Ghusl (Bathing)

Ghusl is bathing the whole body with water. You must clean your body from any impurities, if any.  Make the Niyyah (intention) in your heart that this act of Ghusl is for the purpose of preparing for Salah. It is recommended to make Ghusl in the following order: make Wudu, wash the head including the hair, wash the right side of your body from the shoulder to the foot three times, and finally wash the left side of the body.  Ghusl is required for performing Salah in the following cases:

 

1.          Janabah (major ritual impurities): The discharge of seminal secretions or sexual intercourse.

2.          At the end of a menstrual period.

3.          At the end of postpartum bleeding.

 

Evidence for it and its preconditions were already mentioned in the chapter on wudu’. The description of ghusl contains obligations, sunnas and meritorious elements. The author did not clarify which are the obligations and so we will make that clear. There are five obligations:

 

  1. Covering the entire body with water;
  2. the intention;
  3. lack of interruption;
  4. rubbing; and
  5. making water penetrate the hair, whether it is thick or there are thick plaits.

There are five sunnas of ghusl:

 

  1. washing the hands to the wrists first:
  2. rinsing the mouth;
  3. sniffing water up the nose;
  4. blowing water out the nose;
  5. and wiping the earholes. He wipes whatever he can wash of them. The description of the washing is to take water in the hands and tilting his head so the water can reach the inside of his ears. He does not pour water into his ears because that would entail harm.

Its meritorious parts are seven:

 

  1. the basmala;
  2. beginning by removing filth from the body;
  3. washing all the limbs of wudu’ before the bath;
  4. beginning with the upper body before the lower;
  5. beginning with the right side before the left;
  6. doing the head three times; and
  7. using a small amount of water while doing ghusl completely.

There are five disliked things:

 

  1. reversing the order of the actions;
  2. pouring a lot of water;
  3. repeating the washing after having done it fully;
  4. doing ghusl in the lavatory or in a filthy place; and
  5. to purify oneself while showing the private parts.

Ghusl is washing which covers the entire surface of the body accompanied with rubbing because the reality of ghusl consists of both.

 

Things which make ghusl obligatory

Janaba

You must do ghusl because of janaba

[Janaba results from two things: ejaculation and the disappearance of the end of the penis in the vagina.]

 

End of menstruation or lochia

or at the end of menstruation and the bleeding after childbirth.

[At the cessation of the bleeding of both states, in both attribute and judgement. Some of them say that it is attribute rather than judgement which was already discussed. You are aware of the similarity in the attribute, but not in the judgement. The attribute is not specific to the obligation.]

 

Ghusl with or without wudu’

Ghusl without wudu’

If, when doing ghusl, you do not include wudu’ it is acceptable

[If the person who is purifying himself orherself from janaba, menstruation and lochia confines himself to ghusl without wudu’, the ghusl satisfies wudu’ and so he can pray with that ghusl without doing wudu’ if he has not touched his penis since the minor impurity is included in the major impurity. This is when ghusl is obligatory, like the ghusl for janaba. As for the ghusl which is sunna or recommended, it goes not satisfy wudu’.]

 

What to do first

but it is better to do wudu’, having begun by washing off any impurity from the private parts or the rest of the body.

[ It is better for the one who is purifying himself from janaba and the like to perform two meritorious actions, one of which is to begin by washing the private parts or any filth on his body. If he washes it with the intention of janaba and removes the filth, that is enough for him in the well-known position. He does not have to repeat his ghusl a second time. If he washes with the intention of removing the impurity and then does not wash it afterwards, it is not enough by agreement. The second meritorious action is wudu’ before washing his body to honour the limbs of wudu’.]

 

Doing Wudu’ First

After this you do wudu’ as you would for the prayer.

[Based on his previous statement that it is better for him to do wudu’, which linguistically is washing the hands to the wrists. So he completes the wudu’ which he would do for the prayer. This would necessitate that he washes off any filth on the body or private parts before washing his hands. That is not the case since washing the hands is put first. So it is better to say that he speaks first about the judgement, and secondly about the actual description.

