Islam is a religion for people who submit their belief to the only One God and accept

Prophet Muhammad PBUH as the messenger of God. With this submission, this group of
people is called Muslims [1]. The religion of Islam is based on five pillars. One of the
pillars is to pray five times a day. Every matured Muslims are obliged to perform the
prayers. In preparing oneself to perform a prayer, the person must prepare their self with
ablution. Without ablution, the person is not allowed to perform the prayer [2].
Ablution or Wudhu in Arabics is a washing ritual using water to be applied on a
particular body to cleanse itself from a small impurity before performing the prayers.
This ritual is compulsory as part of praying activities. The term Wudhu is derived from
basic Arabics nouns called al-wadhaah which means clean and bright. Al-wudhu is a
verb to show the cleaning activity using water. The most appropriate translation for
alwudhu in English is ablution [3].
This ritual has been recorded in the Holy Books of Quran, the prophetic traditions called
Sunnah/Hadith and the consensus of Islamic Scholars. Based on Quran, Sunnah and the
Scholars consensus, general rules of ablution have been formalized and inherited since 14
centuries ago. In general, ablution involves the washing of face, both of hands, head and
feet with clean water. This washing will clean the physical and spiritual of a person thus
ready for prayer and other worship activities. In detail, the ablution must be performed in
sequence beginning with the washing of; the face, wrist to elbows, forehead to the crown
of head, both ears and both feet up to ankles. Each sequence is repeated twice or three
times [3].
When this ritual involves the use of water, the Muslims introduce the place to perform the
ablution. Many ideas and design were built near the prayers house called the Mosque [4].
Later its become one of the most important elements in the Mosque Architectural work
until today [5]. Since then, all ablution station in the mosque were design in many
variation based on its geography, ethnography and sociology. These variations encompass
human behavior that will influence the way they performs the ablution. Some people use
the water efficiently and some waste the water. In this paper we proposed a conceptual
framework on how to study the minimum usage of water in ablution that complies with

ablution general rules. In the framework, the study on product design development will
be employed in parallel with product development process.
A typical ablution process required of about 6 to 9 liters of water in volume. From this
volume, about half to 2 liters will be applied on the body [6]. However, in inefficient
person will consume more water than it should. The conservation of water is highly
emphasized in Islam as proclaimed by Prophet Muhammad PBUH [7]. Recently, there
are several inventions or innovation in performing the ablution. These inventions come
from low to high technology. However these inventions are rather to ease the ablution
process instead of conserving the water [8].

REFERENCES
[1] M. Farrar, S. Robinson, Y. Valli, P. Wetherly, Islamism and Terror: A Western Way of
Doing Politics, Islam in the West, Key Issue in Multiculturalism, Palgrave Macmillan,
United Kingdom, c. 15, 2012.
[2] M. Z. Al-Shahri, A. Al-Khenaizan, Palliative Care for Muslim Patients. Hospital and
Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Volume 3, Number 6, 2005.
[3] A. M. Kamal. Fikih Thaharah, Jakarta Timur, 2008.
[4] S. M. R. Gallant, Functions and Its Challenges In Muslim Countries, 4th International
Congress of the Islamic World Geographers (ICIWG 2010), April 2010.
[5] N. Utaberta, H. Othman, M. Surat, Analisis dan Penggunaan Hadith: Satu Penilaian
ke Atas Rekabentuk Masjid Moden di Malaysia. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Volume
1, Issue 1, 2010.
[6] A. R. A Besari, R. Zamri, A. Yusaeri, M. D. Palil, A. S. Prabuwono, Automatic
ablution machine using vision sensor, 2009 IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics
and Applications (ISIEA 2009), Malaysia. 2009.
[7] M. Al Bukhari, Sahih Al

Bukhari: Translated by M.M. Khan, Volumes 1 9, Kazi

Publications, Lahore, 1986.

[8] A. Mansur , D. T. Wicaksono, Facility for Disable, Journal Ergonomic Design,
Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2008.
[9] J. F. Annis, M. Conville, Occupational Ergonomic. Marcel Dekker Inc. USA, p. 1-46,
1996.
[10] M. I. Al Wabel, Simple system for handling and reuse of gray water resulted from
ablution in Mosques of Riyadh City, 2011 International Conference on Environment
Science and Engineering IPCBEE vol. 8, (IACSIT 2011) Press, Singapore 2011.

[11] N. I. Faruqui, A. K. Biswas, and M. J. Bino, Water Management in Islam, IDRC and
U.N. University Press, Ottawa, Canada, 2001.
[12] A.H. Mohammed, H. M. Iman, A. Awang, Journal Pembangunan Harta Tanah dan
Pelestarian Alam. Pusat Kajian Harta Tanah, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2009.
[13] M. Ahmed, Designing Mosques for Safety, Lonaard Group, London, Vol 1, Issue 3,
2011.

