Short answer
No. Water can clean the body, but it cannot forgive. Some Hindu texts do promise this. The Mahabharata says that a man with a hundred sins who bathes in the Ganges has them burnt away. Yet other Hindu texts say the opposite. The same epic says a man whose limbs are only wet is not washed, and Manu says a clear heart need not visit the Ganges. So the tradition itself points past the river to the heart. Islam answers the question those texts leave open. A sin is a wrong, and only God (﷾) can forgive it, while what you owe people must be put right. No river, place or priest is needed. The Qur'an says "Allah forgives all sins" to those who turn to Him, wherever they are. Hajj and wudu are no exception. The forgiveness in them is God's (﷾), never the water's or the place's.
Full explanation
What the Hindu texts promise
The Rig Veda is shruti, the highest layer of Hindu scripture. A worshipper in it prays to the waters themselves. "Whatever sin is found in me, whatever evil I have wrought, If I have lied or falsely sworn, Waters, remove it far from me." Later texts, called smriti (what is remembered), make the promise larger and tie it to one river. The Vishnu Purana says: "The offences of any man who bathes in this river are immediately expiated". It adds that those who call the river by name from a hundred leagues away atone for the sins of three past lives. The Mahabharata says a man with a hundred sins who bathes in the Ganges has them burnt off, "even as fuel is consumed by fire". Elsewhere it says one is cleansed of all sins "at the very sight" of the river. Of Prayaga, where the rivers meet, it says that going there, praising it or taking a little of its earth cleanses "from every sin". The belief is alive today. UNESCO says of the Kumbh Mela, the great bathing festival: "Devotees believe that by bathing in the Ganges one is freed from sins". So this is no side story. It stands in revered books, and in these lines no change of heart is named.
“Whatever sin is found in me, whatever evil I have wrought, If I have lied or falsely sworn, Waters, remove it far from me.”
“The offences of any man who bathes in this river are immediately expiated, and unprecedented virtue is engendered.”
“This sacred stream, heard of, desired, seen, touched, bathed in, or hymned, day by day, sanctifies all beings; and those who, even at a distance of a hundred leagues, exclaim “Gangá, Gangá,” atone for the sins committed during three previous lives.”
“Having committed an hundred sins, he that bathes in Gangā, hath all his sins burnt off by the waters thereof, even as fuel is consumed by fire.”
“As cotton, when it comes into contact with fire, is burnt off without a remnant, even so the sins of the person that has bathed in Gangā become consumed without a remnant.”
“As snakes become deprived of their poison at the very sight of Garuda, even so one becomes cleansed of all one's sins at the very sight of the sacred stream of Gangā.”
“By going to that tirtha, by singing its praises, or by taking a little earth from it, one is cleansed from every sin.”
The UNESCO listing calls the Kumbh Mela, the festival of the sacred Pitcher, the largest peaceful gathering of pilgrims on earth, during which people bathe or take a dip in a sacred river. It says: "Devotees believe that by bathing in the Ganges one is freed from sins". Inscribed in 2017.
Hindu texts that point the other way
The same tradition has a second voice. The law book of Manu says: "The body is cleansed by water, the internal organ is purified by truthfulness". The internal organ is the mind, so water reaches the body only. Manu goes further: "he is pure who gains wealth with clean hands, not he who purifies himself with earth and water". When a judge warns a witness to speak the truth, he tells him that Yama, the judge of the dead, "dwells in thy heart". If the witness is at peace with him, "thou needest neither visit the Ganges nor the (land of the) Kurus". On sin itself Manu says that one who has repented is freed, but is purified only by resolving: "I will do so no more." The Mahabharata speaks the same way. "That man whose limbs only are wet with water is not regarded as one that is washed." Purity from sacred waters "is regarded as inferior". Only one whose hands, feet and mind are under control "enjoyeth the fruits of tirthas", the sacred bathing places. The counsellor Vidura tells a king that the soul itself is the river: "truth, its waters; self-control, its banks; kindness, its waves". These lines matter because they come from inside Hinduism. The doubt about the river is not a Muslim's invention.
