Does Leakage After Sex Necessitate a Ritual Bath?

Answered by Ustadh Omar Popal

Question

Does leakage after sex necessitate ghusl?

Answer

Dear questioner,

Thank you for your important question.

May Allah, Most High reward you for your desire to increase in knowledge.

It is not necessary for a woman who finds her husband’s semen leak out of her vagina to repeat the major ablution (ghusl). However, she is required to make a new ablution (wudu).

Any prayer she prayed between intercourse and when she spotted her husband’s semen does not need to be made up. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

In the Hanafi school of law, semen is considered impure. The semen that leaks onto a piece of clothing must be cleaned. It is not necessary to clean any liquid impurity below 5cm in diameter.
[Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

If one finds that they often have this issue and are going out of the house, they should consider using the restroom before leaving or carrying a change of clothes.

And Allah alone knows best,

[Ustadh] Omar Popal
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani