The Wetness (Golden Words of Allah Ep107)
“And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves… Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favour upon you that you may be grateful.” – Qur’an 5:6
By Abdullahi Yusuf
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All perfect praise be to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, the Lord of the Worlds. We testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, (pbuh), is His slave and Messenger.
What happens when attraction produces a physical response in the body, and does every fluid that appears require a purification bath?
Allah created human beings with attraction, desire and the capacity to respond to one another. Yet people do not all respond in exactly the same way. What stimulates one person may have little or no effect on another. Even among men and among women, the intensity and manner of arousal can vary from person to person.
A person may experience physical arousal during an intimate conversation, while another may respond differently to another form of stimulation. These variations are part of the natural complexity of the human body. But when such a response produces a fluid, Islam does not simply place every case under one ruling.
Madhy is a fluid that can be released with sexual stimulation. Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) reported that he frequently experienced it and was reluctant to ask the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) about it because of his relationship with the Prophet’s daughter. He therefore asked Al-Miqdad to ask on his behalf. The Prophet (pbuh) instructed that the private organ be washed and wudu performed. He did not prescribe ghusl merely because madhy had been released. (Sahih Muslim 303a)
Maniy, however, carries a different ruling. It refers to the sexual discharge associated with ejaculation, and its emission requires ghusl, the ritual purification bath. This applies to women as well as men. When Umm Sulaym asked whether a woman who experiences a sexual dream must perform ghusl, the Prophet (pbuh) replied that she must do so when she sees the fluid. (Sahih Muslim 311)
This is why identifying what has actually occurred matters. A person who experiences arousal and the release of madhy does not automatically become required to perform ghusl. The prescribed purification is washing the affected private area and performing wudu. But when maniy is emitted, ghusl becomes necessary because the person enters a state of janabah, the state of major ritual impurity requiring full purification.
The Qur’an makes this distinction in its instruction concerning purification: “And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves… Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favour upon you that you may be grateful.” (Qur’an 5:6)
There is also another circumstance in which ghusl becomes obligatory: sexual intercourse itself, even if ejaculation does not occur. The Prophet (pbuh) taught that when sexual intercourse takes place, ghusl is required. (Sahih Muslim 349)
The wisdom of these distinctions is striking. Islam acknowledges desire as part of human nature, but it does not confuse a natural bodily response with a single, universal purification requirement. Instead, the Sunnah identifies different circumstances and assigns each its appropriate ruling.
What may seem like a minor physical distinction can therefore determine whether a person needs wudu or ghusl. Far from leaving such matters to uncertainty or embarrassment, the Prophetic guidance gives Muslims a clear way to understand their bodies and remain ready for worship.
And Allah knows best.
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