Question:
Does a woman experience nocturnal emission (iḥtilām)?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Answer:
Just like men, women too can experience nocturnal emission (iḥtilām). If a woman sees discharge (manī) due to a dream, then ghusl becomes obligatory upon her.
Prophetic Evidence:
❀ Sayyidah Umm Salamah رضي الله عنها reported:
جاءت أم سليم إلى النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم فسألته عن المرأة ترى فى المنام ما يرى الرجل؟ فقال: إذا رأت الماء فلتغتسل...
“Umm Sulaym came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked about a woman who sees in a dream what a man sees (i.e., discharge). He replied: ‘If she sees the fluid, then she must perform ghusl.’ Umm Salamah said: ‘You have embarrassed women—does a woman really have nocturnal emission?’ The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘May your right hand be dusty! Then how does the child resemble her?’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 282; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 313; al-Muntaqā Ibn al-Jārūd: 88)
Scholarly Consensus:
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulaqqin رحمه الله (804 AH):
الإجماع قائم على أن النساء إذا احتلمن ورأين المني عليهن الغسل، وحكمهن حكم الرجال فى ذلك
“There is consensus that if women experience nocturnal emission and see semen, ghusl is obligatory upon them, and their ruling in this matter is the same as that of men.”
(al-Tawḍīḥ, 4/640)
Conclusion:- Women can also have nocturnal emission.
- If discharge is seen, ghusl becomes obligatory.
- Scholars are unanimous that women’s ruling in this matter is identical to men’s.
