« Cleanliness is half of faith » (Sahih Muslim, no. 223). The hadith first speaks of purification for prayer, but the whole spirit of Islam goes in this direction: a clean believer, in a clean place.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
« Allah loves those who turn back in repentance and He loves those who purify themselves. » (meaning of the verse, Al-Baqara 2:222)
The body
Ablutions before prayer, full washing when required, clean clothes, trimmed nails, fresh breath: « If it were not difficult for my community, I would have ordered them to use the siwak before every prayer » (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 887).
The street is part of faith
« Faith has seventy-some branches; the highest is saying "there is no god but Allah", and the lowest is removing harmful things from the path » (Sahih Muslim, no. 35).
The Prophet ﷺ told the story of a man who, walking along a road, found a thorny branch and removed it: Allah thanked him and forgave him (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 652; Sahih Muslim, no. 1914). A gesture of one second.
Conversely, throwing garbage into the street, into a gutter, or near the mosque harms people. The Prophet ﷺ warned against defiling the paths of people or the shade where they take shelter (Sahih Muslim, no. 269).
Planting, a charity that keeps on giving
« No Muslim plants a tree or sows a crop from which a bird, a person or an animal eats, without it being charity for him » (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 2320; Sahih Muslim, no. 1553). The tree planted in front of the mosque or in the courtyard provides shade and rewards, for a long time.
Do not waste
« Eat and drink, but do not be excessive, for He does not love those who are excessive » (Al-A'raf 7:31). Wasting water, food or electricity falls under this excess, even for wudu: the Prophet ﷺ performed them with little water.
Simple habits
- Ablutions : turn off the tap between two actions.
- Mosque : leave the ablution area clean for the next person; put away your shoes.
- Neighborhood : take part in cleaning, do not throw anything into the gutters, which overflow in the rainy season.
- Festive meal : prepare according to the number of guests, share the leftovers with the neighbors.