What Dreams Necessitate a Ghusl?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I have some questions regarding wet dreams, according to Hanafi Fiqh.

1. I have learned from one of the Islamic sites that during wet dreams for women, ghusl will be obligatory when discharge reaches out to external genitalia (an area which is apparent when vaginal lips are normally close) or reaches the labia minora if it’s inside the vaginal lips ghusl is not obligatory. Is that correct?
2. I am asking because I have severe doubts about that whenever I woke up, I check my private part with my finger and press the area inside the vaginal lips to check if there is any discharge, but the area is dry, and most moisture was found which is normally there, but sometimes this moisture makes me in doubts that what if this moisture is that discharge?
3. When I was asleep today, I felt only sexual pleasure dreams. They were random, not of sexual nature, and immediately I woke up with that feeling, and it gradually finished as I was waking and feeling that sexual pleasure after some while, I checked, but there was nothing in the vagina was dry and only moisture was there on vaginal lips. I still check after urination, but nothing was there that I remember. I have some urinary problems I do urinate with force. After the first urination, when I try to urinate a second time with force and check, only white and slightly yellowish discharge comes, which is thick and creamy-like, and I sometimes have small white particles. I started to have thoughts and doubts about my purity and whether the ghusl was still intact or not…
4. Is orgasm necessary during wet dreams if you only feel sexual pleasure and see discharge? Is ghusl still necessary? I have read that some women don’t have orgasms, and if you feel sexual pleasure and have discharge, then ghusl becomes obligatory, even if orgasm occurs or not.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

1. Yes, this is correct.

2. There is no need to check this way. You will have moisture, which is natural and akin to sweat.

3. This is just normal vaginal discharge; there is no need to check again and again.

4. Dreams that would render a ritual bath (ghusl) obligatory upon waking up while seeing madhi are dreams in which what was seen was intercourse. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

For women, “madhi” is the wetness found while being aroused before reaching an orgasm.

If you had a dream in which what was seen was intercourse, and no wetness is found upon waking up, you are not in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba), and you don’t need to perform a ritual bath.

You won’t also have to perform a ritual bath upon waking up if you find only madhi while not remembering a dream about intercourse.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction, in sha’ Allah.

Related:

• Wet Dream Archives
• What Is Considered a Wet Dream for Women in Islamic Law?
• Wet Dreams and Ritual Purity: A Reader
• Being Balanced – Emotional and Mental Health – Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?

I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.