Ghusl (غسل) is an Arabic term referring to the full ablution (ritual washing) required in Islam for various rituals and prayers. The ablution becomes mandatory for any adult Muslim after having sexual intercourse, any sexual discharge (e.g. of semen), completion of the menstrual cycle, giving birth, and death by natural causes.
Islam also recommends (i.e. it is mustahab) the performance of the full ablution before the Friday and Eid prayers, before entering the ehram, in preparation for hajj, after having lost consciousness, and before formally converting to Islam. Shia Muslims also perform the ablution before Namaz-e-tawbah.
Ghusl should not be confused with wudu, a partial ablution, that Muslims perform before Salah.
Method of performance
In Islam, ghusl requires the washing of the full body. There are some differences in details between the Sunni and the Shia schools of thought.
Sunni school of thought
The following ahadith describe how ghusl should be performed by Sunni Muslims.
In another hadith, ibn Abbas stated that Maimuna said that Prophet Muhammad was given a towel (after ghusl), but He did not rub His body with it, but He did like this with water (i.e. he shook it off).
Similarly, Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen said, "Sufficient ghusl means that you rinse your mouth and nose, then you wash your entire body with water, even if that means plunging yourself into deep water in one go. Complete ghusl means washing your private parts and anywhere else that is contaminated with traces of impurity, then you do full wudu, then you pour water over your head three times, making sure that it reaches the roots of the hair. Then you wash the right side of the body then the left side."
Shia school of thought
According to the Shia school there are two main methods of performing a ghusl. For both methods one has to begin with niyyah, the intention to remove any impurities.
* Irtimasi: one has to submerge the entire body in pure water, either at once or in stages.
* Tartibi: one needs to start by washing the head and neck, and then the rest of the body, preferably the right side first followed by the left side.