You might be wondering why you will occasionally walk into the bathroom and see a Muslim with his foot in the sink. Well, what he or she is doing is called ablution. Ablution, or wudu’, is how Muslims wash and purify themselves in a ritual manner before prayer. What is the wisdom behind the ablution? Allah answers this question in the Quran, “O believers! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet 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” (Quran 5:6). Therefore, ablution is a way to purify oneself and make sure one is clean, as it is befitting since one is about to stand before The Lord of the Worlds.
And Allah knows best.