BFA+MFA 2022

Faheem Khan

Less Water, More Holy: Tools for Sustainable Ablution

MFA in Design

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Prayer is an important part of life for many people, whether it takes the form of meditation or talking to God. Muslims pray five times a day, and before each prayer, they first clean themselves by performing ritual ablution (wudu). The eight-step purification process of wudu cleanses the body from head to toe. The Hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim tell us the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ needed just one mudd of water (650ml) to complete wudu, but most people consume many times that amount—four-to-seven liters is more common today. To visualize and better understand the nature of performing wudu with just one mudd of water, this thesis includes a two-part research investigation. The first part proposes eight individual artifacts—each one designed to analyze and illustrate the process of wudu, showing how little water is needed for each step of the process. Next, lessons extracted from this analytical phase inform a series of contemporary artifacts, designed to guide users toward a more reflective and sustainable wudu, modeled on and inspired by the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ.

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