As most of you know this country is a Muslim country. 60.4 percent of the total population are
Muslims in Malaysia. All
ethnic Malays are Muslim (100%) as defined by
Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia.
If an Indian, Chinese, American, or any other ethnicity marries a Malay they MUST convert to Muslim. There are very strict rules in place not only as a country, but the religion itself is strict. As required by
Malaysian law and defined in the
Constitution of Malaysia, a Malay would surrender his ethnic status if he were not
Muslim. The Constitution also provides that Islam is the religion of the country but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony (Article 3). However, in order for a Malay to conver to a different religion they must leave Malaysia. There could be serious consequences if the government finds out about their conversion.
Muslims are required to pray 5 prayers every day. These prayers are Fajr (dawn), Dohr (noon), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset), and Ishaa (night). The times for these prayers depend on the day and location. They also have to be completely clean and pure when they pray, so they must go through a washing of the entire body process:
1. It is recommended to say بِسم الله “Bismillah” (with the Name of Allah) while washing the hands.
2. It is recommended to wash the two hands with the wrists three times
3.It is recommended to rinse the mouth three times using the right hand.
4.It is recommended to draw water into the nose with the right hand and to blow it out of the nose with the left hand three times.
5. It is an obligation to have the proper intention. When the water touches the first part of your face say in your heart “I intend to perform wudu'”.
6. It is an obligation to wash your face, from the normal hairline to the chin and from one ear to the other including the hair and skin. The inner part of the man’s thick beard is excluded.
7. If a string was put at the middle of the forehead at the normal hairline and drawn to the top of the ear, then one washes all that would be below that string, both hair and skin, with the ears excluded.
8. It is recommended to wash the face three times.
9.It is an obligation to wash the hands, forearms, and elbows.
10. It is recommended to wash them three times each. Start with the right and then the left.
11. It is an obligation to wet wipe part of the head, between the normal hairline and the occiput.
12. It is recommended to wet wipe both ears three times.
13. It is an obligation to wash the feet with the ankles. It is recommended to wash them three times starting with the right foot.
14. Do the obligatory parts (from step 1 to 10) in the aforementioned order.
15. It is recommended to say a supplication after finishing wudu’.
There are many more rules regarding the private part cleanliness of the body, but with the above mentioned steps you can see how much goes into these 5 daily prayers.
So, as you probably have gathered the bathroom can get crowded and the floors can get quite soaked at certain times of the day. I try to plan my bathroom breaks around prayer times so that A) I can have a little piece and quiet for a few minutes and B) hopefully the cleaning lady has come and mopped up all the water so I don't have to get the bottoms of my pants all wet. On the other hand, it is neat to be in there when they are preparing for their prayers because the ones who wear the full head coverings, remove them to wash their face and hair. I get a chance to see them reveal their cute hairstyles and such that are hiding under there : ).
