You can have an idea about the immense importance of “Safai” or cleanliness from the fact that Allah’s Last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (ﷺ) once said: “Cleanliness is the half of faith”.It is one of the most quoted Ahadeessharif about purity.

It is a Sahih Hadees about cleanliness, taken from Sahih Bukhari (one of the six most authentic books of Hadith).

While mostly understood as physical purity, cleanliness also refers to spiritual purification.The spiritual purity means you must have strong faith in Allah and ward off all the false and confusing ideas from the mind. Here purity may also imply that you should establish pious deeds and always remember in Allah in every matter.

Quranic Verses about Purity:

The Noble Quran lays stress on the importance of maintaining purity on multiple occasions. Here you are guided how to perform ablution and what to do (how to clean yourself) when in different states of impurity. And there is flexibility in doing so. For example, if clean water is not available for performing ablution, you can do Tayyammum, i.e. using clean sand or earth to purify your body.

Just go through verse 6 of Surah Al-Maidah (Chapter 5) along with its English translation.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى الْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًا فَاطَّهَّرُوا ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لَامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَامْسَحُوا بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

Translation: “O you who have believed, when you rise to [offer] prayer (Namaz), wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and (wash) your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of Janabah (ceremonial impurity), then purify yourselves (bathe your whole body). But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favour upon you that you may be grateful.”

Advantages of Cleanliness:

While cleanliness (in the physical sense) may require some extra labour on your part, it entails a plethora of benefits. In the first place, you are getting entitled for Allah Almighty’s blessings by obeying his order.

Second, purity refreshes your mood and brings decency to your thinking. The third important benefit of cleanliness is that is saves you from diseases by keeping the germs away.