#Bath- Method and Conditions -Islam Peace Of Heart

Bath- Method and Conditions

The Holy Quran says:

you who believe! Do not approach prayers…in a state of ceremonial Impurity (except when travelling on the road) until after washing your whole body.” (4: 43)

The Arabic word for bath is Ghusl derived from Ghasl that means to wash.

In religious terminology, it is the act of washing the whole body after Hads-e-Akbar or greater impurity which is caused by marital relations, menstruation or the period of childbirth. Other occasions for taking a bath founded on the practice of the Holy Prophet pbuh are upon the admission of a convert to Islam before Friday prayers and on festivals and after washing the dead.

The approved, traditional method of Ghusl is as follows:
1. Make the niyat i.e., to say: “I intend to take a bath for seeking purification;”

2. Both hands including the wrists should be washed;
3. Any impurity that there may be on any part of the body should be removed.

4. Wuzu should be performed in the prescribed manner taking special care about gargling and ensuring that water reaches the throat; but if one is fasting, care must be taken to see that water does not enter the throat while gargling.

5. Water should be poured thrice on the entire body from the head to the feet, first on the right-hand side and then on the left. taking care to rub the body well.

No portion of the body should remain dry and water should reach even the roots of the hair. In case of females, care should be taken about bangles and rings.
There are three faraiz in a bath. They are:
1. Gargling.
2. Putting the water into the nostrils.
3. Pouring of water over the entire body, at last once in such a way that not even a hair’s breadth of the body remains dry.

The acts in a bath established on the example of the Holy Prophet are:

1. To wash both hands up to the wrists.
2. To wash those parts of the body where impurity is found.
3. To make the intention of removing the impurity.
4. To perform Wuzu.
5. To wash the whole body thrice with water.
The Wuzu performed while taking a bath is sufficient for saying prayers.