Does Long Armpit Hair Or Pubic Hair Affect Validity of Ritual Bath?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Does long armpit hair or pubic hair affect validity of ghusl?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Long armpit hair or pubic hair do not affect the validity of ghusl as long as one is certain that the water reaches the skin. However, it is the sunna and teachings of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to groom oneself. 

The sunna is to trim the nails, pluck the hair of the underarm (though it is allowed to shave), to shave the pubic area, and the mustache (although trimming it is better). [Mawsili, al-Ikhtiyar fi Ta’lil al-Mukhtar]

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.