This is the first physical thing Islam asks of you, and it is simpler than you are probably expecting. It is a wash.
Ghusl is a full-body washing done with intention. It is not a cleaning — you may be perfectly clean already — it is the lifting of a state.
The two states
Islam separates two things that English runs together. There is being dirty, and there is being in a state that must be lifted before you pray. You can be freshly showered and still not able to pray. You can have dust on your sleeve and be entirely fine.
- The minor state is lifted by wudu — a short wash of the face, arms, head and feet. Caused by ordinary things like using the bathroom or falling deeply asleep.
- The major state is lifted by ghusl — washing the whole body. This is the one this page is about.
The distinction matters practically: wudu cannot lift the major state. Someone who needs ghusl and makes wudu instead has not become able to pray. That is why ghusl comes first on this site.
﴿ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًا فَاطَّهَّرُوا ﴾
Wa in kuntum junuban fa-ṭṭahharū
And if you are in a state of major impurity, purify yourselves.
When ghusl is required
- After sexual discharge, whether from intercourse or otherwise
- At the end of menstruation
- At the end of postnatal bleeding
- For a person who has newly entered Islam
Until it is done you do not pray, and you do not touch the Arabic text of the Qur'an. Nothing is lost by the delay — the prayers are simply performed once you are able.
How to do it
You do not need to know wudu to perform this. The method below is complete on its own, in order, from start to finish. Follow it and your ghusl is valid.
Most instructions you will find elsewhere — including in books and on other websites — describe a fuller method with wudu inside it. That method is good, and it is what you should grow into. But it is written for people who already know how to make wudu, which on your first day you do not. So learn this one first.
Before you start
Intend it in your heart. Know which state you are lifting — that you are entering Islam, or after intimacy, or at the end of your period. Nothing is said out loud. Then say Bismillāh.
The order
- Wash both hands.
- Wash your private parts and anything impure from your body. Wash your hands again afterwards.
- Rinse your mouth — take water in, swill it, spit it out.
- Sniff water into your nose and blow it out. Gently.
- Wash your face — hairline to chin, ear to ear.
- Wash your right arm, fingertips up to the shoulder.
- Wash your left arm, fingertips up to the shoulder.
- Wash your torso — chest and stomach, into the folds.
- Wash your right leg, from the top down to and including the foot.
- Wash your left leg, the same way.
- Turn, and wet your hair from the roots to the ends. Work the water into your scalp with your fingers — this is the part most often missed.
- Wash your back.
- Wash the back of your right leg, then the back of your left leg.
- Wash the sole of your right foot, then the sole of your left foot.
Then repeat the whole sequence twice more, so that it is done three times in all.
Once is enough for validity. If water has reached every part of you a single time, with intention, your ghusl is complete and you may pray. Doing it three times is better and is what most people are taught. Do not let the count become something you worry about.
Afterwards: make wudu
When you have finished and dried off, make wudu, and then you may pray.
Do this even if you are not sure whether you need to. Making wudu after the ghusl is valid on every scholarly view, it takes ninety seconds, and it removes any doubt about whether you are in a state to pray.
The fuller method, for later
Once wudu is familiar, you will hear ghusl described a different way — with the wudu performed inside it, after washing the private parts and before pouring water over the head. That is the method described in the reports of how the Prophet ﷺ performed it, and it is what most Muslims do.
Move to it when you are ready. Neither version is wrong, and the one above will serve you until then.
◇ Scholars differ
Where wudu goes. The described method of the Prophet ﷺ places wudu near the beginning of the ghusl. But in several schools, touching the private parts nullifies wudu — and washing there is part of the ghusl. Those who follow that view make wudu after finishing instead. In the Hanafi school that contact does not break wudu, so the wudu made at the start stands. Both are taught by qualified scholars and both produce a valid prayer. Making wudu afterwards is valid on every view, which is why this page teaches it that way.
Rinsing the mouth and nose. The Hanafi school holds these obligatory within ghusl; other schools treat them as recommended. They are in the method above because including them satisfies every position.
Ghusl for a new Muslim. Whether this is obligatory or strongly recommended differs between the schools. No school says skip it.
Braided or very long hair. The majority hold that women do not need to undo braids for the ghusl after menstruation, provided water reaches the scalp.
Common questions
Do I need to make wudu after ghusl?
This page tells you to, and that is the safe answer — it is valid on every scholarly view and removes all doubt.
Some are taught differently: that wudu made during the ghusl still stands afterwards, so no second wudu is needed. That is also correct, in the schools that hold it. Neither group is wrong.
What everyone agrees on is that a correctly performed ghusl lifts the major state. The disagreement is only about the minor state alongside it — and making wudu afterwards settles that whichever school you end up following.
Does an ordinary shower count?
Yes, if you intended it as ghusl and water reached every part of you. The intention is what makes a wash into ghusl. A shower taken without it does not count, even if you got equally wet.
What if I remember afterwards that I missed a spot?
Wash that part. You do not repeat the whole ghusl. If you have already prayed, repeat the prayer once you are properly purified.
What if there is no water?
If water is genuinely unavailable, or using it would harm you — illness, an open wound, dangerous cold — there is a dry substitute called tayammum which stands in for ghusl. It is covered later in this section.
How soon after becoming Muslim should I do it?
Soon. Today or tomorrow if you can. It is not a deadline you can fail, and nothing is invalidated by waiting a few days — but it is the first thing, and doing it tends to settle something.
If this feels awkward to read. Purity in Islam is discussed plainly and without embarrassment, in the same tone as any other practical instruction. Scholars have written about it in detail for fourteen centuries. It is not a subject you should feel shy asking about — and the women at your masjid will answer questions about menstruation and ghusl matter-of-factly if you ask them.
What comes next
Once the major state is lifted, the wash you will use every day is the short one — wudu, before each prayer. That is the next thing to learn, and you will do it several times a day for the rest of your life.
Next: how to make wudu →