What Nullifies Ablution (4:43 – 4:45)

What Nullifies Ablution

[4:43] O you who believe, do not observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) while intoxicated, so that you know what you are saying. Nor after sexual orgasm without bathing, unless you are on the road, traveling; if you are ill or traveling, or you had urinary or fecal-related excretion (such as gas), or contacted the women (sexually), and you cannot find water, you shall observe Tayammum (dry ablution) by touching clean dry soil, then wiping your faces and hands therewith. GOD is Pardoner, Forgiver.
[4:44] Have you noted those who received a portion of the scripture, and how they choose to stray, and wish that you stray from the path?
[4:45] GOD knows best who your enemies are. GOD is the only Lord and Master. GOD is the only Supporter.

Ablution

[5:6] O you who believe, when you observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), you shall: (1) wash your faces, (2) wash your arms to the elbows, (3) wipe your heads, and (4) wash your feet to the ankles. If you were unclean due to sexual orgasm, you shall bathe. If you are ill, or traveling, or had any digestive excretion (urinary, fecal, or gas), or had (sexual) contact with the women, and you cannot find water, you shall observe the dry ablution (Tayammum) by touching clean dry soil, then rubbing your faces and hands. GOD does not wish to make the religion difficult for you; He wishes to cleanse you and to perfect His blessing upon you, that you may be appreciative.

Verse 46 is for the people who take a single verse out of context. What is interesting is that in verse 43 God says “do not observe the Contact Prayer while intoxicated. Someone can take this verse and say therefore someone can be intoxicated as long as they are not doing their Contact Prayer and negate verses 5:90 – 92. It is also worth mentioning that this verse comes ten verse after the verse where it talks about spousal abuse. God is the Best Psychologist and He knows how best to deal with people and their flaws to fix them.

Intoxicants and Gambling Prohibited

[5:90] O you who believe, intoxicants, and gambling, and the altars of idols, and the games of chance are abominations of the devil; you shall avoid them, that you may succeed.
[5:91] The devil wants to provoke animosity and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to distract you from remembering GOD, and from observing the Contact Prayers (Salat). Will you then refrain?
[5:92] You shall obey GOD, and you shall obey the messenger, and beware. If you turn away, then know that the sole duty of our messenger is to deliver the message efficiently.

[2:78] Among them are gentiles who do not know the scripture, except through hearsay, then assume that they know it.

Can ablution be carried on from prayer to prayer if it is not nullified?
If it couldn’t then the Contact Prayer would break ablution and therefore would need to be redone before each Contact Prayer.

Why do we make intentions before performing our ablution or Contact Prayer?
The intentions isn’t for God it is for our own record. Therefore there is no ambiguity that when we perform any of our religious obligations (i.e. Salat, observing Ramadan, Hajj) that we are doing this just to please God. Some can make the claim that someone does their Salat only for meditation or does their ablution to freshen up or observes Ramadan to lose weight. By stating our intentions it eliminates this variable.

[50:16] We created the human, and we know what he whispers to himself. We are closer to him than his jugular vein.
[50:17] Two recording (angels), at right and at left, are constantly recording.

Obviously God knows what our intentions are ,but it is for our own record. An example of this is when God spoke to Moses:

[20:17] “What is this in your right hand, Moses?”
[20:18] He said, “This is my staff. I lean on it, herd my sheep with it, and I use it for other purposes.”

God obviously knew what was in Moses’s right hand, but when Moses declared it, it was clear that he was unaware of what God was going to transform it into. By stating our intentions it is declaring what we are planning on doing and why.

It is like buying a flower with the intention of giving it to your wife verse buying a flower because you think it looks nice. To your wife the intention is what is going to differentiate her response.

Does sleeping nullify ablution? What if someone breaks ablution during their Contact Prayer?
The person should decide for themselves. It is tempting to try to make a judgement, but it is more important that we don’t innovate and create laws never authorized by God.

[3:66] You have argued about things you knew; why do you argue about things you do not know? GOD knows, while you do not know.

Can you do more than five Contact Prayers in a day?
We should be careful not to add innovations to God’s religion. God gives us the prescription for five Contact Prayers a day, if we increase the prescription it may actually go against us as we will no longer be following God’s prescription. God also gives us an innumerous number of ways to meditate, commemorate and do the righteous works that please Him. Additionally the Contact Prayers are decreed at specific times.

The Contact Prayers

[4:103] Once you complete your Contact Prayer (Salat), you shall remember GOD while standing, sitting, or lying down.* Once the war is over, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat); the Contact Prayers (Salat) are decreed for the believers at specific times.

In 44 we see that people want the believers to stray with them. Because of this we should surround ourselves with people who encourage us to get closer to God.

[68:9] They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise.

[4:89] They wish that you disbelieve as they have disbelieved, then you become equal. Do not consider them friends, unless they mobilize along with you in the cause of GOD. If they turn against you, you shall fight them, and you may kill them when you encounter them in war. You shall not accept them as friends, or allies.*