Boy asks mosque-goers to use mugs for ablution to save water in UAE

Faiz Mohammed with his checklist on how to save water.- Photo by Shihab

Dubai - The 11-year-old boy has been presenting statistics to show how much water can be saved if ablution is done using the mug.

Asma Ali Zain

Published: Mon 20 May 2019, 8:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 20 Dec 2022, 10:44 AM

Faiz Mohammed is on a mission again this year.

The 11-year-old is encouraging people to do ablution from a water-filled mug instead of running water from a tap.

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"Water in a mug is enough for ablution, so why do we need to waste tap water?" he said.

Faiz started his water-saving awareness campaign last year and this year is a reminder, he said.

"I go to the mosque some 10 to 15 minutes before Taraweeh prayers start and speak to people who are doing wudu (ablution).

"I take a poster along, explaining why and how the water should be saved."

Faiz has already visited six mosques and, this year, he has been presenting statistics to show how much water can be saved if ablution is done using the mug.

Ablution done with the tap can consume up to 7.3 litres of water, compared to 1.2 litres in a mug. "I put a bucket under the tap and measured the amount of water used," he said.

Using the tap, Faiz used 36.5 litres of water in a day, 252 litres in a week, and 1,080 litres in a month.

When done with a mug, ablution would require only six litres in a day, 42 litres per week, and 180 litres for a month. "We can save 900 litres of water a month if we just use water from a mug," he said.

"If at least 50 of the people I spoke to would follow this method, it would save all of us 45,000 litres of water a month.

"I try to connect people to this message of saving water while doing ablution by telling them that this is not something new. It was taught to us about 1,400 years ago by our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as he would do the same," said Faiz.

He also collects used cups from mosques and uses them to demonstrate how wudu can be done with a minimal amount of water.

"People happily do this experiment where I give them an empty plastic cup and ask them to take the challenge of performing ablution by counting the number of times these cups are being used during their ablution," he said.

Some people use these cups four to five times, equivalent to about 1250ml, whereas others are able to complete their wudu using these cups three times, or with just 750ml of water.

"People adopt this habit when they get to know that this is an easy way of following Sunnah, as it is done five times a day, 35 times per week, and 150 times per month."

Faiz also wants the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to help him spread the word. "A team of volunteers only for the month of Ramadan can spread the message in different mosques at the same time," he added.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com