Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Islam teaches cleanliness is half the religion. It also teaches marriage is half the religion. If I take a good bath and marry , isn't that half plus half equals to the full religion?

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Answer:

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Ref: Marriage is half the religion.

Other than merely fulfilling one’s natural appetite for sex, the below hadith ( sayings of our beloved prophet (pbuh)) encourages the believers towards marriage which is the basic foundation stone upon which the ties of kinship and families and righteous societies are built.  

At-Tirmidhi Hadith 3096       Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "When a man marries he has fulfilled half of the ‘deen’; so let him fear Allah regarding the remaining half."

Respected Brother, such is the enormity of the trial of man regarding his natural appetite and temptation to cohabit with the opposite sex, and because Islam has made marriage the only lawful way to fulfill this natural appetite of man…..the Messenger of Allah (saws), signifying the enormity of this period of trial deemed that when a man marries he has fulfilled half of his deen!  But what is rarely quoted and/or followed is the latter part of the hadith which is equally important and prodound: ‘……so let him fear Allah regarding the remaining half’.”

Ref: Cleanliness is half of Faith

Narrated Abû Mâlik Al-Hârith bin آsim Al-Ash’ari: Allah’s Messenger said, “Cleanliness is half of Faith; the utterance of Allah (Al-hamdu lillah – all praise belongs to Allah) fills the scales of good actions; the utterance of Allah (Glory be to Allah and all praise belongs to Allah) fills the space between the heavens and the earth, and Salât (prayer) is light; and charity is the proof of Faith; and endurance is a light, and the Qur’ân is a plea in your favour or against you. Every person begins the morning ready to strike a deal with his soul as a stake; he either ransoms it or puts it into perdition.” (Muslim)

Purity is a condition for the Prayer to be regarded valid, and the Prayer is an act of worship which a Muslim performs at least five times throughout his daily routine. Islam also requires that one bathe after ejaculation or sexual intercourse, and highly encourages taking a bath before performing those types of worship which are manifest symbols of Islam, such as the Friday Prayer and the Greater and Lesser Pilgrimage to Makkah. 

Allah says in the Glorious Quran:

(O you who believe! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads (with wet hands), and (wash) your feet up to the ankles. And if you are in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba), purify yourselves (by taking a bath). And if you are sick or on a journey, or one of you comes from the answering of call of nature, or you have had contact with women, and you find no water, then go to clean earth and wipe your faces and hands with some of it. Allah does not want to place you in difficulty, but He wants to purify you and to perfect His grace upon you that you may give thanks.) (Al-Maidah :6)

Islam also encourages that one wash his hands prior and subsequent to meals. The Messenger of Islam, Muhammad said:

"Food is blessed when one washes his hands before and after it." (Tirmidhi) 

It encourages that one cleanse and purify those places that may become a breeding ground for germs and filth. The Messenger of Islam, The Messenger of Islam, Muhammad pbuh said:

"There are five acts which are from the innate nature with which Allah created humans: circumcision, removing the pubic hair, plucking the hair of the armpits, shortening the moustache, and clipping the nails." (Bukhari)

Now to answer your specific question:

islam teaches cleanliness is half the religion. it also teaches marriage is half the religion. if I take a good bath and marry , isn't that half plus half equals to the full religion ?

My dear respected brother, your intention to follow the guidance of our beloved Prophet (pbuh) is indeed a great action in fulfilling the deen of Islam and if you take the cleanliness ahadith as fulfilling your half deen and marriage as the other half, Indeed if Allah wills He will accept your Intentions to do good deeds and accept this act as fulfilling your religion.

Hadrat Umar bin Al-Khattab (r.a.) reported: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "The deeds are considered by the intentions, and a person will get the reward according to his intention. So whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, his emigration will be for Allah and His Messenger; and whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration would be for what he emigrated for".
Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas (r.a.) reported: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, Said: "He who intends to do a good deed but he does not do it, then Allah records it for him as a full good deed, but if  he carries out his intention, then Allah the Exalted, writes it down for him as from ten to seven hundred folds, and even more. But if he intends to do an evil act and has not done it, then Allah writes it down with Him as a full good deed, but if he intends it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed"’.

Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),   one can be assured of never ever being misled;   but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.  

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is only ones. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brothers and well wishers in Islam,

Members of Islamhelpline