Chapter: The Complete Manner of the Ritual Bath and the Ruling on the One Performing It

The perfect form of the ritual bath (ghusl) is for the person in a state of major ritual impurity to begin by washing his hands three times before putting them into the water-vessel, until they are clean. He then pronounces the Name of Allah, performs ablution as he would for prayer, and—just as in regular ablution—rinsing the mouth, drawing water into the nose, and expelling it are recommended acts during the bath for janābah.

Next, he runs water with his fingers through the roots of the hair on his head and through his beard, then pours water over the head, thoroughly saturating and massaging the hair until he is certain the water has reached its roots and covered it completely. After that he washes the rest of his body.

If he wishes, he may start with the right side, pouring water over his limbs with his hands or directly from the vessel, scrubbing so that the water reaches every part of the body, passing the hand over it. The same procedure applies to a woman’s ritual bath.