Ritual purification

Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of uncleanliness, especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean.

Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease, and figure prominently from the earliest known religious systems of the Ancient Near East. Some writers connect the rituals to taboos.

Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems to be dramatic.^{[dubious – discuss]} Others have described a 'dimension of purity' that is universal in religions that seeks to move humans away from disgust (at one extreme), to uplift them towards purity and divinity (at the other extreme), away from uncleanliness to purity, and away from deviant to moral behavior (within one's cultural context).

The ancient Romans performed ablutions as part of their religious and daily practices, often using water to purify themselves before engaging in sacred rites. Macrobius mentions the ritualistic use of ablutions in his work Saturnalia, highlighting their role in maintaining spiritual purity. Similarly, Ovid references ablutions in his Fasti, describing their importance during religious festivals and ceremonies. These practices underscored the significance of cleanliness and ritual purity in Roman culture.

Modern practitioners of the ancient Roman religion, such as those in the Pietas Comunità Gentile and Nova Roma community, continue to observe ablutions as part of their reconstructed rituals, emphasizing continuity with traditional Roman customs.

In the Baháʼí Faith, ritual ablutions (the washing of the hands and face) should be done before the saying of the obligatory prayers, as well as prior to the recitation of the Greatest Name 95 times. Menstruating women are obliged to pray, but have the (voluntary) alternative of reciting a verse instead; if the latter choice is taken, ablutions are still required before the recital of the special verse. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, prescribed the ablutions in his book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

These ablutions have a significance beyond washing and should be performed even if one has bathed oneself immediately before reciting the obligatory prayer; fresh ablutions should also be performed for each devotion, unless they are being done at the same time. If no water (or clean water) is available or if an illness would be worsened by the use of water, one may instead repeat the verse "In the Name of God, the Most Pure, the Most Pure" five times before the prayer.

Apart from this, Bahá'u'lláh abolished all forms of ritual impurity of people and things, following Báb who stressed the importance of cleanliness and spiritual purity.