***How many persons feel like washing the elbows five times a day? So the good habits are incorporated in the daily practice to make it second nature. The wiping of the neck tones the nervous system and is relaxing.

YOU are travelling, and you feel like having a wash at the halting place. How do you test the water quickly? You take some water In the cup of your palm, look for any colour (normal water has no colour or is colourless, and the colour of the water in your hand should not change): smell It (good water has no smell); and then gargle with this water (do not drink it), to note if it has any taste (good water is neutral or ’tasteless ).

This is exactly what we all do when performing the wazoo or ablution with water before offering our namaz (prayers), which is normally done five times daily. This simple scientific way of testing the water is hidden in the wazoo procedure since the first Muslims practised it almost 1400 years ago. There are scientific benefits of wazoo with which the masses are not familiar, as the publicity was confined more to the spiritual benefits of namaz.

Let us have a closer look at the wazoo process, to marvel at the ways the last religion of mankind was perfected. The above three actions in wazoo are sunnat. Then comes the first farz or compulsory act, namely washing the face.

The gargling must be deep in the throat, for the water to reach the thyroid glands on two sides, which stand as sentinels, and kill or control various germs before food and drink enter the stomach. The accumulated dead germ particles are removed by gargling (need not stay there as garbage). Remember that for sore throat, gargling with warm salt water is recommended. So the mouth and the throat are cleaned five times a day, without reminders.

During the cleaning of the inside of the nose by the water at ambient or surrounding temperature (summer, winter), there are other beneficial effects. The mechanism inside the nose has delicate or rather the best airconditioning and air-cleaning system in the world, which man-made machines have not yet been able to perfect. The air we breathe Into the lungs is always at the same constant temperature, preheated or pre-cooled by the nose passing to the lungs, whether the outside temperature is 45 degrees C or near the freezing point.

Also, when the nose measures the temperature of the water. signals are sent to the brain and body centres to adjust to the outside air and water temperature by regulating the blood circulation to the skin surfaces, making the person feel more comfortable, and helps prevent catching 'cold' (perform wazoo before bathing, especially in the winter). The hairs inside the nose are wet and vibrating, and filter the air and trap the dust particles during breathing. So the nose is a busy factory working non-stop 24 hours a day (like the heart and other body organs) and therefore has to be kept clean — at least five times a day. Notice how many persons around you feel inclined to do so! That is a medical precaution. but quietly hidden in the wazoo process (do not burden

the ordinary mind with too many technical and scientific details and explanations).

The splashing of water on the eyes is soothing and provides nervous stimulation, imparting a feeling of freshness. The rubbing of the face and eyes promotes blood circulation (it is a quick massage). Note that the ears are also cleaned several times a day. as dust particles gather on the inner sides of the ears (watch how the mothers scrub the babies during bathing). These are simple rules of good everyday hygiene, which can be separated from the religious practice.

The hands have to be washed up to the elbows to remove the dirt and the grime. How many persons feel like washing the elbows five times a day? So the good habits are incorporated in the daily practice to make it second nature. The wiping of the neck tones the nervous system and is relaxing.

The feet have also to be washed five times a day. We are familiar with the foul-smelling socks. The socks and the closed shoes lessen air circulation and ventilation and the dead sweat glands are smelly (body odour). The space between the fingers need to be cleaned carefully, to prevent athlete's foot disease, a contagious disease caused by fungus. Washing is required also to maintain temperature balance in the body system. Wazoo is the next best thing if suf-

ficient water is not available for bathing.

Those were the physical benefits of washing. There are also electrical effects as the body uses and creates many types electrical fields inside and outside: and the electric forces around a person are subject to electric fields and radiations which affect the body and the mind. Static charges is a common phenomenon (dry hair standing on end while brushing with a dry comb). Water, as a conductor, removes or neutralizes such effects, at least the bad effects are removed. Thus we see that water has numerous uses and properties, remembering that 80 per cent of our body is water, and the brain has 85 per cent water! Use water, whenever you can: and drink plenty of pure water — It is a blessing of

Not mentioned above is the benefit on the regular use of the use of miswak or twig of tree for cleaning the teeth. Unlike a manufactured tooth brush (the purpose is the same), the miswak is available. ready-made almost anywhere, and does not cost much to replace. It cleans between the teeth, and massages the gums, which is an essentials part of the brushing. The neem twig has prophylactic property. When nothing is available, finger massaging is essential for healthy gums.

The point worth noting is that the explanations provided above are scientific and modern. but the practice had been followed for more than a thousand years by millions of Muslims all over the world, regardless of geographical and environmental local parameters (independent of time, place and culture).