Does a Woman Need to Perform a Ritual Bath After Washing Clothes Stained by Period Blood?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

When a woman washes her or other female’s clothes that have period blood/stains on them, does she need to do a ghusl? Or can she just do wudu and pray? (Please note that in this scenario, the woman is not under her menses, but she is washing the clothes of other women by hand and not by laundry machine)

Answer

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

No, a woman does not need to perform a ritual bath (ghusl) after washing clothes stained by menstrual blood. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

What Necessitates the Ritual Bath (Ghusl)

Ghusl is only necessary after:

(1) Ejaculation

(2) Intercourse

(3) Menstruation

(4) Post-natal bleeding

[Tumurtashi, Tanwir al-Absar; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; ‘Ala al-Din Ibn ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]

Allah (Most High) says: “O believers! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of ˹full˺ impurity, then take a full bath.” [Quran, 5:6]

Please see: The Ritual Bath (ghusl): Obligatory, Recommended, and Disliked Acts

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.