What it means
غسل (ghosl) is the Islamic ritual of washing the entire body, required to remove major ritual impurity (hadath-e akbar) caused by circumstances such as sexual intercourse, menstruation, or touching a corpse. The word is borrowed from Arabic, from the root ghasala, meaning to wash. In Persian the verb phrase is غسل کردن (ghosl kardan) or غسل گرفتن (ghosl gereftan). Unlike وضو (vozu), which is a partial washing, غسل covers the whole body and supersedes the need for vozu in most Shia legal rulings. There are several types of ghosl in Islamic jurisprudence, each tied to a specific cause or occasion.
How to use it
- قبل از نماز غسل جنابت گرفتم. (qabl az namâz ghosl-e janâbat gereftam.) “I performed the full-body washing of ritual impurity before prayer.”
- غسل میت از واجبات دینی است. (ghosl-e mayyit az vâjebât-e dini ast.) “Washing the deceased is among the religious obligations.”
- بعد از غسل دیگر نیازی به وضو نیست. (bad az ghosl dige niâzi be vozu nist.) “After full-body washing there is no further need for ritual ablution.”
- غسل جمعه سنت است. (ghosl-e jom’e sonnat ast.) “Full-body washing on Friday is a recommended practice.”
Cultural note
In Shia Islam as practiced in Iran, غسل is categorized into obligatory (vâjeb) and recommended (mostahab) types. The most common obligatory غسل is غسل جنابت (ghosl-e janâbat), performed after sexual activity. The غسل of the deceased (ghosl-e mayyit) is a communal religious duty (vâjeb-e kefâyi) and is typically performed by trained specialists at a mortuary or mosque. Public bathhouses (hammâm) historically served as the primary location for غسل in Iranian cities before the spread of private bathrooms.