Purifications and Ghusl for a New Muslim

 
Once a person has said Shahadah and thus converted to a Muslim she or he should do the following purifications.

1. A female convert Muslim should trim her nails short, shave the hair under her armpits and pubic hair (for those below puberty they will not have such hairs so they can just shorted their nails).

2. A male convert Muslim should trim his nails short, shave the hair under his armpits, pubic hair and shave the hair on his head (and later get circumcised as soon as possible)
(for those below puberty they will not have such hairs so they can just shorted their nails).

Narrated by Abu Dawood (356) which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded a kaafir man who had become Muslim, “Shave off the hair of kufr and get circumcised.” (Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood; see also al-Mughni, 1/276; Sharh al- Umdah by Shaykh al-Islam, 1/350)

Step 2 Ghusl

After you have done the above you should take perform Ghusl.

Ghusl is a special kind of body washing. After having done Ghusl you should wear clean pure cloths.

By clean it is meant they should be free from impurity such as urine, feces and dog saliva.
Also note that hairs under the armpits and pubic hair should not be aloud to grow for longer than 40 days.

How to perform the Ghusl

1 Intention inside ones heart not verbal.
2 Say Bismillah (which means in the name of Allah)
(do this outside bathroom if your bathroom has a toilet in it as we should not mention Allah’s name in were there is a tiolet/lavatory )
3 Wash the right hand up to and including the wrists. Make sure to while rub and rub between the fingers of the hand. And thus make sure no part of the hand is left dry. Three times
Then do the same with the left hand. (also three times)

4   Wash off any impurities off the private parts.
 5 Wash the right hand up to and including the wrists. Make sure to while rub and rub between the fingers of the hand. And thus make sure no part of the hand is left dry. Three times
Then do the same with the left hand. (also three times)

6 Make a cup with the right hand then from this hand take water into your mouth and swirl it inside the mouth and then expel out of mouth. then sniff remaining water from the cupped right hand and sniff water into the nose and then blow the water out and using the left hand remove the water from your nose. Do this three times

Some people rinse the mouth first three times and then rinse the nose three times

However the first method is the most authentic.

7 Wash the face three times, from the hairline to the jawbone and chin, and from start of the ear to start of the ear
 A man should wash the hair of his beard by taking a handful of water and entering it below his chin and rubbing it through his beard and passing the wet fingers through the beard.

8  Wash the right arm up to and including the elbow. Three times.
The arm extends from the fingertips, including the nails, to the lower part of the upper arm. It is essential to remove anything stuck to the hands before washing them, such as dough, mud, paint, nail polish etc, that could prevent the water from reaching the skin.

 Do the same with the LEFT ARM . Three times  

9 Pour water over the head Three times down to the roots of the hairs. rubbing the roots of the hair with the wet fingers
10 Pour water liberally over the entire body, beginning with the right side and then the left side and rubbing the body with hands. Ensuring that no part of the body is untouched by water
11  Move away from area were you did ghusl and Wash the right feet up to and including the ankles, three times,
 You should enter the water between the toes with your little finger and then wash the feet (note not wipe feet but wash them) and make sure and make sure you wash the sole of the foot and the heals. Make sure no parts of the foot is left dry

Wash the left foot same as the right foot. Three times

Note. You can make notes on the sequence of these steps on paper and put the paper in a plastic bag or laminate. Then take it with you to the bathroom. This will be much easier for you.

12  Then say the following Duas (supplications) for Wudhu when outside the bathroom (if bathroom has a toilet inside it)
Ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluhu.

( I bear witness that there is no god except Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.)

Allaahumm ajalni min al-tawwaabeena wajalni min al-mutatahhireena  

( O Allah, make me one of those who repent and make me one of those who purify themselves)

Note. You can just read these from a piece of paper.   This will be easier for you.

Step 3 Clean pure Clothing

You should wear clean pure cloths. A Muslims cloths and body should always be free from urine, faeces and dog saliva.

Step 4. You should try to perform a 2 Rakkah voluntary prayer or if the prayer is due then perform that.

We have prepared easy to follow prayer guides for New Muslims so try to learn from them. to pray is explained in this following article  
  Prayer Guides for New Muslims

Step5 Live As a Muslim

You should now try your best to live according to Islam.

You cannot learn every thing at once. So try to learn and do things in the right order as instructed  on our  New Muslims guide
 
Please also note that once one says the Shahadah, he or she starts with a blank slate. No matter how bad the person sinned before embracing Islam he or she is forgiven. So their is no need to worry about past sins. You are sinless and pure. Now you can build start to build your new record of deeds.

But we are human beings and as human beings we are not perfect and we tend to mess up from time to time. Whenever we do mess up we need to make sincere repentance and ask Allah for forgiveness. This and many other issues specific to converts are explained  in the convert issues section .

It is very important that you go through that section of the website and when you encounter problems to get expert advice by email us.

Unlike many others, we are specialised in dealing with matters related to converts because we have been doing this work for 20 years and helped many converts.

 Challenges that New Muslims face and tips on how to deal with various challenges