384. If a person doubts while performing ghusl if a thing which prevents water from reaching the body is present on his body, or not, he should investigate until he attains satisfaction that such an obstacle is not present.
385. Short hairs which are considered a part of the body, must be washed while performing ghusl. However it is not obligatory to wash the long hairs. In fact, if a person pours water over his body in a manner that it reaches the skin but does not wet the long hairs, his ghusl will be valid. However if it is not possible to make water reach the skin without wetting the long hairs, he should wash them as well so that the water reaches the body.
386. All the conditions which were stipulated for the validity of wuÃÙ, such as the water being ÔÁhir and mubÁÎ, are also stipulated for the validity of ghusl. However, it is not necessary to wash the body starting from above and going downwards while performing ghusl. Similarly, in a sequential ghusl, it is not necessary to wash the subsequent parts immediately after washing a part. Hence, there is no harm in washing the head and neck, and then waiting for a while before washing the body. Similarly, there is no harm in washing the right side and then waiting for a while before washing the left side. However, if a person who suffers from urinal or fecal incontinence can control the release of urine or feces for a period that is just sufficient for performing ghusl and praying, he should complete his ghusl immediately and offer his prayers right away.
387. If someone intends not to pay the fees for using a public bath, or intends to use it on credit without being certain that the owner will agree to it, the ghusl he performs in that bath will be invalid, even if he is later able to convince the owner.
388. If the owner agrees to the use of the public bath on a credit basis, but the person performing ghusl does not intend to pay his credit off, his ghusl will be invalid. Similarly, if he plans to pay with money which is illegal according to the sharia, his ghusl will again be void.
389. If a person pays the owner of a public bath with money whose khums has not been paid, he will have performed a forbidden act, and his ghusl will also be invalid.
391. If a person doubts whether he performed ghusl or not, he should perform ghusl. However, if he doubts after performing ghusl whether he performed the ghusl properly or not, it will be valid as long as he speculates that he was not oblivious while performing ghusl.س
392. While performing ghusl, if a person commits an act that invalidates wuÃÙ, like urinating, based on obligatory precaution he should complete his ghusl, repeat it and perform wuÃÙ as well, unless he switches from sequential ghusl to ghusl by immersion.
393. If a person’s responsibility is to perform tayammum in place of ghusl due to the lack of time, and instead he performs ghusl, thinking that he has sufficient time for ghusl and prayers, his ghusl will be valid if he performs it with the intention of purifying himself from the state of janÁbah, reading the Qur’an or any similar act. If however, he performs it with the intention of offering that prayer, in the sense that had it not been for the prayer, he would not have intended to perform ghusl, his ghusl will be invalid.
394. If a person who had entered the state of janÁbah and offered prayers, later doubts whether he performed ghusl or not, his prayers will be valid if he considers it probable that he was not oblivious to it at the start of his prayers. He will however, have to perform ghusl for subsequent prayers. In the event that he commits an act which invalidates wuÃÙ after offering his prayers, he should also perform wuÃÙ and repeat the prayers that have been offered if their time has not yet elapsed, or offer their qaÃÁ if it has.
395. One who has to perform various obligatory ghusls can perform each of them separately. However, after performing the first ghusl, he should not perform the rest with the intention of an obligatory ghusl. He can also perform a single ghusl with the intention of performing all of them. In fact, if he makes the intention of any one particular ghusl from these ghusls, it will suffice in lieu of the rest.
396. If a verse of the Qur’an or the name of Allah, is written on a part of one’s body, and he wishes to perform sequential ghusl, he should cause water to reach that part in a manner that he avoids touching it. The same will apply if he wishes to perform sequential wuÃÙ and a verse of the Qur’an is written on one of the parts of wuÃÙ, and based on obligatory precaution if the name of the Lord, the All Exalted, is written on it. It is recommended to observe precaution with respect to the names of the prophets, the imams and lady FÁtimah while performing wuÃÙ or ghusl.
397. One who has performed the ghusl of janÁbah should not perform wuÃÙ for offering prayers. In fact, one can offer prayers without performing wuÃÙ after performing any of the obligatory ghusls—with the exception of the ghusl for istiÎÁÃah mutawassiÔah—or any of the recommended ghusls which are listed in article 650, albeit the recommended precaution is that he should perform wuÃÙ as well.
One of the different types of bloods discharged from a woman’s womb is the blood of istiÎÁÃah, and a woman who is in the state of istiÎÁÃah is referred to as a mustaÎÁÃah.
398. The blood of istiÎÁÃah in most cases is cold and yellow in colour. It is not discharged with pressure, nor does it cause irritation, and neither is it thick. However, it is possible that at times it may be dark or red in colour, warm, thick, irritating, or discharged with pressure.
399. IstiÎÁÃah is of three types: qalÐlah (light), mutawassiÔah (medium), and kathÐrah (heavy).
If the blood only stains the surface of a piece of cotton that is inserted in the vaginal area, but does not soak it, the istiÎÁÃah will be termed qalÐlah.
