❖ Question:
If a person experiences iḥtilām (wet dream) during a day in Ramadan, does that invalidate the fast? Is it obligatory to perform ghusl (ritual purification) immediately?❖ Answer:
Experiencing a wet dream does not invalidate the fast, because it occurs without the person's choice or control. However, performing ghusl (ritual bath) due to janābah (major impurity) is obligatory.If a person experiences a wet dream after Fajr prayer and delays ghusl until Ẓuhr, there is no harm in that. Similarly, if a person has intercourse with their spouse at night and then delays ghusl until after dawn, the fast is still valid.
This is supported by the narration from the Prophet ﷺ:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would be in a state of janābah due to intercourse at the time of Fajr and would still fast."
[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣawm 30, Ḥadīth 1936; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Ṣiyām 13, Ḥadīth 81, 1111]
Likewise, if a menstruating or postpartum woman becomes pure during the night but delays ghusl until after Fajr, there is no sin upon her, and her fast is valid.
However, it is not permissible for anyone—whether in a state of janābah, menstruation, or postnatal bleeding—to delay ghusl until after sunrise. It is obligatory to hasten the ghusl before sunrise to offer the Fajr prayer on time.
For men, it is essential to perform ghusl before Fajr so that they may pray in congregation.
And Allah is the one who grants success.
— Shaykh Ibn Bāz رحمه الله