“The body is cleansed by water, the internal organ is purified by truthfulness, the individual soul by sacred learning and austerities, the intellect by (true) knowledge.”
“Among all modes of purification, purity in (the acquisition of) wealth is declared to be the best; for he is pure who gains wealth with clean hands, not he who purifies himself with earth and water.”
“If thou art not at variance with that divine Yama, the son of Vivasvat, who dwells in thy heart, thou needest neither visit the Ganges nor the (land of the) Kurus.”
“He who has committed a sin and has repented, is freed from that sin, but he is purified only by (the resolution of) ceasing (to sin and thinking) 'I will do so no more.'”
“That man whose limbs only are wet with water is not regarded as one that is washed. He, on the other hand, is regarded as washed who has washed himself by self-denial.”
“The purity that one attains by ablutions in sacred waters is regarded as inferior. Verily, that purity which arises from knowledge, is regarded as the best.”
“He whose hands and feet and mind and knowledge and asceticism and acts are under wholesome control, enjoyeth the fruits of tirthas.”
“O Bhārata, the soul is spoken of as a river; religious merit constitutes its sacred baths; truth, its waters; self-control, its banks; kindness, its waves. He that is righteous purifieth himself by a bath therein, for the soul is sacred, and the absence of desire is the highest merit.”
Two voices in one tradition
These two voices do not say the same thing. One says a bath burns away a hundred sins, as fire burns fuel. The other says that wet limbs are not washed at all. The Mahabharata tries to keep both. After calling sacred waters inferior, the elder Bhishma adds that at such places "one's sins are washed off". He says that the person "who bathes in both" the mind's waters and the earth's succeeds. But that leaves the real question open. If the heart has changed, what does the water add? If the heart has not changed, these same books say the water does not help. The epic also says that a dead person "is followed only by his own acts". If a river can take a man's deeds away, that line needs an exception which it does not give. The page "Is karma just?" looks further at that law. So a Hindu who asks whether his sins are gone gets two answers from his own books. For someone carrying real guilt, that is the question that matters most.
“By reciting the names of the Tirthas, by performing ablutions there, and by offering oblations to the Pitris in those places, one's sins are washed off.”
“The Tirthas of the mind are separate and distinct from those of the Earth. That person who bathes in both attains to success without any delay.”
“That man whose limbs only are wet with water is not regarded as one that is washed. He, on the other hand, is regarded as washed who has washed himself by self-denial.”
“Having committed an hundred sins, he that bathes in Gangā, hath all his sins burnt off by the waters thereof, even as fuel is consumed by fire.”
“The person cast into the funeral pyre is followed only by his own acts.”
| Question | One voice | The other voice |
|---|---|---|
| Does a bath remove sin? | A bath in the Ganges removes a hundred sins, as fire consumes fuel | Limbs that are only wet are not washed |
| Must you go to the river? | One is cleansed of all sins at the very sight of it | One at peace with the judge in his heart need not visit the Ganges |
| What makes a person pure? | Sacred places wash sins off | Truthfulness purifies the mind, and water only the body |
| Does a sin stay with you? | Bathing consumes sins without a remnant | A dead person is followed only by his own acts |
Why water cannot forgive
The answer turns on what a sin is. Dirt is a thing on the skin, so water can lift it. A sin is not on the skin. It is a wrong that was done: a lie, a theft, a cruel act, ingratitude to God (﷾). A wrong stays a wrong until it is pardoned by the one who was wronged, or until it is put right. A man who cheated his neighbour has not paid him back by bathing. Manu's line says as much: clean hands, not earth and water. Forgiving is not a washing. It takes one who knows what was done and chooses to pardon it. That is why the Qur'an asks: "and who can forgive sins except Allah?" It says that He "accepts repentance from His Servants and forgives sins", and that "He knows all that ye do". So the question is not how holy a river is. The question is who has the right to forgive.
“Among all modes of purification, purity in (the acquisition of) wealth is declared to be the best; for he is pure who gains wealth with clean hands, not he who purifies himself with earth and water.”
