10- MAJOR RITUAL IMPURITY
MAJOR RITUAL IMPURITY
The purificatory bath is Obligatory for a male when:
i. sperm exits from him;
ii. or the head of his penis enters a vagina;
And is obligatory for a female when:
i. Sexual fluid exits from her;
ii. The head of a penis enters her vagina;
iii. After her menstrual period;
iv. After her postnatal lochia stops or after a child is born in a dry birth.
(The Arabic term maniyy used in all these rulings refers to both male sperm and female sexual fluid i.e. that which comes from orgasm, and both sexes are intended by the phrase sperm or sexual fluid wherever it appears below.)
When a woman who has been made love to performs the purificatory bath, and the males sperm afterwards leaves her vagina, then she must repeat the ghusl if two conditions exist:
a) that she is not a child, but rather old enough to have sexual gratification (as it might otherwise be solely her husband’s sperm)
b)and that she was fulfilling her sexual urge with the lovemaking, not sleeping or forced.
Male sperm and female sexual fluid are recognised by the fact that they:
1. come in spurts (by contractions)
2. with sexual gratification
3. And when moist, smell like bread dough, and when dry, like egg-white.
When a substance from the genital orifice has anyone of the above characteristics, then it is sperm or sexual fluid and makes the purificatory bath obligatory. When not even one of the above characteristics is present, it is not sperm or sexual fluid. Being white or thick is not necessary for it to be considered male sperm, and being yellow or thin is not necessary for it to be considered female sexual fluid.
The purificatory bath is not obligatory:
1. When there is an un-lustful discharge of thin, sticky, white fluid (madhy) caused by amorous play or kissing
2. Or when there is a discharge of the thick, cloudy white fluid (wady) that exits after urinating (or carrying something heavy).
If one does not know whether one ‘$ discharge is sperm or whether it is madhy, then one may either:
1. Consider it sperm, and perform the purificatory bath (in which case washing the portions of clothes and so forth affected with it is not obligatory, as it is legally considered a pure substance)
2. Or consider it madhy, and wash the affected portions of the body and clothes (which is obligatory, as it is legally considered filth), and perform ablution, though not the purificatory bath.
The best course in such cases of uncertainty is to do all of the above (of bathing, washing the affected portions, and ablution, so as to take due precaution in one’s worship).
All things unlawful for someone in minor ritual impurity are also unlawful for someone in a state of major ritual impurity (or menstruation). In addition, it is likewise unlawful for such a person:
1. To remain in a mosque
2. Or to recite any of the Quran, even part of a single verse, though it is permissible to use its invocations (dhikr) when the intention is not Koran recital (such as saying in disasters, “Surely we are Allah’s, and unto Him we will return,” and the like). If one intends Quran recital, it is disobedience, but if one intends it primarily as invocation (dhikr), or as nothing in particular, it is permissible.
It is permissible to pass through a mosque (though not to enter and leave by the same door (Ar. taraddud), which is unlawful) when one is in a state of major ritual impurity, but this is offensive when there is no need.
(Source: The reliance of the traveller, revised edition, Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller)
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