If it soaks the piece of cotton, albeit a section of it, but does not stain the menstrual pad, or any other absorbent item that a woman would normally wear to absorb the flow of blood, the istiÎÁÃah will be termed mutawassiÔah.
If it soaks the piece of cotton, and stains the menstrual pad as well, the istiÎÁÃah will be termed kathÐrah.
400. In the case of istiÎÁÃah qalÐlah, a woman must perform wuÃÙ prior to every prayer, and based on obligatory precaution she should also change the cotton. She must also wash the surface of the vaginal area if the blood has spread to it.
441. A woman who completes sixty lunar years becomes a yÁÞisah, and if she observes blood, it is not considered the blood of ÎayÃ. The obligatory precaution is that upon completing fifty lunar years, and until completing sixty, she should combine the rulings of a yÁÞisah and a non-yÁÞisah, be she a qurashiyy or a non-qurashiyy. Therefore, if she observes (blood with) the signs of Îayà during this interval, or observes blood during the days of her regular menses, the obligatory precaution is that she combine the prohibitions of a hÁÞià and the obligations of a mustaÎÁÃah.
442. The blood that is observed by a girl who has not completed nine lunar years is not the blood of ÎayÃ.
443. It is possible for a pregnant woman or a woman who is breastfeeding to observe the blood of ÎayÃ, and there is no difference in the rules of Îayà between a woman who is pregnant and one who is not. The obligatory precaution is that a pregnant woman who observes blood with the qualities of Îayà after twenty days have passed from the beginning of her (previous) menses, should combine the prohibitions of a ÎÁÞià and the obligations of a mustaÎÁÃah.
444. If a girl does not know whether she has completed nine lunar years or not, and she observes blood which does not have the signs of ÎayÃ, then it does not count as the blood of ÎayÃ. However, if it has the signs of ÎayÃ, it is the blood of ÎayÃ, and she has completed nine years according to the sharia.
445. If a woman does not know whether she is a yÁÞisah or not, and she observes blood for which she does not know whether it is the blood of Îayà or not, she should treat herself as a non-yÁÞisah.
446. The period of Îayà cannot be less than three days, nor can it be more than ten days.
447. The first three days of Îayà must be consecutive. Therefore, if for example, she observes blood for two days, and it stops flowing for a day, and then she observes it again for another day, it is not ÎayÃ. The recommended precaution is that in cases such as the aforementioned example, she should combine the prohibitions of a ÎÁÞià with the obligations of a mustaÎÁÃah.
448. At the onset of ÎayÃ, the blood must flow out. However it is not necessary for the blood to flow out for all the three days: rather, it is sufficient for the blood to be internally present, though it will not be sufficient if it remains in the womb. Therefore, if a woman stops bleeding for a short period within those three days, in a manner that is common between women, it will still count as ÎayÃ.
449. It is not necessary for a woman to observe blood on the first night, nor the fourth night. However, the blood should not cease to flow on the second and third night. Therefore, if the blood continuously flows starting from the adhÁn of fajr on the first day until the sunset of the third day, it undoubtedly is ÎayÃ. It similarly is Îayà if it starts to flow at some point during the day on the first day, and stops at the same time of the day on the fourth day. However, if it starts at the sunrise of the first day, and stops at the sunset of the third day, the obligatory precaution is that she should combine the prohibitions of a ÎÁÞià with the obligations of a mustaÎÁÃah.
450. If a woman observes blood with the qualities of Îayà for three consecutive days, and it ceases to flow, and thereafter she observes blood with the qualities of Îayà once again, and the sum of the days that she was bleeding and the days that she was not is less than ten, then the days that she was not bleeding will also be counted as ÎayÃ.
The same will apply if the blood is observed during the days that coincide with her regular menses.
451. If a woman observes blood that does not flow for less than three days or more than ten days, but cannot distinguish whether it is the blood from a wound or a boil, or the blood of ÎayÃ, she should treat it as the blood of Îayà if it has the qualities of ÎayÃ, or it is observed during the days that coincide with her regular menses. In cases other than these two, she should not treat it as Îayà if she knows that her previous state (prior to observing the blood) was Taharah (purity), or does not know her previous state. However, if she was previously in the state of ÎayÃ, she should treat it as Îayà as long as it is canonically possible to treat the blood from her previous state, combined with the doubtful blood, as the blood of ÎayÃ.
452. If a woman observes blood, and has yet to complete three days, but cannot distinguish whether it is the blood from a wound or a boil, or the blood of ÎayÃ, and the blood does not contain the qualities of ÎayÃ, nor does it coincide with her regular menses, she should treat it as Îayà if she was previously—as elaborated in the previous article—in the state of ÎayÃ. If she wasn’t, she should continue to perform her acts of worship.
