Complete vs. acceptable ghusl
- Categories: Fiqh of Prayer -
Q: I do ghusl following menses as
follows:
1- I form the intention to purify myself in my heart, without
uttering it out loud.
2- I start by standing beneath the shower and letting the water
flow all over my body.
3- I wash my entire body using a loofah and soap, including the
private parts.
4- I wash my head using shampoo
5- After that I rinse all traces of soap and shampoo from my body
and I let the water flow three times over the right side of my body
and three times over the left side
6- Then I do wudoo'.
Recently I found out that I am not following the correct steps of
ghusl. I hope that you can advise me whether the ghusl I have been
doing all these years as described above is wrong or correct… If it
is wrong then I hope you can tell me what I should do to correct
this mistake which I have done repeatedly for years. Are my prayers
and fasts during this time invalid and not accepted? If that is the
case, what can I do to set things straight? I also hope that you
can tell me the correct way of doing ghusl in the case of menses
and janaabah.
A: Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Your ghusl in the manner described is valid and acceptable, praise
be to Allaah. But you have missed out some of the sunnahs, which
does not affect the validity of your ghusl.
The reason for that is that ghusl is of two types: acceptable and
complete. In the case of acceptable ghusl, it is sufficient to do
the obligatory parts of ghusl only, without doing any of the
mustahabb or Sunnah actions. He should intend to purify himself,
then make water reach every part of his body, using any means
whether that is standing beneath a shower or immersing oneself in
the sea or in a swimming pool and the like, as well as rinsing the
mouth and nose.
Complete ghusl means doing what the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) did it, with all the sunnahs of ghusl.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaymeen was asked about how ghusl is
done?
He replied:
Ghusl may be done in two ways:
1 - By doing the obligatory parts of ghusl only,
which is making water reach all parts of the body, and includes
rinsing the mouth and nose. If a person makes the water reach all
parts of his body, by whatever means, then he has removed the major
impurity and purified himself properly, because Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning): {وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُباً
فَاطَّهَّرُواْ}
"If you are in a state of Janaaba (i.e. after a sexual discharge),
purify yourselves (bathe your whole body)" Transliteration:Wa 'In
Kuntum Junubāan Fa Aţţahharū [al-Maa'idah 5:6]
2 - The complete way, which is doing ghusl as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did it. When he
wanted to do ghusl in the case of janaabah, he would wash his
hands, then wash his private part and anywhere else that the
impurity had reached, then he would do complete wudoo', then he
would wash his head three times with water, then he would wash the
rest of his body. This is how complete ghusl is done. End quote from Fataawa Arkaan al-Islam, p.
248.
Secondly:
There is no difference between ghusl in the case of janaabah and
ghusl following menses except that it is more mustahabb to rub the
hair in the case of ghusl following menses than in the case of
ghusl following janaabah. It is also mustahabb for the woman to
apply perfume to the site of bleeding, to remove any unpleasant
smell.
Muslim (332) narrated from 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with
her) that Asma' asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) about ghusl following menses. He said: «Let one of you take her water and lotus
leaves and clean herself well, then let her pour water over her
head and rub it vigorously so that it will reach the roots of her
hair. Then let her pour the water over herself, then take a piece
of cloth scented with musk and purify herself." Asma' said: How
should she purify herself? He said: "Subhaan-Allaah! Purify
yourself with it." 'Aa'ishah said - as if she whispered it to her -
Follow the traces of blood. And she asked him about ghusl in the
case of janaabah. He said: "Let her take water and clean herself
well - or clean herself thoroughly - then let her pour water over
her head and rub it so that it reaches the roots of the hair, then
let her pour water over herself." 'Aa'ishah said: How good the
woman of the Ansaar were! They did not let shyness prevent them
from understanding their religion properly».
So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
differentiated between ghusl following menses and ghusl following
janaabah, with regard to rubbing the hair and applying
perfume.
Thirdly:
Saying Bismillah when doing ghusl and wudoo' is mustahabb according
to the majority of fuqaha', and the Hanbalis said that it is
obligatory.
Shaykh ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said: "Saying Bismillaah is obligatory
according to our madhhab, as in the case of wudoo'. There is no
text concerning that but they said: It is obligatory in the case of
wudoo' so it is more so in the case of ghusl, because that is a
greater purification. But the correct view is that it is not
obligatory in the case of either wudoo' or ghusl". End quote from
(al-Sharh al-Mumti').
Fourthly:
Rinsing the mouth and nose is essential in ghusl, as is the view of
the Hanafis and Hanbalis.
Al-Nawawi said, discussing the
difference of opinion on this point: "the views of the
scholars on rinsing the mouth and nose are four:
1- That these actions are two of the sunnahs of wudoo' and ghusl.
This is our view (Shaafa'i).
2- That they are obligatory in both wudoo' and ghusl and are
conditions of them being valid. This
is the well known view of Ahmad.
3- That they are obligatory in ghusl but not in wudoo'. This is the view of Abu Haneefah and his
companions.
4- That rinsing the nose, but not the mouth, is obligatory in
wudoo' and ghusl. This was narrated
from Ahmad, and Ibn al-Mundhir
said: "This is my view". End quote from al-Majmoo'
(1/400).
The correct view is the second one, which is that rinsing the mouth
and nose is obligatory in ghusl, and that is a condition of it
being valid.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said: "Among the scholars are some who say
that ghusl is not valid without them (i.e., rinsing the mouth and
nose), as is the case with wudoo'.
And it was said that it is valid without them.
The correct view is the former, because Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning): "purify yourselves (bathe your whole body)" {فَاطَّهَّرُواْ }[al-Maa'idah
5:6],and this includes the entire body.Transliteration: Fa
Aţţahharū. The inside of the nose and mouth are part of the body
which must be purified. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) enjoined that in wudoo' because they are
included in the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):
"wash your faces" {فاغْسِلُواْ
وُجُوهَكُمْ} [al-Maa'idah 5:6].Transliteration:Fāghsilū
Wujūhakum . As they are included in washing the face and are
included in that which must be purified in wudoo', they are also
included in ghusl, because purification in that case is even more
important". End quote from al-Sharh
al-Mumti'.
Fifthly:
If in the past you did not rinse your mouth and nose when doing
ghusl because you did not know the ruling on that or because you
were following the opinion of someone who does not regard that as
obligatory, then your ghusl is valid and your prayers offered
following that ghusl are also valid, and you do not have to repeat
them, because of the strong difference of opinion among the
scholars concerning the ruling on rinsing the mouth and nose, as
stated above.
May Allaah help us all to do that which He loves and which pleases
him.
And Allaah knows best.
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