Ablution the minor ritual purification performed before prayers, circumambulation of the
Kaba, recitation of the Koran, and the prostration expressing gratitude after reciting the
Koran. According to the Koranic injunction which states O you who believe! When you
stand up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your
heads and your feet up to the ankles. And if you are unclean, purify yourselves (Koran
5:6), ablution is a prerequisite to performing the prayers. Its importance is also stressed in
the Traditions A Tradition states that being purified is half of faith. Another says that
prayer without purification will not be accepted.
Although details vary with different schools of jurisprudence, the ablution is generally
performed in the following order: The worshipper first washes his hands three times
before dipping them in the vessel placed on his right side. He then rinses his mouth three
times, pouring the water into it with his right hand. Preferably, he cleans his teeth with a
tooth-stick or brush with the index finger and the thumb. Then he brings water to his
nostrils with the left hand, snuffing it up and blowing it out three times. Then, holding
water in both hands, he washes his face from the top of the forehead to the chin and as far
as each ear three times. If he has a beard, he combs it with the wet fingers. Next, he
washes his right hand and the forearm up to the elbow three times, causing water to run
along his arm from the palm of the hand to the elbow. In the same way he washes the left.
Then he draws his moistened fingers over the top of his head, proceeding from the center
to the front and from the center to the back. He puts the tips of his forefingers into his
ears and twists them round, passing his thumbs at the same time round the back of the
ears from the bottom upwards. Next he wipes his neck with the fingers of both hands,
making the ends of his fingers meet behind his neck and then drawing them forward.
Lastly he either wipes or washes (thrice) his feet, starting with the right, from the toes up
to the ankles. During the ceremony he recites certain formulae with each act. Before
beginning the ablution he must formulate the intention (nya) of performing it, and must
follow the exact order mentioned above.
According to the Koranic command, the essential elements of ablution are four: washing
the face, washing the hands and the forearms up to the elbows, rubbing the wet hands on

the head, and either rubbing (if one reads arolekum) or washing (if one reads arolakum)
the feet up to the ankles. The Sunnites, Kharijites, and Zayds wash their feet, whereas
both the Emm and the Ismaili Shiites rub them, which seems closer to the literal
meaning of the Koran.
For cleanliness the Ismailis and the Emms recommend washing the feet either before
or after the ablution, but they insist that it is neither obligatory nor part of the ablution.
All acts in addition to the four requisite elements of ablution are considered
recommended by the sunna (custom). Rubbing is done once, but washing is done more
than once. A single washing is obligatory. The Sunnites and the Ismailis regard washing
thrice as the sunna. The Emms , on the other hand, regard washing twice as the sunna.
Moreover, the Emms consider wiping the ears an innovation (bea).
The sunna recommends that the ablution be performed thoroughly, with plentiful water.
For each washing of the face and the hands, a handful of fresh water is used; but for
rubbing, new water is not necessary. The ritual must be performed without interruption. If
one is interrupted long enough for the water of the last washed limb to dry, one should
start from the beginning. Wiping dry with a cloth after completing the ablution is
allowed, but it is recommended that the skin be left to air-dry. When suitable water
cannot be procured, or washing with the water might be injurious because of illness or
injury, it is permitted to perform the tayammom (q.v.), rubbing the face and hands with
fine clean dust or sand. Washing of the whole body, known as osl, is necessary after
major ritual pollution. The water used for ablution must conform to rules regarding its
purity. The details are discussed s.v. b water.
The Koranic text, taken literally, prescribes ablution before each prayer. The her
school maintained this to be obligatory, whereas all the four Sunnite schools of
jurisprudence maintain that the ablution need not be performed before each prayer if the
person has avoided every kind of impurity since the last ablution. Thus a single ablution
alone is obligatory, and it is valid for all five prescribed daily prayers so long as the state
of ritual purity is not invalidated by an action which requires ablution. The Shiites

concur with the Sunnite position, but advocate that performing ablution before every
prayer is indeed commendable.
The Sunnites and the Shiites disagree over the practice of wiping of the shoes ( mas
alal-offayn). According to all the Sunnite schools and the hers, a man at his
permanent abode is permitted, once a day (and if he is on journey, thrice in three days), to
rub his foot-covering instead of washing the feet during the ablution, if the feet when
covered were washed properly and the shoes are clean, impermeable, and fit tightly. This
wiping of the foot-covering is not permitted by the Shiites and the Kharijites. The
Emms allow it only under duress (i.e. by taqya), and in circumstances where there is a
threat to life from an enemy, wild beasts, or extreme cold. The Ismailis, on the other
hand, permit it, not under duress, but only under the following two conditions: when a
person has a valid reason preventing him from washing his feet with water, as when he
wipes over splints and bandages; and when a person renews the ablution out of devotion
without invalidating the state of purity acquired by a previous ablution.
The state of ceremonial purity attained by the ablution is annulled by minor impurities
(ada). Opinions vary widely as to what causes minor impurity. In general, relieving
nature (breaking wind, urination, and excretion), loss of consciousness, and sleep (apart
from dosing while sitting) produce minor impurities, making ablution indispensable.
According to the Shiites and the Hanafites, kissing and touching of the other sex does
not invalidate the ablution, but according to the Shafeites touching the skin of the other
sex, unless the worshippers are related in a way that prohibits marriage, does invalidate it.
The Malikites and the Hanbalites maintain that only passionate and sensuous touching
invalidates the ablution. The hers, on the other hand, maintain that any contact of a
man with a strange female, even a baby girl an hour old, invalidates the ablution.
The performance of ablution is highly extolled in the Traditions. The Prophet is reported
as saying, He who performs the ablution thoroughly will extract all sin from his body,
even though it may be lurking under his fingernails. Another Tradition says, The key of
paradise is prayer, and the key of prayer is being purified. The Messenger of God is also
reported as saying, My people will be summoned on the Day of Resurrection with white

faces and hands and feet from the marks of ablution. If any of you can extend his
brightness, let him do so.

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