Chapter: The Ritual Bath

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about bathing to remove major ritual impurity:

“Is it obligatory? May anyone pray in a state of major ritual impurity without having to repeat the prayer?”

He replied:

Purification from major ritual impurity is obligatory. No one may pray in a state of major or minor ritual impurity until he has purified himself. Whoever prays without the purification prescribed by Islamic law, believing this to be lawful, is a disbeliever. Even if he does not consider it lawful, scholars have differed over whether he is a disbeliever; he nevertheless deserves severe punishment.

However, if he is able to bathe with water, he must do so. If he has no water and fears harm from using it because of illness or fear of cold, he must perform dry ablution and pray. If neither bathing nor dry ablution is possible, he must pray without either, according to the strongest scholarly view, and he need not repeat the prayer.

And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, knows best.