“And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who can forgive sins except Allah?- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.”
“He is the One that accepts repentance from His Servants and forgives sins: and He knows all that ye do.”
Buddhist scriptures raise the same doubt
The Buddhist scriptures also come from ancient India, and they press the same point. In one discourse a brahmin asks the Buddha whether he bathes in the Bahuka River. Many people, he says, rinse off their bad deeds there. The Buddha names the bathing places of his day and answers in verse: "They can’t cleanse a cruel person, a sinner from their bad deeds." In another text a water-carrier named Punnika questions a brahmin who bathes in the cold to be rid of his sins. If water freed people, she says, then wrongdoers of every kind would be "released from their wicked deeds". She adds that a river which carried off bad deeds "would also carry away your good deeds". So the doubt is ancient, and it is Indian. But these texts stop halfway. They set the water aside and leave a person alone with his own deeds, with no one who can forgive him. The page "Was it just to make Angulimala, a mass murderer, a saint?" looks at what that means for a great sinner. Islam agrees about the water and supplies what is missing: a Lord who forgives.
“a fool can constantly plunge into them but it won’t purify their dark deeds. What can the Sundarikā do? What the Payāga or the Bāhukā? They can’t cleanse a cruel person, a sinner from their bad deeds.”
“and others of evil deeds: by ablution in water they too would be released from their wicked deeds.”
“If these rivers had carried away your bad deeds in the past, they would also carry away your good deeds, from which you’d be prevented.”
Islam's answer: forgiveness comes from God (﷾) alone
The Qur'an speaks directly to people who have gone far wrong: "Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins". The next verse says how: "Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance)". No journey is named, no water and no fee. God (﷾) says He is close: "I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me". No priest stands between, and there is no one to confess to. A person can turn to God (﷾) in a kitchen, on a bus or in a hospital bed. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that Allah (﷾) stretches out His Hand by night so that those who did wrong by day may repent. By day He does the same for those who did wrong by night. Repentance is more than words. Al-Nawawi (d. 1277) gives its conditions from the scholars. Stop the sin, regret it, and resolve never to return to it. If the sin wronged a person, there is a fourth: give him back his right, or win his pardon. The Qur'an praises those who ask forgiveness and "are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done". On this point Manu's "I will do so no more" and the Qur'an agree. Islam opens that door to everyone, and names the One who forgives. Nor is anyone's past too heavy. The Qur'an calls setting up partners with God (﷾) a sin "Most heinous indeed". Yet the Prophet (ﷺ) said that Islam wipes out what came before it. Al-Nawawi explains that it erases the sins before it. So a person who has worshipped many gods all his life, and turns to the One God (﷾), is forgiven that too. One thing stays: Ibn Uthaymin says that property taken from its owner by force must still be returned.
“Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
“"Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped.”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
Abu Musa reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Allah stretches out His Hand by night, so that those who did wrong by day may repent, and He stretches out His Hand by day, so that those who did wrong by night may repent, until the sun rises from the west.
Al-Nawawi reports from the scholars that repentance is a duty from every sin. If the sin is between a person and Allah and touches no human being's right, it has three conditions: to stop the sin, to regret having done it, and to resolve never to return to it. If one of the three is missing, the repentance is not sound. If the sin touches a human being, there is a fourth condition: to be cleared of that person's right. Property is returned to him, and for backbiting his pardon is sought.
“And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who can forgive sins except Allah?- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.”
“He who has committed a sin and has repented, is freed from that sin, but he is purified only by (the resolution of) ceasing (to sin and thinking) 'I will do so no more.'”
“Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed.”
Amr ibn al-As, near death, said that before Islam no one was more hateful to him than the Prophet (ﷺ), and he had wished to kill him. He told how he came to the Prophet to accept Islam. He asked the Prophet to stretch out his right hand so he could pledge, then drew his own hand back. Asked why, he said he wanted a condition: that he be forgiven. The Prophet asked whether he did not know that Islam wipes out everything that came before it.
