III. Ghusl | The Ritual and Spiritual Purity | Al-Islam.org

In Islamic laws, ghusl is considered an act of worship; it is an act of purifying oneself from the ritual impurity (najasat) caused by sexual intercourse, ... Skiptomaincontent TheRitualandSpiritualPurity SayyidMuhammadRizvi read A.Introduction Ghuslisamajorablutionasopposedtowuduwhichisaminorablution.InIslamiclaws,ghuslisconsideredanactofworship;itisanactofpurifyingoneselffromtheritualimpurity(najasat)causedbysexualintercourse,dischargeofsemenorblood,andbytouchingthedeadbody.TheritualbathgiventoadeadMuslimbeforeburialisalsoknownasghusl. Theghuslforeachofthesecauseshasdifferentnames:Purificationfromtheimpuritycausedbysexualintercourseordischargeofsemenisknownasghusljanabat.Purificationfromtheimpuritycausedbymenstruationisknownasghuslhayd.Purificationfromtheimpuritycausedbyirregularbleedingisknownasghuslistihadah.Purificationfromtheimpuritycausedbypost-natalbleedingisknownasghuslnifas. InIslamiclaws,deathisalsoconsideredacauseofritualimpurityofaMuslim'sbody.Therefore,adeadMuslimhastobewashedrituallybeforetheburialceremony.SucharitualisticbathforadeadMuslimisknownasghuslmayyit.Touchingadeadbody,beforetheritualisticbath,alsomakesoneimpure(najis).Purifica­tionfromthisimpurityisknownasghuslmassmayyit. Inthischapterweshallexplainthemethodandthegeneralrulesofghusl.Inchapter4,weshalldiscusstherulesofghusljanabat.TheghuslsrelatedtowomenhavebeendiscussedextensivelyinmyTheRitualAblutionsforWomen(Taharatu'n-Nisa'). B.MannerofperformingGhusl Beforeexplainingtherulesofperformingtheghuslitisnecessarytomentionthatalltheghuslsareperformedinthesamemanner;thedifferenceisonlyintheniyyatofeachghusl.Forexample,forpurifyingoneselffromtheritualimpurityofsexualintercourse,onehastomaketheniyyatthat`heisdoingghusljanabat'. Ghuslisaritualbath;itinvolveswashingofthewholebody.Therearetwomethodsofperformingghusl.Oneisknownasghusltartibi,andtheotherisknownasghuslirtimasi. 1.GhuslTartibi: “Ghusltartibi”meansanordinalbath,performedinthreestages. Afterwashingawaythenajasat(e.g.,semenorblood)fromthebodyandafterniyyat,thebodyhastobewashedinthreestages:First,headdowntotheneck;thentherightsideofthebodyfromtheshoulderdowntothefoot;andlastly,theleftsideofthebody. Eachpartshouldbewashedthoroughlyinsuchawaythatthewaterreachestheskin.Specialcareshouldbetakenwhilewashingthehead;thehairshouldbecombed(e.g.,withyourfingers)sothatwaterreachedthehairroots.Whilewashingtherightsideofthebody,somepartoftheleftsidemustbewashedtoo,andalso,whilewashingtheleftsideofthebody,somepartoftherightsidemustbewashed. 2.GhuslIrtimasi: “Ghuslirtimasi”meansabathinvolvingimmersionofthewholebodyinthewater.Itisneedlesstosaythatsuchaghuslcanonlybedoneinabodyofwater,e.g.,apool,river,lakeorsea. Afterwashingawaythesemenorbloodfromthebodyandafterniyyat,thewholebodyshouldbecompletelyimmersedinthewaterallatonce,notgradually.Onehastomakesurethatthewaterreachesallpartsofthebody,includinghairandtheskinunderit. However,ghusltartibiispreferredtoghuslirtimasi. C.RecommendableactsofGhusl Whathasbeenmentionedabovearethewajibactsofghusl;hereweshallexplainthethingswhicharerecom­mendable(mustahab,sunnat)duringtheghusl.Theserecommendableactsarefive: 1.Washingbothhandsuptotheelbowsthreetimesbeforetheghusl. 2.Garglingthreetimes. 3.Wipingthehandsonthewholebodytoensurethateveryparthasbeenthoroughlywashed. 4.Combingthehairwiththefingerstoensurethatthewaterreachesthehair-roots.. 5.