Hawzah News Agency – Two types of immersive ghusl can be performed: instantaneous (dafʿī) and gradual (tadrījī).
- In instantaneous immersive ghusl, water must cover the entire body in one go. However, it is not necessary for the entire body to be out of the water before starting the ghusl; rather, it will suffice if part of the body is out of the water and the person goes under the water completely with the intention of performing ghusl. (1)
- In gradual immersive ghusl, one must gradually – but in a way that can be commonly considered to be one unified action – immerse his body in water with the intention of ghusl. In this type of ghusl, it is necessary for each part of the body to be out of the water before it is washed. (2)
- If after performing immersive ghusl one realises that water has not reached all the parts of his body, he must perform ghusl again, irrespective of whether or not he knows which parts of his body the water did not reach.
- If someone does not have time for performing sequential ghusl but has time for performing immersive ghusl, he must perform immersive ghusl.
- A person in the state of iḥrām (3) for hajj or ʿumrah must not perform immersive ghusl. However, if he forgetfully performs immersive ghusl, his ghusl is valid.
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(1) An example of instantaneous immersive ghusl is when a person, with the intention of performing ghusl, dives/jumps into a swimming pool and in doing so completely immerses himself in the water; or, the person may already be partly immersed in the water and he then completely immerses himself with the intention of ghusl.
(2) An example of gradual immersive ghusl is when a person, with the intention of performing ghusl, immerses part of his body in a bath tub of water and then takes that part out of the water; then, he immerses another part of his body and takes it out, and so on until all the parts of his body have been immersed.
(3) Iḥrām here refers to the state of ritual consecration of pilgrims during hajj and ʿumrah.