The ritual washing (wudu) is a prevention against trachoma -- an eye disease

  I have recently read a medical article about an eye disease called “Trachoma”, a disease that infects the conjunctiva and retina of the eye. It has different phases, or stages, whereby it develops, beginning with slight agitation and itching and ending in blindness.

However, this is not our concern, for it is a purely medical issue the facts of which have to be sought in books of medical science. What concerns us here is that a female medical specialist wrote an article in a science magazine issued by the Information Office of the UN. In her article, the writer confirms that repeated and regular wash of the body as well as Wudu’ (Ritual Ablution), witnessed in the Muslim communities, are very helpful in the confinement of this disease, Trachoma, which is considered as the main cause of blindness in countries of the third world.

The writer adds that nearly 500,000,000 people, from all countries of the world, suffer from this disease, which is avoidable by adopting the Muslim way of cleanliness that Muslims have to observe before performing their prayers. She also reiterates that the average of the spread of this disease in committed Islamic communities is very low. It even rates to 0 % in those Islamic communities where Muslims are committed to performing Wudu’ (Ritual Ablution) five times a day.


  In the light of the above-mentioned facts, it should be believed that such Islamic commandments and practices are all from Allah, All-Mighty, Creator of mankind. Furthermore, it is naïve to think that Allah’s Divine Commands have only one or two benefits. Nay! Their benefits are unlimited!

The above-mentioned foreign writer has nothing to do with the religion of Islam, but while carrying out her research, studies, investigations, and calculations, she found out that the average of the spread of this disease, from which more than 500,000,000 people suffer all over the world, is very low in Muslim communities, which are committed to cultic purity and cleanliness. This is Allah’s Religion! And this is why scholars say: “The relationship between religious commitment and its consequences is a scientific one, and so is the relationship between religious non-commitment and its consequences.”

To wrap up, since man is naturally predisposed to love his existence, safety of his existence, perfection of his existence, and continuity of his existence, he should obey his Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, and he should follow His Divine Religion. To this effect, Allah, Glory to Him, says,
“And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great achievement.”
[Al-Ahzab; 71]

Translation  : Khaled Al- Athmed