Cleanliness and Marriage = Iman Complete?

This question crosses in every Muslim’s mind once at least because it is in human nature to seek out his ease, or some may genuinely be curious to determine the correct concept behind those two hadiths present in most authentic narrations; “Marriage is half of faith” and “Cleanliness is half of faith.” (Sahih Bukhari)

But does that mean being clean and getting married makes Iman “faith” complete in the sight of Allah? Why would our Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w) say something like that? Does Allah really judge a man based on those two factors? Can you possibly ask this to yourself and get a positive answer? No, because every Muslim knows the faith in Islam is complete and steadfast when he performs all five pillars of Islam, carry out all instructions devotedly and stay staunch in every aspect of hardship. Hence, what really is the real concept behind our Prophet’s words, for we know neither Allah nor His last Messenger shall confuse his mankind in regards of Islam.

When Prophet said, cleanliness is half of faith, he had a deep ring to those simple words. Cleanliness is not merely wearing neat and tidy clothes, washing your face and spraying perfume to avoid stinks, but cleanliness covers both inner taharah ”cleanliness” and outer taharah together. Inner cleanliness means keeping the soul clean from evil of the mind, and evil of the world. The soul of the Muslim can be kept clean only from five daily prayers. Similar to water bath, a man does to rinse his body, prayers all five times a day washes the soul and makes it pleasant. To achieve inner cleanliness, the thoughts crossing the mind must be pure and without any contamination of evil, and which is easily possible through performing the five pillars of faith; including daily prayers, fasts in Ramadan, pilgrimage to Sanctuary and paying zakat to purify the wealth and develop a feeling of generosity. These pillars inevitably make a man develop good feelings of brotherhood and welfare for underprivileged, and bring him closer to Allah Almighty since he has attained inner cleanliness. Therefore, a balance of both in and out purity is significant for completing one half of Iman.

As for the second issue, marriage must not be considered as a simple necessary bond Muslims have to obtain in order to grow Islamic community, but marriage is actually a very important Islamic ritual that needs to be carried out vigilantly, and with genuine devotion to make Allah Almighty pleasant with us. Marriage develops a sense of bigger responsibility and bounds a man to think the purpose of his life in this world. It also acts as a training for leadership roles that Muslims have always needed, as well as develops a man fully into a good human being by creating a sense of sympathy in his/her partner’s hardships, tolerance to his/her mistakes and affection between both to prolong their lives and give a peace of mind for having someone to share problems. Moreover, marriage is also a strong guard against a man or woman’s sexual drives and desires at an age where he need to be bowed in front of his Lord. With marriage, Muslims get to control these involuntary desires and keep the society chaste and free of evil.

Therefore, when Islam aims to promote purity and brotherhood among mankind, cleanliness and marriage apparently covers the whole idea for which Islam was created. These two important factors in the book of Islam are not separate, but are associated with other seedlings of our faith that reproduces into a flourished, successful tree as a good Muslim.

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