How to Perform a Ritual Bath (Ghusl) When Suffering from Sensitive Skin Conditions? [Shafi’i]

Answered by Shaykh Shuaib Ally

Question: Assalam alaykum,

I have psoriasis on my scalp which causes bumps of dead white skin. To what extent should I go in removing them when performing a ritual bath (ghusl)?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray that this message finds you well, insha’Allah.

For your ghusl to be valid, water has to reach the entirety of your body. If there is any foreign object on your skin, it must be removed such that water reaches the surface.

If one has an abnormal skin condition, or dead skin attached to their body, or an inflammatory auto-immune condition such as psoriasis, they are not required to remove the skin to wash what they might consider ‘more natural’ skin beneath. This is due to the difficulty in doing so, as well as the anticipated harm.

Washing over what is for all intents and purposes considered the skin, and removing everything else that is not attached to one’s body, fulfils the requirement outlined above.

Source: Hashiyat al-Jamal

Shuaib Ally