Says that when a non-Muslim becomes Muslim, Allah forgives what he did before, citing Qur'an 8:38 and Sahih Muslim 121, with an-Nawawi's explanation that Islam erases the sins before it and wipes them out. It quotes Ibn Uthaymin that property taken from its owner by force must still be returned to him.
Turn to your Lord and ask His forgiveness
In any place, with no priest
Stop the sin
Regret it
Resolve never to return to it
If a person was wronged, give back his right or win his pardon
Doesn't wudu wash away sins?
A critic will say that Islam does the same thing. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that when a believer washes his face in wudu, every wrong his eyes looked at goes out with the water. But the rules of wudu show where the power lies. First, wudu is obedience. God (﷾) commanded it before prayer, and the forgiveness is His gift for that obedience. Second, no water is special. The Qur'an names no river or well. Third, if a person cannot use water he uses earth: "ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth". Dry earth washes nothing away, so the power was never in the water. Fourth, there is a limit, and the Prophet (ﷺ) stated it himself. Wudu done well, with a humble prayer, makes up for past sins as long as no major sin has been committed. Al-Nawawi (d. 1277) explains that the sins forgiven here are the minor ones. Major sins need sincere repentance, and a wrong done to a person must be put right with him. The Prophet's (ﷺ) own prayer shows the same thing. He asked Allah (﷾) to wash away his sins with water, snow and hail. He asked Allah (﷾), not the water. The page "Is wudu like Shinto purification?" says more.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: when a Muslim, or a believer, washes his face in wudu, every wrong his eyes looked at goes out from his face with the water, or with its last drop. When he washes his hands, every wrong his hands took hold of goes out with the water; and when he washes his feet, every wrong his feet walked to goes out with the water, until he comes out clean of sins.
“O ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; Rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands, Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that ye may be grateful.”
Amr ibn Sa'id reports that Uthman called for water for wudu and said he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: when a prescribed prayer comes, and a Muslim does its wudu well and prays it with humility and proper bowing, it is an expiation for his past sins, as long as he has not committed a major sin; and this holds for all time.
On the hadith of wudu followed by two units of prayer, which says that a person's past sins are forgiven, al-Nawawi says that the forgiveness meant is of the minor sins, not the major ones. On the words "as long as he has not committed a major sin" (Muslim 228), he says the meaning is that all the sins are forgiven except the major ones, which are not forgiven by this.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: whoever has wronged another, in his honour or in anything else, should seek his release from it today, before the Day when there will be no money. If he has good deeds, they will be taken from him in proportion to the wrong. If he has none, some of the wronged person's bad deeds will be laid on him.
Abu Hurayra asked the Prophet (ﷺ) what he said in the short silence at the start of prayer. He said that he asks Allah to set him apart from his sins as far as the east is from the west, to clean him of them as a white garment is cleaned of dirt, and to wash away his sins with water, snow and hail.
Doesn't Hajj wipe out sins?
The Prophet (ﷺ) spoke of whoever performs Hajj for Allah's (﷾) sake and keeps from indecency and wrongdoing. He said that such a person returns as on the day his mother gave him birth. Muslims believe this promise. Scholars differ on how far it reaches. Ibn Hajar (d. 1449) says its plain sense covers major sins as well as minor ones. The Hanafi jurist Ibn Nujaym (d. 1563) says that this is not certain. He adds that, either way, Hajj does not cancel what a person owes. A debt must still be paid, and missed prayers, fasts and zakat are still due. Only the sin of the delay is lifted. Now look at where the forgiveness comes from. In the rites themselves the Qur'an tells pilgrims to "ask for Allah's forgiveness". So even at the height of Hajj, a person must ask, and it is Allah (﷾) who forgives. The place holds no power. Umar said at the Black Stone that he knew it could neither harm nor benefit. The promise rests on sincerity: Hajj is for Allah's (﷾) sake, and the reward of Paradise is for a Hajj that He accepts. The Qur'an says of the sacrifice: "it is your piety that reaches Him". Nor is Hajj the only door. It is a duty only for "those who can afford the journey". A poor Muslim who never sees Mecca can be forgiven in his own room. Mecca is loved because God (﷾) honoured it. The page "Is Islam pay-to-win because prayer in Mecca and Medina earns more reward?" looks at that. But forgiveness does not live in the ground.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: whoever performs Hajj for Allah's sake, and keeps from indecency and from wrongdoing, returns as on the day his mother gave birth to him.
