غسلِ جنابت کا طریقہ

Umm al-Mu'minin ʿA'ishah al-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: “When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performed the ritual bath after major impurity, he would first wash both his hands; then with his left hand he would wash his private parts, pouring water over them with his right hand; then he would perform ablution just as he did for prayer; then he would take water and run his fingers through the roots of his hair to bring water there, until, when he felt he had thoroughly wetted all of it, he would pour handful upon handful of water three times over his head, and then pour water over the rest of his body, and finally wash both his feet.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

Just as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught and explained to the Ummah, by his words and deeds, the various rulings together with their methods and manners, so too did he teach the method of the ritual bath (ghusl) and its manners.

Allah has declared beloved to Him those who take the fullest care of purity and cleanliness, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Purity and cleanliness are half of faith.” (Muslim)

That is, one half of faith is that a person keep his soul pure and clean, and the other half is that he take care of the cleanliness and purity of the body. The purity of the soul is that it be cleansed of the filth of disbelief, polytheism, innovations, sin and misguidance, and adorned with sound beliefs and pure character; and the purity of the body is that it be kept clean of outward impurities and adorned with the manners of cleanliness and good order. The prescription of ghusl is established from the Holy Qur'an; Allah says:

“And if you are in a state of major impurity, then bathe yourselves.” (al-Ma'idah 6)

From this hadith of the Master of both worlds (ﷺ) and from his other sayings we learn that he taught the Ummah the method of ghusl in great detail. In the light of these ahadith the complete method of ghusl becomes known to us, which is as follows: one begins the ghusl saying “Bismillah,” with the intention of removing the major ritual impurity (janabah); one washes both palms three times; then cleans the private parts and removes every kind of filth from them; then performs ablution as one does for prayer — though it is permissible to wash the feet with it, and it is also permissible to leave washing them until the end of the ghusl; then one wets both palms and runs them into the roots of the hair of the head and washes the head, including the ears, three times; then pours water over the right side of the body and washes from top to bottom, then likewise washes the left side; and pours water carefully into the navel, under the armpits and behind the knees.

In one narration it comes thus: “Beneath every hair (at its root) there is impurity, so wash the hair (thoroughly) and purify the body.” (as reported by Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)

From this hadith it becomes fully clear that the effect of janabah is upon each and every part of the human body, so in janabah the hair of the head should be washed well so that water reaches the roots of the hair; for if water does not reach the roots of the hair, purity will not be attained. Accordingly the scholars have said that if even the place beneath a single hair remains dry, the ghusl is not valid. Along with the hair, the body too is commanded to be washed well — meaning that when bathing one should rub the body thoroughly and clean off dirt and the like, and pour water over the whole body in such a way that no part of the body remains dry.