Another matter remains. It is whether he repeats washing the hands a second time after washing his penis without the intention of janaba or not. The hadith of Maymuna demands that after the filth is removed, the hands are not washed again. That is the definite position of some people, but most of the commentators of Khalil say that he washes them again.]

 

The question of the feet

If you want to, you can include your feet, or if you want, you can leave them to the end.

[His words show that he can choose between washing his feet before washing his body or delay that. Some of them therefore say that he can choose between washing his feet before or later. The well-known statement is that he washes his feet before absolutely whether the place where he washing is clean of filth or not. The evidence for the accepted position is in the Muwatta‘ that “whenever the Messenger of Allah performed ghusl for janaba, he would begin by washing his hands, and then did wudu’ as for the prayer. “So it is clear that he did a full wudu’, which is the school of Malik and ash-Shafi’i. Al-Fakhani said that it is the well-known position. It is said that he can absolutely delay washing them whether the place is clean or not. The position about delaying them is more evident than the well-known position based on what is in the two Sahih collections that the Prophet used to delay washing his feet to the end of his washing and then he would wash them.]

 

Description of Wudu’

Putting the hands in the vessel

Then you immerse your hands completely in the water container, take them out without holding any water in them, and rub the roots of your hair with your fingertips.

[After he has finished wudu’, he puts his hands in the vessel if it is open. If it is closed, he pours the water on them. He takes them out uncupped without any actual water other than the traces of the water and he rubs the roots of the head, beginning from the back of the skull. There are two benefits in rubbing in fiqh: the speed of making water reach the skin, and medicinal, which is that it prepares the head for the water so that it will not be harmed when the water is poured on it afterwards since the pores of the skin will be closed.]

 

Three handfuls of water

You then take out three handfuls of water washing your head throughly with each one.

[After finishing rubbing the roots of head, water is scooped on the head three times while rubbing his head with them. The entire head must be covered with each of the three handfuls and there must not be less than three, even if it is all covered with one and does his separate parts with it. If three is not enough, he does more until it is covered.]

 

Women’s hair

Women do the same as this. They gather up their hair and do not have to undo their plaits.

[The woman washes filth off and does wudu’ first and wets the roots of the hair as a man does. She gathers up and holds her hair and it is neither obligatory or recommended in the ghusl for janaba or menstruation for her to undo her plaits. The evidence for what he said is in Muslim where Umm Salama said, “Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who keeps her hair closely plaited. Do I have to undo it for ghusl after sexual defilement?” He replied, “It is enough for you to throw three handfuls over your head and then pour the water over yourself. Then you will be purified.” It is an argument for the one who says that rubbing is not a precondition because the pouring washes away. As the woman is not obliged to undo her plaits, she is not obliged to remove her ring, even if it is tight, or her bracelets, nor is it obligatory for a man to remove a permissible ring, even if it is tight.]

 

Pouring water on right side

You then pour water over your right side, then over the left, rubbing the body with both hands immediately the water has been poured so that the whole body is covered.

[ After washing his head, he begins to wash his body by washing the entire right side beginning from the top and then does the same with the left side. It is obligatory to rub it in the well-known position. From what he says it appears that he does not rub after pouring water on the right side until water is poured on the left side. When water is poured on the left side, he rubs both sides. Something similar is stated in Tahqiq al-Mabani. It is clear that he rubs the right side before pouring on the left side. That is how you find it elsewhere. He rubs with both hands if that is possible. It is not possible, he delegates someone else to do to do the rubbing. The area between the navel and knees can only be rubbed by someone who can touch that directly – a wife or slavegirl. If he does not find anyone to do that, it is enough to pour the water over his body without rubbing. If he delegates someone when it is not necessary, that is not allowed in the well-known position. The rubbing should be done after the water has been poured, and that is evident.]

 

Covering the entire body

If you have any doubt about water reaching any part of your body you pour water over it again,

[The water must cover all the body to discharge the responsibility and it is only satisfied when he is certain. If there is any doubt about whether or not the water has reached the limbs of person performing the bathing, then he is obliged to pour water over himself again, and it is not enough to wash it with water still on his body.]

 

Rubbing

rubbing with your hand until you are certain every part of your body has been covered.