On the words "returns as on the day his mother bore him", Ibn Hajar says: that is, without sin. He says that the apparent meaning is the forgiveness of minor sins, of major sins and of what is owed (al-tabi'at), and that this hadith is among the strongest supports for the hadith of al-'Abbas ibn Mirdas, which says so openly.
Ibn Nujaym, a Hanafi jurist, concludes that the question is not certain: it cannot be said for sure that Hajj wipes out major sins against the rights of Allah, let alone the rights of people. He adds that even if Hajj is said to wipe out everything, that does not mean, as many people imagine, that a debt falls away, or the duty to make up missed prayers, fasts and zakat, for no one has said that. What is lifted is the sin of having delayed them, and the person is still asked to pay and to make them up.
“Then pass on at a quick pace from the place whence it is usual for the multitude so to do, and ask for Allah's forgiveness. For Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Abis ibn Rabi'a reports that Umar came to the Black Stone and kissed it. Umar said that he knew it was a stone that could neither harm nor benefit, and that had he not seen the Prophet (ﷺ) kiss it, he would not have kissed it.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: an Umrah expiates the sins between it and the one before, and the reward of a Hajj accepted by Allah is nothing but Paradise.
“It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right.”
“In it are Signs Manifest; (for example), the Station of Abraham; whoever enters it attains security; Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures.”
What about Zamzam water?
Zamzam is the well at Mecca, tied to Hagar and her son Ishmael. The Prophet (ﷺ) drank from it. A companion, Abu Dharr, once lived on it alone for about thirty days. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that it is blessed and that it serves as food. So Muslims drink it with thanks. These reports speak of blessing and of food. None of them says that the water wipes out a sin. A Muslim who prays while drinking it is asking God (﷾), not the water.
Ibn Abbas reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed for Allah's mercy on the mother of Ishmael. He said that had she not hurried to fill her water-skin from the well of Zamzam, Zamzam would have been a stream flowing over the earth. The report goes on to tell how Abraham brought Ishmael and his mother to Mecca.
Ibn Abbas reports that he gave Zamzam water to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), who drank it.
In his long account of coming to Islam, Abu Dharr tells how he stayed about thirty days at the Ka'ba in Mecca with nothing to eat but the water of Zamzam, and felt no hunger. The Prophet (ﷺ) said of it: it is blessed, and it serves as food.
| Practice | What the hadith says | Which sins | Why the power is not in the thing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wudu | Wrongs go out with the water | The minor ones, as al-Nawawi explains. Major sins need sincere repentance | With no water, clean earth is used instead |
| Hajj | The pilgrim who kept from indecency and wrongdoing returns as on the day he was born | Ibn Hajar: the plain sense covers major sins too. Ibn Nujaym: that is not certain, and what is owed still stands | Pilgrims are told to ask Allah (﷾) for forgiveness, and the Stone can neither harm nor benefit |
| Zamzam | It is blessed and serves as food | None is named | Whoever prays while drinking it is asking God (﷾) |
What you owe other people
In Islam no act of worship stands in for what you owe to others. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that every sin of a martyr is forgiven, except debt. The scholar al-Nawawi (d. 1277) explains that this points to all the rights of human beings. Jihad, martyrdom and other good deeds, he says, do not expiate those rights. They expiate only what is owed to Allah (﷾). The Prophet (ﷺ) also described the truly bankrupt person. He comes on the Last Day with prayer, fasting and charity. But he also insulted, slandered or robbed others, and his good deeds go to them. So he told people to settle such wrongs today. This matters for anyone who has been wronged. A thief cannot wash himself clean and keep the money. In Islam he must give it back and ask for pardon, because the person he harmed has not been forgotten.
