Applying Lime Paste

“Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.) said, 'Lime is a cleansing (agent).'”

“Once I went to a bathhouse with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.). He (the Imam) said, ‘O ‘Abd al- Rahman, you should apply lime.’ I said, ‘I had applied sometimes ago.’ He (the Imam) said, ’Apply it again; it is cleansing.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), entered a bathhouse when I was coming out. He (the Imam) said, ‘O Muhammad, do you like to apply (lime)?’ I replied, ‘Just a few days ago I had applied it.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Do you know that it is purifying?”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once sent the son of his brother for something he needed. He returned when abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), had applied lime paste. He (the Imam) said, ‘Apply lime paste.’ He said, ‘Only three days ago I had applied it.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘Applying lime is purifying.’”

“I once heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.), saying, ‘Remove hairs from yourselves; it beautifies.’”

“I once led abu Basir to a bathhouse and I saw abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), apply lime. Abu Basir went close to him (the Imam) and offered greeting of peace. He (the Imam) asked, ‘O abu Basir, do you like to apply lime paste?’ He replied, ‘Only three days ago I had applied it.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Do you know that it is purification? So you should apply it.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘Applying lime paste is a protective charm and purification (for the body).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘I like for the believers to apply (lime) paste after every fifteen days.”’

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘The Sunnah about lime paste is to apply it after every fifteen days. If it becomes twenty days but you do not have it, you must borrow on the account of Allah.’”

“Once it was said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), that certain people think applying lime paste on Friday is detestable. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not as they think. Which cleansing agent is more cleansing than lime on Friday?”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘One who believes in Allah and in the Day of Judgment, must not keep his pubic hairs for more than forty days. It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and in the Day of Judgment to keep that in her case for more than twenty days.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Applying (lime paste) once in summer is better than applying it ten times in winter.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If one wants to apply lime paste, he must take from it with his finger, smell it, place it on the tip of his nose and say, ‘O Allah, grant favors to Sulayman ibn Dawud who taught us applying lime paste’ the lime will not burn him.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, would apply lime paste to the pubic region and under the rump every Friday.’”

“I once heard Ali ibn al-Husayn, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, saying, ‘When applying lime paste one should say, “O Lord, make pleasant what it has cleansed of me and cleanse what it has made pleasant of me. Replace it with clean hairs, which will not disobey You. O Lord, I have cleansed and sought to follow the Sunnah of the messengers, Your pleasure and forgiveness so make my hairs unlawful to the fire as well as my skin. O Lord, cleanse my body, my moral feelings, purify my acts and make me of those who meet You as a follower of the magnanimous religion of Ibrahim Your friend. Make me to meet You as a follower of the religion of Muhammad (SAW), your beloved one, Your messenger. (O Lord), make me to abide by Your laws, subordinate to the Sunnah of Your prophet, accept it to find discipline by its disciplines and the discipline of Your friends whom You have fed with Your discipline, planted wisdom in their chest and have made them the mines of Your knowledge. Please grant them favors.’” If one says the above Allah cleanses him from filth of the world and from sins and replaces his hairs with hairs, which will not disobey Allah. He will create with every hair of his body an angel who will say Tasbih (Allah is free of all defects) for him until the Day of Judgment. One Tasbih (Allah is free of all defects) of this angel is equal to one thousand Tasbih (Allah is free of all defects) of the inhabitants of earth.’”