[There must be rubbing or whatever takes its place if that is impossible. It is like that when he is unsure about whether or not he has rubbed a place on his body. He takes water again and rubs it until he is certain of that. It is enough that he thinks it probable, differing from those who say that it is not enough. If it is enough to make the water reach the skin, which is agreed upon, it is better to carry out the rubbing which is disputed. He must repeat until he is sure that his entire body has been covered.]

 

Inaccessible areas

You must make sure that you include the inside of the navel, under your chin, that you put your fingers right through your beard, that you rub under your armpits, between your buttocks and thighs, behind your knees, not forgetting the heels and the soles of your feet. You also make sure you rub between each finger.

[The water and rubbing must include all these areas, the throat and that which is under the beard, putting the fingers through the hair of the beard. The hair of the head is not mentioned because it was already dealt with, and other hair must be washed as well, like the eyebrows, eyelashes, moustache, armpits and pubic region. Inside the navel must be washed, which a place where dirt gathers, between the buttocks which must be relaxed so that water reaches the folds of the anus, but not inside the anus. Also inside the thighs, which is between the anus and penis, behind the knees, and the soles of the feet. It is obligatory to put water between the fingers which would have been covered a prior wudu’. Otherwise it is done in ghusl. He does not mention things which are far from water, like the lines of the brow and hollows of the outside eyelids and under the nostrils and other places since that was covered in wudu’.]

 

The feet

If you have delayed washing your feet, you wash them last, thereby completing both your ghusl and your wudu’.

[If they were not washed first, then they are washed, completing the obligatory ghusl and recommended wudu’. If he delayed washing the feet in wudu’, he washes them with the intention of wudu’ and ghusl. ]

 

Avoiding touching the penis:

After the ghusl

You should be careful not to touch your penis with the inside of your hand when rubbing your body but if you do, having already completed your ghusl, you have to do wudu’ again.

[When he does wudu’ on account of janaba after washing the uncleanness from his private parts with the intention of removing janaba, he should be careful about touching the penis. It is mentioned because it is the most common of several things which break wudu’. Wudu’ is only obliged by touching the penis with the inside of the hand. It appears from this that wudu’ is not obliged for touching the penis unless it is done with the inside of the hand. That is the position of Imam Ashhab. The school of Ibn al-Qasim is that wudu’ is obliged for touching the penis with the inside of the hand or the fingers. In the Mukhtasar of Shaykh Khalil, he adds “or by the sides of the fingers”. If you touch the penis deliberately or forgetfully and you have finished wudu’, then wudu’ must be repeated if you want to pray. Otherwise it is not necessary to repeat it until you wish to pray. as is the case with other ritual impurities. It is necessary to have an intention to repeat wudu’ if he wants to pray, because his major impurity has been removed and so some say that the intention for wudu’ must be renewed which is agreed upon.]

 

Touching the penis before ghusl is completed

But if you touch it at the beginning of your ghusl, after having washed the areas included in wudu’, you should then go over them again with water in the right order and with the intention of doing wudu’.

[ All or part, as is transmitted from Abu ‘Imran. It makes no difference whether he washes them first and then touches or whether he has washed some of them. Following the correct order is recommended. We consider that the correct sequence in wudu’ is sunna. It is evident that he means that it is not obligatory in the sunna. It is said that it is referring to the obligations of wudu’, its sunnas and its meritorious actions. It is said that it refers to making water flow on the limbs and rubbing. On this basis and on the basis of what is before it it must mean that it is obligatory.

There is disagreement about the renewing the intention of wudu’. The author says that it is obliged to renew the intention of wudu’. If he intends to remove the major impurity, that is not enough. He is in the position of someone doing wudu’ who is not in janaba who intends to remove major impurity. Al-Qabisi says that he is not obliged to renew it. The basis of the disagreement is whether each limb which is purifies first or its own is purified without the full completion. If we said the first, then it is obliged to renew it because its purity has gone with the ritual impurity and so it is obliged to make an intention to wash it again. If we state the second, then it is not obliged to renew it because it remains and so we include it in the intention for the greater purity.

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