A woman discharges frequently and cannot distinguish whether the discharge was semen or pre-seminal fluid, and whether it was due to desire or otherwise; what is obligatory for her, and is it obligatory for her to perform the full ritual bath for every prayer, or is it sufficient to wash the private parts and perform the ablution?
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The Shaykh : The sixteenth question: A woman discharges frequently and cannot distinguish whether the discharge was semen or pre-seminal fluid, and whether it was due to desire or otherwise; what is obligatory for her? And is it obligatory for her to perform the full ritual bath for every prayer, or is it sufficient to wash the private parts and perform the ablution?
The question may contain some ambiguity or unclear wording, but I will answer with what I know regarding the matter of the fluid that discharges from a woman. First, the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath, whether for a man or a woman, there is no difference between them in this; it is the fluid that is expelled forcefully and exits with strength from the man or the woman. This is the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath. So, if we suppose, for example, a man or a woman after satisfying their lawful desire and performing the full ritual bath, drops of remaining semen that were in the organ come out from the man; this does not obligate the full ritual bath because it was not expelled forcefully. And there is in the Sunnah what indicates that the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath is the one that exits with strengthSunan al-Bayhaqi 1:738 This is what he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. From here we derive the ruling of a matter that appears in some books of jurisprudence, which is that a person sometimes carries a heavy load and this white fluid, semen, comes out of him. Does this obligate the full ritual bath or not? In this matter there are two opinions, as is the case in many matters. But if we study the previous hadith Sunan al-Bayhaqi 1:738 There is no evidence for this.
From this hadith and its like, we derive a primary ruling, and then rulings that follow it and are contrary to it. The primary ruling is that the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath is the fluid that is expelled forcefully, whether from a man or a woman, while anything else does not obligate it. From this "other," if I may express it this way, this fluid that comes out of a man or a woman after performing the full ritual bath does not obligate the full ritual bath, even if it is the same fluid, i.e., the semen of the man or the fluid of the woman when it exits or separates from her womb during intercourse with her husband.
Sometimes other fluids may come out of a woman, especially the white fluid. This, according to some scholars, obligates only the ablution. But according to Ibn Hazm and others, it does not obligate anything at all. And this is what we see, because it is not semen, nor pre-seminal fluid, nor a thick fluid passed after urination, nor anything similar to these that obligates the ablution.
Semen obligates the full ritual bath, and pre-seminal fluid and a thick fluid passed after urination obligate only the ablution. So, this white fluid that comes out of a woman at times does not obligate her to perform the ablution, let alone obligate her to perform the full ritual bath. This is what we can answer regarding this question to the extent that we understood it.
The question may contain some ambiguity or unclear wording, but I will answer with what I know regarding the matter of the fluid that discharges from a woman. First, the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath, whether for a man or a woman, there is no difference between them in this; it is the fluid that is expelled forcefully and exits with strength from the man or the woman. This is the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath. So, if we suppose, for example, a man or a woman after satisfying their lawful desire and performing the full ritual bath, drops of remaining semen that were in the organ come out from the man; this does not obligate the full ritual bath because it was not expelled forcefully. And there is in the Sunnah what indicates that the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath is the one that exits with strength
If the fluid spurts out, then perform the full ritual bath
إذا نضحت الماء فاغتسلIf the fluid spurts out, then perform the full ritual bath
إذا نضحت الماء فاغتسلFrom this hadith and its like, we derive a primary ruling, and then rulings that follow it and are contrary to it. The primary ruling is that the fluid that obligates the full ritual bath is the fluid that is expelled forcefully, whether from a man or a woman, while anything else does not obligate it. From this "other," if I may express it this way, this fluid that comes out of a man or a woman after performing the full ritual bath does not obligate the full ritual bath, even if it is the same fluid, i.e., the semen of the man or the fluid of the woman when it exits or separates from her womb during intercourse with her husband.
Sometimes other fluids may come out of a woman, especially the white fluid. This, according to some scholars, obligates only the ablution. But according to Ibn Hazm and others, it does not obligate anything at all. And this is what we see, because it is not semen, nor pre-seminal fluid, nor a thick fluid passed after urination, nor anything similar to these that obligates the ablution.
Semen obligates the full ritual bath, and pre-seminal fluid and a thick fluid passed after urination obligate only the ablution. So, this white fluid that comes out of a woman at times does not obligate her to perform the ablution, let alone obligate her to perform the full ritual bath. This is what we can answer regarding this question to the extent that we understood it.