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Noticing Sexual Fluid After the Ritual Bath

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Seekersguidance.org

Answered by Sidi Abdullah Anik Misra

Question: According to the Hanafi school, if a female has sexual intercourse with her husband and after her ghusl she notices a wetness/liquid exiting her female orifice and this may last for a number of hours after intercourse, does this necessitate the repetition of ghusl? Waiting for this to stop can sometimes cross prayer times. All related answers on other websites only refer to a man exiting semen post ghusl, not specifying the situation for a woman.

Answer: Wa alaikum salam,

Thank you for your question.

It is not uncommon that for some time after intercourse, the male’s semen may continue to exit from the female, even long after she takes a ghusl (purification-bath).

If it is a very short time after the intercourse, and she immediately takes a ghusl, then if her own fluid comes out, she will have to repeat her ghusl, since the fluid could be exiting due to a lingering or subsiding sexual desire [even if sub-conscious].

If she immediately took a ghusl and only his sexual fluid came out, for sure, then she will not have to retake the ghusl, rather only make wudhu.  If she wasn’t sure whether its semen or her own fluid, she still doesn’t have to retake a ghusl (rather only wudhu) since it can assumed that the fluid is his only.  Still, it is more religiously scrupulous for her to retake the ghusl, though not required. [Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

However, if she does some action which confirms that post-intercourse desires have waned and stopped, such as taking a walk, urinating or sleeping [or less effectively, simply waiting a long time], then she will not have to re-take her ghusl, whether what comes out is hers, his or both. [Ibn Nujaym, Bahr al-Ra’iq]

Practically, she should try, after intercourse, to ensure as much sexual fluid as possible exits – urination in her case won’t “clear the passage” like with a male, but it definitely is the fastest option, as it relaxes the muscles and the sitting position allows for sexual fluid to exit easily.  Then, once she takes a ghusl, she is ritually pure.

In any of these cases, if she completed a prayer after her initial ghusl, whether she had to re-take her ghusl later or only re-make her wudhu, she would not have to repeat the prayer she prayed while she was in a state of purity.  Ibn `Abidin, in Radd al-Muhtar, mentions that the most apparent answer to him is that women take the same rulings as men here in terms of the exiting of their own sexual fluid.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam,
Abdullah Anik Misra

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

This answer was collected from Seekersguidance.org. It’s an online learning platform overseen by Sheikh Faraz Rabbani. All courses are free. They also have in-person classes in Canada.