What Should I Intend When I Take My Ghusl After a Wet Dream?


Question: If a boy has a wet dream, what should be the intention for ghusl? Does “I intend to lift major ritual impurity” suffice?

Answer:

Assalamu alaykum,

Thank you for your question. I am very pleased to see that a young man like yourself is asking about how to make his worship valid. I pray that Allah increases you in your knowledge and that you are guided to the best in all your actions.

Yes, in the Shafi’i school, what you have described is sufficient. You may also intend, “I am performing an obligatory ritual bath (fard ghusl).” The water must reach all of the skin and hair, including the roots, and it is recommended (but obligatory in the Hanafi school) that the nose and mouth be rinsed as well. There are more details here:
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/wet-dreams-and-ghusl/
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/hanafi-fiqh/wet-dreams-and-ritual-purity-a-reader/

Please consider taking a free course on the personally obligatory knowledge of worship so that you learn what you need to know, and do not get doubts.

https://seekersguidance.org/courses/absolute-essentials-of-islam-shafii-habshis-encompassing-epistle-explained-getting-started-with-your-belief-and-practice/

[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.