Aslam

belief and every stage has got its rank. Nobody will attain a higher stage unless he first goes through the lower one. He can attain real purity of heart till he purifies it from the blameworthy vices and adorn it with the praiseworthy qualities. He can't purify the heart till he purifies his organs from prohibited things and makes it firm with religous acts. The more honourable is the object, the more difficult is the attainment of that object. The longer is the road that leads to it, the greater are the obstacles.
Don't think that this can be attained with ease and without efforts. He who is blind to these stages of purity will not undersand the above mentioned four stages. He will understand the lowest stage of cleanliness. It is like the outer husk of a crop or like skull in relation to brain. He understands that the outer cleanliness is the desired object and makes exaggeration in it and spends much time and wealth in abstersion (Istinja), in cleanliness of cloth, body and in the use of water and thinks that the noble puity comprises these outward and external cleanliness. The early Muslims concentrated their entire attention and energies on the puification of their hearts and were lenient in their outward cleanliness. Even Hazrat Omar, being placed in a high position, made abbution with the water from a jar which belonged to a Christain woman. The companions were accustomed not to wash their hands after eating from the remains of fat and food but to wipe them out against the arches of their feet and regarded the use of soap as innovation. They used to say prayer kneeling and prostrating directly on the ground in the mosque and walk barefooted on the roads. They used to use pebbles after calls of nature.

Abu Hurairah and some immates of Suffa said : We ate meal and when the prayer time came, we wiped our fingers against thepebbles and proceeded to say prayer. Hazrat Omar said : We did not know the use of soap at the time of the Prophet and the hollows of our feet were, our towels. It is said that the first four innovations after the Prophet were the use of sieves, soap, tables and eating to satiety. The efforts of the companions were towards the purification of the heart to the extent that some one among them said : It is better to say prayer with shoes than without shoes because when the Prophet look off his shoes with uncleanliness at the advent of Gabriel, the companions also took off their shoes.
He told them: Way have you taken off your shoes? One of them named Nakhyi said : Perhaps someone in need may pass by and

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take these shoes. In fact, they walked barefooted, sat on the mud and sand, prayed directly on the floors of the mosque. They used to eat bread of coarse wheat which the animals trod with their feet and sometimes polluted with their urine. They made no efforts to avoid small impurities.