from relatives and community by abstention of mealtaking with family, engaging in customary religious activities, and leaving the home. A mother must practice sūtaka for 10 to 30 days, depending upon her varna , while the father may become purified immediately after the birth of his child by ritual purification (ritual bathing). There are various kinds of purificatory rituals associated with death ceremonies . After visiting

10260-405: The preparation for salah , ritual prayer; theoretically ritual purification would remain valid throughout the day, but is treated as invalid on the occurrence of certain acts, flatulence, sleep, contact with the opposite sex (depending on which school of thought), unconsciousness, and the emission of blood, semen, or vomit . Some schools of thought mandate that ritual purity is necessary for holding

10368-410: The region may be mutually unintelligible. Some of these dialects can be considered to constitute separate languages which may have "sub-dialects" of their own. When educated Arabs of different dialects engage in conversation (for example, a Moroccan speaking with a Lebanese), many speakers code-switch back and forth between the dialectal and standard varieties of the language, sometimes even within

10476-444: The right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.}} Arabic : اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي مِنَ التَّوَّابِينَ وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنَ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ ‎ transliteration: Allahummaj 'alni minat-tawwabina waj'alni minal-mutatahhirin. translation: O Allah, make me among those who turn to You in repentance, and make me among those who are purified. Any part of

10584-458: The same sentence. The issue of whether Arabic is one language or many languages is politically charged, in the same way it is for the varieties of Chinese , Hindi and Urdu , Serbian and Croatian , Scots and English, etc. In contrast to speakers of Hindi and Urdu who claim they cannot understand each other even when they can, speakers of the varieties of Arabic will claim they can all understand each other even when they cannot. While there

10692-526: The same time. If no water (or clean water) is available or if an illness would be worsened by the use of water, one may instead repeat the verse "In the Name of God, the Most Pure, the Most Pure" five times before the prayer. Apart from this, Bahá'u'lláh abolished all forms of ritual impurity of people and things, following Báb who stressed the importance of cleanliness and spiritual purity. In Japanese Buddhism ,

10800-525: The site of the Temple in Jerusalem and prohibits eating certain foods (such as terumah ) which may only be eaten when pure. One of the most important ceremonies in Mandaean worship is baptism ( masbuta ). Unlike Christianity, baptism is not a one-off event but is performed every Sunday, the Mandaean holy day, as a purification ritual. Baptism usually involves full immersion in flowing water, and all rivers considered fit for baptism are called yardna for

10908-458: The sole example of Medieval linguist Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati – who, while a scholar of the Arabic language, was not ethnically Arab – Medieval scholars of the Arabic language made no efforts at studying comparative linguistics, considering all other languages inferior. In modern times, the educated upper classes in the Arab world have taken a nearly opposite view. Yasir Suleiman wrote in 2011 that "studying and knowing English or French in most of

11016-611: The spirit and surrender to the Lord." Eusebius recorded this practice of canthari located in the courtyards of churches, for the faithful to wash themselves before entering a Christian house of worship. The practice has its origins Jewish practice of performing ablutions before entering into the presence of God (cf. Exodus 30:17–21 ). Though cantharus are not as prevalent anymore in Western Christianity , they are found in Eastern Christian and Oriental Christian churches. However, in

11124-556: The standardization of these new terms throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and toward the development of Arabic as a world language . This gave rise to what Western scholars call Modern Standard Arabic. From the 1950s, Arabization became a postcolonial nationalist policy in countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan. Arabic usually refers to Standard Arabic, which Western linguists divide into Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. It could also refer to any of

11232-504: The strictest rules are generally prescribed for Brahmins , especially those engaged in the temple worship. An important part of ritual purification in Hinduism is the bathing of the entire body, particularly in rivers considered holy such as the Ganges . It is considered auspicious to perform this method of purification before festivals after a death, in order to maintain purity. Punyahavachanam

11340-428: The surface of the stone are without significance when read alone. If each is read in combination with 口 (kuchi) - the shape of the central bowl - then the characters become 吾, 唯, 足, 知 which translates literally as "I only know plenty" (吾 = ware = I, 唯 = tada = only, 足 = taru = plenty, 知 = shiru = know). The underlying meaning, variously translated as "what one has is all one needs", or "learn only to be content" reflects

11448-501: The towns where the inscriptions were discovered (Dadanitic, Taymanitic, Hismaic, Safaitic). However, most arguments for a single ANA language or language family were based on the shape of the definite article, a prefixed h-. It has been argued that the h- is an archaism and not a shared innovation, and thus unsuitable for language classification, rendering the hypothesis of an ANA language family untenable. Safaitic and Hismaic, previously considered ANA, should be considered Old Arabic due to

11556-516: The traces of ablution." Muhammad said that "Cleanliness is half of faith." Abu Hurairah said, "I have heard the prophet (may peace be upon him) say, "In a believer, adornment would reach the places where ablution reaches." Uthman stated that Muhammad said, "He who performed ablution well, his sins would come out from his body, even coming out from under his nails." Umar reported that Muhammad said, "No one among you does wuḍūʾ and does wuḍūʾ thoroughly – or adequately – and then testifies, 'There

11664-451: The world have classes that teach Arabic as part of their foreign languages , Middle Eastern studies , and religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students to learn Arabic outside the academic world. There are many Arabic language schools in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study

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