Obligatory baths (Ghusl) Part 2

Rules about Ghusl

- It is not necessary that the entire body of a person should be clean before Irtimasi and Tartibi Ghusl. So, if the body becomes clean while diving into water or pouring water over one's body with the intention of the Ghusl, the Ghusl will be in order. 

- If a person who entered the state of Janabat due to an unlawful act takes a bath with warm water, the Ghusl will be valid even though one may perspire at that time. But the recommended precaution is that such a person should do Ghusl with cold water. 

- While doing Ghusl, if a part of the body, however small, remains unwashed the Ghusl is invalid. But, it is not obligatory to wash the inside of the ear or nose and other places which are reckoned to be the interior of the body. 

- If a person doubts whether a particular part of the body is to be treated as external or internal, it should be washed. 

- If the hole pierced for an earring and other similar objects is so wide that it is reckoned to be external, then it should be washed; otherwise it is not necessary to wash it. 

- All things which prevent water from reaching the body should be removed. If a person does Ghusl before ensuring that such obstacles have been removed, the Ghusl will be void. 

- At the time of Ghusl, if one doubts whether there is something on one's body which would prevent water from reaching the body, one should investigate and satisfy oneself that the obstacle is not there. 

- While doing Ghusl, one should wash the short hair which are taken as a part of the body. Washing of the long hair is not obligatory. However, if one makes water reach the skin in such a way that those long hair do not become wet, the Ghusl is in order. However, if it is not possible to make water reach the skin without washing those hair one should wash them so that water may reach the body. 

- All the conditions for the validity of Wudhu (e.g. the water being pure and not having been usurped) also apply to the validity of Ghusl. However, for Ghusl it is not necessary that the body be washed downwards from the head. Moreover, it is not necessary in Tartibi Ghusl to wash the body immediately after washing the head and the neck. 
There is no harm, therefore, if there is a lapse of sometime after washing one's head and neck before washing one's body. It is not necessary that one should wash one's head, neck and body in one instance. However, if a person is incontinent, unable to retain urine or faeces except for such time that he could be able to offer prayers after Ghusl then he should do Ghusl at once and offer his prayers immediately thereafter. 

- If a person uses a public bath with an intention of deferring payment to its owner, without a prior consent of the owner, the Ghusl will be void even if the owner is later made to agree to the arrangement. 

- If the owner of the public bath is agreeable to the Ghusl being done on credit basis, but the person doing Ghusl intends not to pay the charges to him or to pay him from the money acquired illegally, the Ghusl will be void. 

- If a person pays to the owner of the public bath from the funds whose Khums (1/5 of the yearly profit) has not been paid, then such a person commits a sinful act, but the Ghusl will be valid, though the liability for khums remains. 

- If a person hires a public bath for Ghusl, but before commencing Ghusl, he or she carries out an extra function of making the anal part clean with the same water of the public bath, and if it becomes doubtful whether the owner would agree to the Ghusl being taken, then the owner's consent must be sought before the Ghusl. Otherwise, the Ghusl will be void. 

- When a person is in doubt whether he or she has done Ghusl or not, such a person must do Ghusl. However, if doubt arises in the mind after Ghusl as to whether Ghusl was correct or not, then there is no need to do Ghusl again. 

- If one urinates or passes wind (or does any act which would invalidate the Wudhu) while doing the Ghusl, one does not have to abandon the Ghusl and start all over again. In fact, one can continue with the same Ghusl till completion. However, in this situation, one will have to do Wudhu also, as per obligatory precaution. 

-A person who has very little time at his disposal before Qadha, should perform Tayammum instead of Ghusl. Yet, if such a person does Ghusl under the impression that there is sufficient time for Ghusl and offering prayers, the Ghusl will be valid, provided that it was done with the intention of complying with the orders of Allah, even if the Ghusl was done with a view of offering the prayers. 

- If a person after being on Junub doubts whether or not he or she did Ghusl, the prayers already offered during that period would be deemed valid. But for the later prayers, such a person should do the Ghusl. If any such act which would invalidate Wudhu is committed, like urinating or passing the wind, after the prayers, then it will be necessary to do Wudhu, and as an obligatory precaution, to repeat the prayers he had offered, if time permits. 

- A person who has more than one Ghusl to do can do one Ghusl with the niyyat of the rest. In fact, one Ghusl with its niyyat is enough to represent all others. 

- If a verse of the holy Qur'an or Name of the Almighty Allah is written or tattooed on the body of a person then such a person while doing Wudhu or Ghusl, will be required to pour water on that part without touching the writing. 

- A person who does Ghusl of Janabat should not do Wudhu for the prayers. In fact one can offer prayers without performing Wudhu after all Wajib Ghusls (except the bath for medium istihaza) as well as after Mustahab Ghusls. In the case of Mustahab Ghusls, however, it is better to do Wudhu as a recommended precaution.