4 Islamic articles on: ghusl

Table of contents for the topic ghusl
  1. Can ghusl be delayed after intercourse?
  2. Is showering (ghusl) necessary after masturbation? (male and female)
  3. Is a shower the same as ghusl? Is wudu necessary after ghusl?
  4. What is the correct way to preform ghusl?

IslamQA: Can ghusl be delayed after intercourse?

Must one do ghusl right after intercourse? Is it Ok do work around and inn the house within the state of impurity, does touching things, do they become impure? Also should one do wudu if he does not want to do ghusl right away, is that mandatory? Can you go to sleep while in major state of impurity without ghusl or wudu. thanks you.

Delaying ghusl is permitted until the next prayer, since you cannot pray unless you perform ghusl after intercourse. There is no issue with touching things in the house (except for books of Quran that have the original Arabic text, touching translations is permitted). Sleeping after intercourse without ghusl and having intercourse again without ghusl are both permitted.

There is no need to make wudu after intercourse, that doesn’t change anything.

IslamQA: Is showering (ghusl) necessary after masturbation? (male and female)

Can you still pray after you masturbate? Or do you need to take a shower?

If the masturbation involves ejaculation (whether you are male or female), then performing ghusl becomes obligatory. You cannot pray until you perform ghusl.

But if there is no ejaculation, then a person can pray without performing ghusl.

Follow-up question: for the females (yes there are females who masturbate), does reaching climax or orgasm the same as ejaculating? Like, if one reaching climax, but no ejaculation, does she has to perform ghusl afterwards? Thank you.

Thank you for your question. According to the Qatari Fatwa Authority, orgasm itself does not necessitate ghusl if no manī is ejaculated by the man or woman. For more on a woman’s manī please see this previous answer.

There is, however, something called retrograde ejaculation, where the ejaculation takes place but does not come out immediately. For example if an hour or more later the person urinates and finds some ejaculate in their urine, then the ejaculation has taken place. In such a case, I believe that ghusl is necessary even though no ejaculation took place during the orgasm.

Source on ghusl not being necessary if a woman orgasms without ejaculation during masturbation:

IslamQA: Is a shower the same as ghusl? Is wudu necessary after ghusl?

selam My question is if I had intercourse and I take shower and then wudu is my prayer valid? Olso is Gusul considered under shower or are they any other steps involved thanks

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

As discussed in this previous answer, taking a shower is ghusl provided that you take the shower with the intention of ghusl and provided that the water reaches your entire hair, head, face and body. So taking a shower with the intention of ghusl is sufficient to be able to pray afterwards.

Most scholars also agree that there is no need to perform ablution (wudu) after ghusl, as ghusl brings you into a state of purity that includes the state of ablution. However, after the water reaches the parts of the body that are washed during wudu, if a person does something after that that nullifies wudu (such as touching the private parts), then they should make wudu afterwards in order to pray.

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