if she experiences a wet dream?’ He answered, ‘Yes, if she sees the fluid.’ Umm Salama then asked, ‘Do women have wet dreams?’ He replied, ‘May your hands be covered in dust! How else would the child resemble her?’” Agreed upon.

This ḥadith refutes those who claim that a woman’s fluid never appears externally.

3 – Contact of the two circumcised parts: “When the man sits between her four limbs and the circumcised part touches the circumcised part, a full bath becomes obligatory.” (Aḥmad, Muslim, al-Tirmidhī: authentic). This applies even if no ejaculation occurs (Muslim, Aḥmad).

At the beginning of Islam the ruling had been, “The water (bath) is required only because of water (semen)” (Muslim), but that was later abrogated. This is supported by Allah’s words: “And if you are in a state of major impurity, then purify yourselves” (Q 5:6). As al-Shāfiʿī observed, Arab usage applies the term janābah (major ritual impurity) to intercourse itself, even when no discharge accompanies it.

4 – Menstruation: “When the menstrual period begins, leave off the prayer; when it ends, wash and pray.” (Bukhārī, Muslim)

5 – Post-natal bleeding (nifās). The scholars are unanimously agreed that its rulings mirror those of menstruation in everything that is lawful, unlawful, disliked, or recommended.

14 – Baths that are obligatory

1 – The bath for a disbeliever who embraces Islam. Qays ibn ʿĀṣim reported: “I came to the Prophet intending to accept Islam, and he ordered me to bathe with water and lote-leaf.” (Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Tirmidhī, Aḥmad, 5/61)

2 – The Friday bath is obligatory for every person who has reached puberty.

3 – Bathing the corpse of a deceased Muslim.