(Formenonly)Doingistibra'beforeghusljanabat.Istibra',inthepresentcontext,means“urinating.”Thebenefitofistibra':Ifaliquidcomesoutofone'spenisaftercompletingtheghusl,andhedoubtswhetheritissemenorurine,thenshouldherepeattheghuslornot?Ifhehaddoneistibra'beforetheghusl,thenhecanassumethattheliquidisurine-hewillnothavetorepeattheghusl;hejusthastodowuduforhissalat.But,ontheotherhand,ifhehadnotdoneistibra'beforetheghusl,thenhehastoassumethatitistheremnantofsemen-hewillhavetodotheghuslagain. `Ubaydullahal-HalabinarratesthatsomeoneaskedImamMuhammadal-Baqir(as)aboutamanwhoper­formsghuslandthenfindssome(doubtful)drops(onhispenis)whilehehadalreadyurinatedbeforeperformingtheghusl.(Thatis,shouldheconsiderthedropsasurineorsemen?)TheImamsaid,“Hewilljusthavetodowudu(forhissalat).Butifhehadnotpassedurinebeforetheghusl,thenhemustrepeattheghusl.”146 Thisruleofistibra'appliesonlytomen.SulaymanbinKhalidaskedImamMuhammadal-Baqir(as)aboutamanwhobecamerituallyimpurebecauseofsexualintercourseandthenperformedghuslwithouturinating.Thensomedropscameoutofhim.TheImamsaid,“Hemustrepeattheghusl.”Sulayman:“Whatifsimilardropscomeoutofawomanaftershehasperformedghusl?”TheImamsaid,“Shedoesnothavetorepeattheghusl.”Sulayman:“Whatisthedifferencebetweenthetwo?”TheImamsaid,“(Awomandoesnothavetorepeatghusljanabat)becausewhatcomesoutofheriscertainlyfromthe(remnantsofthe)dischargeofman.”247 D.AsummaryofGhusl Thisisasummaryofghusl.Therecommendableactsofghuslareinitalicstype-face. 1.Removethenajasat(semen,blood)fromthebody. 2.Niyyat. 3.Washthehandsuptotheelbowsthreetime. 4.Garglethreetimes. 5.Washtheheaddowntotheneck;wipeyourhandonthefaceandneck,andcombthehairwithyourfingers. 6.Washtherightsideofyourbodyfromtheshouldersdowntothefeet;includesomepartoftheleftsidealso.Whilewashing,wipethebodywithyourhand. 7.Washtheleftsideofyourbodyfromtheshouldersdowntothefeet;includesomepartoftherightsidealso.Whilewashing,wipethebodywithyourhand. E.TheconditionsforthevalidityofGhusl Thevalidityofghusldependsoncertainconditionswhichareknownas“theconditionsforthevalidityofghusl”.Theseconditionsareteninnumber:threecondi­tionsarerelatedtothewater,fourarerelatedtothepersonandthreetotheactofghuslitself. i.TheWater: 1.Thewatermustbemutlaq(unmixed,pure). 2.Thewatermustbetahir(rituallyclean). 3.Thewatermustbemubah(lawful).Thedetailsoftheseconditionsaresameastheconditionsofthewaterofwudu. ii.ThePerson: 4.Niyyat. 5.Allpartsofthebodymustbecleanfromtheimpurity(e.g.,semen,blood)beforestartingtheghusl. 6.Useofwatershouldnotbeharmfultothepersonwhowantstoperformghusl. 7.Theghuslmustbeperformedbythepersonhim­self.(Thedetailsaresameasinwudu) iii.TheGhusl 8.Theplacewhereghuslisbeingperformedmustbemubah(lawful). 9.Theghuslshouldbeperformedeitherintartibimannerorinirtimasimanner. 10.Allpartsofthebodymustbewashedthoroughlyasexplainedabove. F.Somegeneralrules 1.Ifmorethanoneghuslbecomewajibonaperson,e.g.,janabat,massmayyit,etc.,thenoneghuslwiththeniyyatofallofthemwillsuffice.ZurarahbinA'yunquotesImamMuhammadal-Baqir(as)asfollows:“Whenyouperformghusl(forexample,afterdawn),thatoneghuslsufficesforthe(ghuslsof)janabat,jum`ah,`Arafah,nahr,halq,sacrificeandziyarat.Whenvariousghuslsbecomewajibuponyouthenoneghuslwillsuf­fice...Andthesame(rule)isforthewoman;oneghuslwillsufficeforherghuslofjanabat,ihram,jum'ah,andherghuslforhayzand`idd.”348 2.Alltheghusls,excepttheghuslfor“mediumis­tihazah,”sufficestheperformerfromwudu-providednoneofthenawaqizofwudu'havetakenplaceaftertheghusl.Soapersonwhohasdoneghusljanabat,forexample,canpraywithoutdoingwudu'.ZurarahquotesImamJa'faras-Sadiq(a.s.)aboutthemethodofperform­ingghusljanabatasfollows:“...thereisnowudu,neitherbeforeitnorafterit.”449 3.Ifoneofthenawaqizofwudu'(e.g.,passingofurine)takesplaceduringghusljanabat,thenonemustperformtheghuslagain,andinsuchacaseheisalsorecommendedtodowudu'aftertheghusl.Ifoneofthenawaqizofwudu'takesplaceduringthesecondghusl,thentheghuslwillnotbeaffected;butonehastodowuduafteritforsalat.. 