Ghusl

Now we know that people break their Wudhu

when they have to give in to the animal urge to go to the toilet,

but their animal bodies have more influence over them

than just the urge to go to the toilet.

There are other things their bodies will try to make them do.

They have the urge to eat when their bodies are hungry

and drink when they need liquid.

These urges are built in to their bodies because they need them to survive.

But they have to keep them under control if those urges are not to harm them.

Food may be good, but too much food isn't.

And there is another urge that humans have

that they need to survive,

not as individuals but as a species.

They need to couple together to have children,

little humans

to grow up to be the humans of the future

as the old humans die.

And that coupling together involves sex.

So sex is needed if humans are to make more humans,

and as they grow old enough to have children

that urge in humans can almost be the strongest one of all,

and even the thought of sex

can be enough for a body to release those fluids

that are needed to pass between male and female to make a child.

In fact, the strength of this urge can be so great,

that when it is satisfied

humans can feel such pleasure

and relief of tension

that for a moment

it can make them forget everything else.

But of course it's not possible to forget everything else

when there is so much more to life than sex.

And to bring the body back under control,

after the joy of sex and the release of all those messy fluids,

whether with a partner, or alone,

or during a dream,

we need much more than the simple Wudhu.

We need to wash the body all over

in the way that is known as Ghusl.

Ghusl is needed on such occasions,

when the human body is involved in matters of life and death

and the procreation of the species.

When a baby is born it is washed all over.

Even though it cannot make Ghusl for itself,

the parents or family will make the intention for it.

In the same way, a newly converted muslim

will make Ghusl before they make their formal Shahada.

So the Wudhu does not stand alone,

but it is really just returning a muslim to the state of Ghusl.

And muslim jurists will argue about different situations

when the Ghusl is obligatory

and when it is recommended,

but there are many occasions when most think it is necessary.

So women will always make Ghusl after their monthly bleeding,

or after childbirth,

but although men and women might prefer to make Ghusl before attending the Friday prayer,

that is not considered essential.

In the same way, Ghusl before an Eid prayer is preferred but not necessary,

and there are times when it is recommended both before and during Hajj,

and after handling and washing a dead body at the end of a human life.

But what if it's not possible to wash all over when needed,

is it OK just to make Wudhu as usual instead?

Well, it's possible to think of all sorts of reasons why that wouldn't be a good idea,

because if making Wudhu was OK

then people might imagine that the Ghusl isn't necessary,

or forget that they hadn't made it when they needed.

So just as when there is no water available for Wudhu,

when Ghusl is impossible

it is replaced by the cleansing known as Tayammum.

But whatever way the body is purified,

the essential thing is,

in whatever way you can,

to prepare yourself for Sala.