I really struggled to complete my Asr prayer today! I was sandwiched between a man who would have won the smelly socks competition hands down, and another man whose breath smelled putrid. What was I to do?

The man with the bad breath kept on exhaling heavily which meant the unbearable smell emanating from within him floated silently yet violently though the air striking me like a heavyweight boxer. While every time I went for Ruku or Sajdah the rotten smell of sweaty, smelly socks reacted with the bad breath to create what can only be described as a suffocating stench! I literally held my nose and actually considered breaking my prayer!

Of course I should seek excuses for my fellow worshippers and in that spirit I should acknowledge that we are still in the 1st 10 days of Dhul Hijjah. So the man with the bad breath may have been fasting – yet, what about the use of miswak? With the smelly socks man, is it too far fetched to assume that he only has that pair of socks and no other? 70 excuses aside my ‘Asr experience, albeit lacking my normal levels of khushu (which on good days isn’t anything to be too proud about) made me reflect on the beauty and community consideration intrinsic in our divine Shari’ah.

Our Shari’ah teaches us that one’s appearance, taste, manners and character reflect ones personality. The beloved Prophet said in an authentic hadith, “If you are on your way to meet your brothers, put on a nice dress and fix your saddles so you appear distinct among people as a mole. Allah likes neither roughness nor rough manners,” (Sahih Muslim). In the footnotes to his must read Islamic Manners, the late Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah commented saying, “Muslims should look distinct in their beauty, their cleanliness, their nice smell and their good looks.”

Another instructive hadith in this regard is the one reported by Sahl ibn Hanzalia and recorded by Imam Abu Dawud where the beloved (Prophet) said, “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.”

It is perhaps these and the other similar narrations from the Prophet recorded aplenty in the books of hadith that led Imam ibn Taymiya to declare, “the beauty that Allah likes includes nice clothes”. In the Qur’an we read, “O children of Adam, wear your most beautiful clothing at every place of prayer” (7:31). The Sunnah is to always be clean wearing neat dressing and smelling good, particularly when in amongst a big congregation.

This is one of the wisdom of the Prophetic instruction to bathe on the day of Jummah. Imam Bukhari narrates a hadith on the authority of Salman al-Farisi who said the Prophet said, “Allah will forgive the sins of the past week for he who on Friday takes a bath, cleanses himself, puts on his (regular) perfume or any perfume available in the house. Then he goes out (to the Friday prayers) and does not try to separate two friends. Then he prays wherever he can and listens to the Imam.”

Shedding more light on the above hadith Shaykh Abu Ghuddah explains the above hadith, “To take a bath on Friday is specifically required, as a large number of people will be gathering at the mosques. However, if our body became dirty or we perspired heavily on a particular day, then we should take a bath at the end of the day or the next morning.” Imam Bukhari reports on the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Prophet said, “It is the duty of every Muslim to have a bath once every week to wash his head and body.”

Even though the sweetest and most  fragrant smell naturally emanated from the body of the beloved Messenger so much so that his perspiration was used as Itr (perfume), there are plenty of hadith which shows that He used to apply perfume. Indeed, this is a lesson in cleanliness for the community of believers!

Anas ibn Malik narrated in a hadith recorded by Imam Tirmidhi in the Shamail that, “the Messenger of Allah used to have a Sukkah. He used to fragrance from it.” According to Shaykh Al-Islam Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyyah the Ulama (scholars) have given two meanings for the word Sukkah, “Some say it is an Itr box in which Itr is kept…some Ulama say it is a mixture of various fragrances.” It is more then food for thought that his companion and servant Anas announced that, “The Messenger never refused a gift of perfume.” In another hadith we are instructed, “He who is presented with Rayhan (a specific type of perfume) should not reject it, because it is light in weight and pleasant in odour.”

If one were to review the numerous hadith on the Miswak (tooth-stick/tooth brush) it would be abundantly clear that the Prophet used the miswak when he got up from  sleep, when he used to make ablution, before offering his prayers, upon entering the house, and after eating food. In the Sunnah of our Beloved there is no room for bad breath, Aisha (his wife) narrates that the Beloved said “The miswak cleanses and purifies the mouth and pleases the Lord.”

Being conscious of bringing pleasure to those around us has been well considered by the glorious Shari’ah. It has been covered in such a comprehensive manner that simply following the sunnah of the Beloved in our lives would mean no more bad breath or smelly socks!

How correct was the polytheist who mockingly said to Salman al-Farisi, “Your Prophet has taught you everything!” Indeed he has – Sallalahu Alaihi Wa Sallam!