4.Ifoneofthecauseswhichmakesghuslwajibtakesplaceduringaghusl,thentherearetwopossibilities:(a)eitherthecauseissimilartothecausewhichnecessitatedthepresentghusl,thenonehastoperformtheghuslagain;(b)orcauseisdissimilartothecauseofthepresentghusl,thenheshouldcompletetheghuslandthendoanotherghusl. 5.Beforewashingtherightsideofthebody,ifonedoubtswhetherornothehaswashedtheheadandtheneck,thenheshouldstartagainfromthebeginning.Butifhedoubtsaftercommencingtowashtherightside,thenheshoulddisregardhisdoubt.Whilewashingtheleftsideofthebodyifonedoubtswhetherornothehaswashedtherightside,thenheshouldwashtherightsideandthenwashtheleft. 6.Ghuslu'l-Jabirah:Ifonehasabandageonhisbody,thenhowshouldheorshedoghusl?Suchapersonwilldoghuslu'1jabirah.Ghusljabirahcanbedonebyobservingtherulesmen­tionedinwudu'u'ljabirah:eitheroneliftsthebandageandwashesthewoundnormally,orhewashesonlyaroundthewoundoroverthebandage,etc. 1.Wasa'il,vol.1,p.517. 2.Ibid,p.482. 3.Wasa'il,vol.1,p.526. 4.Wasa'il,vol.1,p.515;alsoseep.50 OutlineTheRitualandSpiritualPurityIntroductionTheBook TheSourcesoftheShari`ah Ijtihad&Taqlid S.M.Rizvi I.Najasat&TaharatA.SomeImportantTerms B.TheA`yanNajisah(TheInherentlyUncleanThings)1.&2.UrineAndStool 3.Semen 4.Blood 5.Corpses 6.&7.PigsAndDogs 8.TheKafirs 9.IntoxicatingLiquids C.Somegeneralrules D.TheMutahhirat(ThePurifyingAgents)1.Water 2.TheEarth 3.TheSun 4.Istihalah(ChemicalChange) 5.Inqilab(ChangeinProperties) 6.Intiqal(ChangeinPlace) 7.Zawalu`l-'ayni'n-Najasah(DisappearanceoftheNajasat) 8.Istibra'(Quarantining) 9.Islam 10.Taba`Iyyah(Tofollow) 11.Ghaybatu'l-Muslim(DisappearanceofaMuslim) E.OuroutlooktowardsTheNajasat II.WuduA.Introduction B.MannerofperformingWudu1.Washingtheface 2.Washingthefore-arms 3.Wipingofthehead 4.Wipingofthefeet C.Somegeneralrules D.RecommendableactsofWudu E.AsummaryofWudu F.TheconditionsforthevalidityofWudui.TheWater ii.ThePerson iii.TheActsofWudu: G.TheNawaqizofWudui.TheDischarges: ii.TheMentalDisabilityFactors: H.Whendoesthewudubecomewajib? I.Wudu'u'l-Jabirah(WuduOnABandage) J.WuduintheQur'an&theSunnah III.GhuslA.Introduction B.MannerofperformingGhusl1.GhuslTartibi: 2.GhuslIrtimasi: C.RecommendableactsofGhusl D.AsummaryofGhusl E.TheconditionsforthevalidityofGhusl F.Somegeneralrules IV.GhuslJanabatA.Introduction B.ThecausesofGhuslJanabat C.ThethingswhichareforbiddenforaJunub D.TheactswhosevaliditydependonGhuslJanabat V.TayammumA.Introduction B.MannerofperformingTayammum C.ThethingsonwhichTayammumcanbedone D.WhentodoTayammum? E.TheconditionsforthevalidityofTayammum F.Somegeneralrules VI.FromRitualToSpiritualA.Introduction B.Thebigquestion C.Thecorrectperspective D.Connectingtheritualtothespiritual1.Disbelief-Kufr 2.Arrogance-Takabbur 3.Respectingothers'rights 4.Thinkingpositivelyaboutothers 5.Sincerityinintention 6.TheDu'asduringWudu Glossary Bibliography ‹II.Wudu up IV.GhuslJanabat› EDIT BooksonIslam,Muslims,ProphetMuhammad(s),AhlulBayt. 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