Liaison office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani (L.M.H.L) in London, Europe, North and South America.

Islamic Laws - 4th Edition

Obligatory (wajib) Ritual Bathing (ghusl)

There are seven obligatory ghusls:

1. the ghusl for ritual impurity (janābah);

2. the ghusl for menstruation (ḥayḍ);

3. the ghusl for lochia (49) (nifās);

4. the ghusl for irregular blood discharge (istiḥāḍah);

5. the ghusl for touching a corpse (mass al-mayyit);

6. the ghusl given to a corpse (mayyit);

7. a ghusl that becomes obligatory on account of a vow (nadhr), oath (qasam), or suchlike.

If there is a total solar eclipse or a total lunar eclipse and a mukallaf intentionally (ʿamdan) does not perform the prayer of signs (ṣalāt al-āyāt) in its prescribed time, then based on obligatory precaution, he must perform ghusl before he makes it up [i.e. when he performs ṣalāt al-āyāt belatedly (qaḍāʾ), he cannot do so with wuḍūʾ; rather, he must perform ghusl first and then perform the prayer with that ghusl].