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: every sin of a martyr is forgiven, except debt.
On the Prophet's (ﷺ) words "except debt", al-Nawawi says that they point to all the rights of human beings. Jihad, martyrdom and other deeds of righteousness do not expiate the rights of human beings. They expiate only the rights of Allah.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) asked who the bankrupt is. He said the bankrupt of his community comes on the Day of Resurrection with prayer, fasting and charity. But he insulted one, slandered another, took another's wealth, shed another's blood and beat another. Each is given some of his good deeds. If his good deeds run out before the account is settled, their sins are taken and thrown on him, and then he is thrown into the Fire.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: whoever has wronged another, in his honour or in anything else, should seek his release from it today, before the Day when there will be no money. If he has good deeds, they will be taken from him in proportion to the wrong. If he has none, some of the wronged person's bad deeds will be laid on him.
| What is on you | Who clears it | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Dirt on the skin | Water | Wash |
| A wrong against God (﷾) | God (﷾) alone | Repent: stop, regret it, and resolve never to return |
| A wrong against a person | That person's pardon, then God (﷾) | Give back his right or win his pardon, and repent |
A river at your door
The Prophet (ﷺ) used the picture of a river himself. He asked whether any dirt would be left on someone who bathed five times a day in a river at his door. His companions said none. He said that this is the example of the five prayers, by which Allah (﷾) wipes out evil deeds. In another hadith he gave the limit: the five prayers wipe out the sins between them as long as major sins are not committed. So here too, as al-Nawawi explains, the minor sins are meant, and major sins need sincere repentance. Notice what the river is here. It is prayer to God (﷾), and it needs no journey, because the earth itself has been made a place of prayer. The longing behind the Ganges is real and good. People walk great distances because they want to be clean and to begin again. Islam says that longing can be met today, wherever you are, by the One who made the rivers. "Despair not of the Mercy of Allah".
Abu Hurayra heard the Prophet (ﷺ) ask whether any dirt would be left on someone who bathed five times a day in a river at his door. They said not a trace would be left. He said that is the example of the five prayers, by which Allah wipes out evil deeds. Also in Sahih Muslim 667.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: the five prayers, and one Friday prayer to the next, wipe out the sins between them, as long as major sins are not committed.
On the hadith of wudu followed by two units of prayer, which says that a person's past sins are forgiven, al-Nawawi says that the forgiveness meant is of the minor sins, not the major ones. On the words "as long as he has not committed a major sin" (Muslim 228), he says the meaning is that all the sins are forgiven except the major ones, which are not forgiven by this.
Jabir ibn Abdullah reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) named five things given to him that were given to no prophet before him. One of them: the earth has been made for him and his followers a place of prayer and a means of purification (tayammum), so they may pray wherever the time of a prayer comes.
“Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Perspectives
The Ganges is a goddess, not plain water
The river is holy in herself. She comes from the Lord, so her power to cleanse is grace and not the power of water. In this dark age she is the mercy given to weak people.
Devotional belief found in the Puranas and the Mahabharata
The Ganges has her source in Vishnu's own foot, so the power in her is the Lord's (Vishnu Purana 2.8).
Rebuttal
If the power is the Lord's, a person can go to the Lord directly. By the text's own account she has a source, so she is not the first of all things. The Qur'an says that those called on besides Allah (﷾) "create nothing and are themselves created". It also asks who can forgive sins except Him.
In the Kali age, the Ganges alone is sacred. She is the simple way given to people who are too weak for harder paths (Vana Parva 85).
Rebuttal
Mercy for the weak should reach them where they are. A way tied to one river leaves out most of the earth. The Qur'an says: "Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah".
No one need even reach the river. Calling on her from a hundred leagues away atones for the sins of three lives (Vishnu Purana 2.8).
Rebuttal
Then neither the water nor the place is doing the work. And a word that clears three lives asks for no change of heart, though Manu and the Mahabharata demand one. In Islam a person calls on the One who hears, and turns from the wrong.
