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Ablution is a term referring to washing for the purpose of ritual purification for performing prayers within various religions traditions.

Ablutions of one sort or another are practiced in nearly every religious tradition, ranging from hand-washing before eating in the Jewish tradition to baptism in the Christian tradition, ritual washing before prayers in Islam, and bathing in the Ganges River in Hinduism.

A priest engages in the ritual of foot washing,

practiced in many Christian churches

Ablution in Christianity

Christian ablution refers to the practice of removing sins, diseases or unchastity through the use of ritual washing (ablution), or the practice of using ritual washing as one part of a ceremony to remove sin or disease:

Baptism: The act of sprinkling of water over a new believer, symbolizing his or her rebirth as a member of the Christian church, or mystical body of Christ.

Blessing: The sprinkling of holy water over a person or congregation, symbolizing the conveying of God's blessing upon them.

A believer is baptized into the Christian church.

Ablution in Judaism

Ablution takes two main forms in Judaism: full body immersion in a (ritual bath) or body of "living water," and  washing the hands, especially with a cup.

A mikveh, or ritual bath, in Speyer, Germany’

 dating to the twelfth century

Traditional Judaism requires certain other types of ritual washing. Those that do not require complete immersion include:

• Negel vasser("Nail water"). When getting up in the morning after a full night's sleep, or even after a lengthy nap, there is the custom to wash one's hands ritually by pouring a large cup of water over one's fingers, alternating three times. In the custom of some communities, it is also done after engaging in sexual intercourse or other seminal emission.

• Netilat yadayim("Raising the hands"). This is done with a blessing prior to eating any bread with a meal, and done without a blessing after touching a ritually impure object, such as one's private parts, leather shoes, an insect or animal, or after paying a visit to a cemetery.

• Mayim acharonim("After-waters"). This is the law or custom of ritually washing off one's fingers after a meal, to protect oneself from touching the eyes with hazardous residue.

• Before blessing of Asher yatzar: After having either urinated or defecated, the ritual washing of one's hands as a symbol of both bodily cleanliness and of removing human impurity. (This is also practiced in Islam).

• To remove tuma("impurity") after cutting one's hair or nails.

• To remove tumat meit("impurity from death") after participating in a funeral procession, or entering a cemetery, or coming wihtin four cubits of a corpse.

Others types of washing require full immersion in special a body of water, such as a spring, stream, or mikva. These include:

• Ablutions by a married Jewish woman following menstruation or other uterine bleeding when she wishes to resume conjugal relations with her husband. (This is also practiced in Islam).
• Bathing the day before Yom Kippur and other Festivals, (like Eids in Islam).
• Bathing many Orthodox Jews on Friday afternoons in preparation for the Sabbath. (Like in Islam before Jumma Prayer).
• A purifying bath when converting to Judaism, the origin of the Christian tradition of baptism.
• Tahara, ("Purification"), the ritual washing and cleansing of a Jew's body prior to burial. (This is also practiced in Islam).

Ablution in Islam

The Islamic act of washing parts of the body using water is called wudu (Ablution in English). Muslims are required to perform wudu in preparation for ritual prayers and for handling and reading the Qur'an. Wudu is often translated as "partial ablution," as opposed to ghusl, or "full ablution."

Washing before prayer in Pakistan

There are other acts that are performed during wudu (coming from the sunnah of Muhammad(pbuh) and Sunni Islamic scholars) and the detailed acts of the wudu can be classed into three types: Farāid al-wudu - seven fard (obligatory) acts. If one of these acts is omitted, it must be returned to and then completed in the successive acts to be performed.

• Making the intention.
• Washing the face.
• Washing the arms.
• Wiping the head (in the manner of anointment).
• Wiping the feet to the ankles.
• Rubbing thoroughly when washing.
• Not interrupting wudu.

Sunan al-wudu - seven sunnah (Optional - practiced by Muhammad (PBUH) according to Sunni Hadiths) acts. If one of these acts is omitted, it should be completed.

• Washing the hands.
• Rinsing the mouth.
• Sniffing water - and blowing it out the nose
• Wetting the hands to rub the ears.
• Rubbing the ears.
• Doing the acts of ablution in proper order.

Mustahabbāt al-wudu - a handful of mustahab (recommended) acts that are considered to make the wudu better. If one of these acts is omitted, the wudu is still considered valid.

• Reciting the bismillah before commencement of wudu
• Reciting the shahadah after the ablution
• Brushing the teeth before ablution.
• Repetition of each act three times.
• Choosing a clean place for ablution.
• Not wasting water in ablution.

Other than the need to be ritually clean in time for the daily prayer (Salah) through wudu (Ablution) and ghusl, there are a large number of other hygiene-related rules governing the lives of Muslims.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Help in respect of Judaism and Christianity taken from internet source.