Bathing goes together with repentance
No serious Hindu thinks that water alone removes sin. The texts ask for self-control and repentance, and the bath is an outward act that goes with them.
A reply from learned Hindus
Only one whose hands, feet and mind are under control gains the fruit of sacred places (Vana Parva 82).
Rebuttal
Then some lines say too much: that a bath burns away a hundred sins, or that the sight of the river cleanses all. The reader is left to sort them. The Qur'an joins forgiveness to its condition: asking for it, and not persisting in the wrong.
Inner and outer purity work together, like strength and exertion. The one who bathes in both is best (Anusasana Parva 108).
Rebuttal
By that picture, a sincere person far from a sacred place lacks half of what he needs. In Islam whoever seeks forgiveness "will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful", with nothing further to reach.
Hindu law knows repentance too. Manu says that one who repents is freed from the sin (Manu 11.231).
Rebuttal
It does, and that is common ground. It also shows that the river is not needed. But in Manu's lines no one forgives: the guilt falls away by rule. The Qur'an names the One who "accepts repentance from His Servants and forgives sins".
The Gita promises that the Lord releases from all sins, so the Hindu way does have a forgiver (Gita 18:66).
Rebuttal
Those verses speak of a Lord and of knowledge, not of a river, so they support this page. Who that Lord is, is a separate question. The page "Did God become a man as Rama or Krishna?" looks at it.
Islam has holy water and holy places too
Critics say Islam makes the same claims as the Ganges texts. They point to water that carries away sins, a pilgrimage that clears the past, and a sacred well.
A reply critics of Islam give
Hadith say that sins leave the body with the water of wudu.
Rebuttal
The forgiveness is God's (﷾), for an act He commanded. No water is special, and where there is none a Muslim uses clean earth, which washes nothing away. Al-Nawawi explains that the minor sins are meant. Major sins still need sincere repentance.
A pilgrim returns from Hajj as on the day he was born. That is the Ganges promise with a different place.
Rebuttal
The promise is for a Hajj done for Allah's (﷾) sake, and in it the pilgrim is told to ask Allah (﷾) for forgiveness. Umar said the Black Stone could neither harm nor benefit. Ibn Nujaym says that Hajj does not cancel a debt or any duty still owed. A Muslim who never goes has the same door of repentance.
Muslims carry Zamzam water home as holy water.
Rebuttal
The Prophet (ﷺ) called it blessed and said that it serves as food. That report does not say it wipes out sins.
Muslims walk around the Kaaba and kiss a stone, just as pilgrims honour a river.
Rebuttal
Muslims ask nothing of the Kaaba or the Stone, and pray only to Allah (﷾). The page "Do Muslims worship the Kaaba and the Black Stone?" answers this in full.
No one can purify another
Buddhists agree that a river cannot cleanse a person. They add that no god can do it either. A person is purified only by his own deeds.
The Buddhist scriptures
Purity and impurity belong to each person, and no one can purify another (Dhammapada 165).
Rebuttal
Buddhism is right about the water. But if no one can forgive, the wrong already done stays where it is. The Qur'an says that there is One who forgives, and that no one should despair of Him.
The Islamic perspective
Water cleans the body. Sins are forgiven by God (﷾) alone, for those who turn to Him, in any place, with no priest. What is owed to people must be repaid or pardoned.
Allah (﷾) forgives all sins of those who turn to Him.
No one but Allah (﷾) can forgive sins.
No place or priest is needed, for God (﷾) is close to everyone who calls on Him.
The forgiveness promised in wudu and Hajj is God's (﷾), not the water's or the place's.
Good deeds do not cancel what is owed to other people.
The five prayers are like a river at the door. By them Allah (﷾) wipes out evil deeds, as long as major sins are not committed.
Wudu and the five prayers wipe out minor sins. Major sins need sincere repentance.
Repentance means stopping the sin, regretting it and resolving never to return to it, and giving back a wronged person's right.