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I am a single woman who has not got married yet… during my menses I had to do ghusl more than once because of erotic dreams. I heard a fatwa which says that a woman can do ghusl during her menses, but that is to remove janabah only, so I did ghusl to remove janabah during my menses, before it ended. After my menses ended, I did ghusl with the intention of removing janabah and purifying myself after menses, because I was not sure, and after that I did ghusl a third time with the intention of removing janabah only. That was because I was affected by intrusive thoughts that made me doubt whether I was in a state of purity… After that, when I went to sleep, I dreamt that I was offering all my prayers and completing them to the end, but there were some people objecting to my prayer, so I got scared, and I have come to you to ask for a fatwa regarding the soundness of my purification and my ghusl. Firstly: is my ghusl valid, and am I in a state of purity? Secondly: is it sufficient to do one ghusl for climaxing more than once? Thirdly: is the fatwa which allows doing one ghusl to both purify myself following menses and to remove janabah correct? Fourthly: when doing ghusl, is it stipulated after doing wudu’ to wash the head three times, one’s right side three times and one’s left side three times, or is it this Sunnah, and what is obligatory to make the water reach all of one’s head and body, and no specific number is stipulated?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
What appears to be the case is that you are suffering from intrusive thoughts (waswas) having to do with matters of purification, and this is a chronic problem; we ask Allah to heal you from it. We have previously explained that intrusive thoughts (waswas) may be dispelled by seeking refuge with Allah and stopping thinking about these things, in the answer to question no. 224718.
Secondly:
If a woman has her menses and becomes junub at the same time, it is prescribed for her to do ghusl to remove janabah during her menses. This has been explained previously in the answer to question no. 91793.
Once her menses ends, she should do one ghusl with the intention of removing the impurity of menses.
Thirdly:
It is sufficient to do one ghusl to remove janabah due to climaxing more than once, as we have explained in the answer to question no. 81772.
Fourthly:
It is sufficient to do one ghusl for both menses and janabah, whether you intend both of them together or you intend to do ghusl for one of them. Ibn Qudamah said in al-Mughni, 1/162: If there are two things that make ghusl obligatory, such as menses and janabah, or the meeting of the two circumcised parts and ejaculation, and a person intends both when purifying himself or herself, that is valid. This is the view of most of the scholars, including `Ata’, Abu’z-Zinnad, Rabi`ah, Malik, ash-Shafa`i, Is-haq and as-hab ar-ra’i. End quote.
It says in al-Iqna` fi Hall Alfaz Abi Shuja`, 1/68: If a woman has to do ghusl for both menses and janabah, it is definitely sufficient for her to form the intention for only one of them. End quote.
Fifthly:
What is required when doing ghusl for janabah is to make the water reach every external part of the body, so if the individual makes the water reach all of his body, then he has done the obligatory ghusl, and everything other than that is Sunnah, as we have explained in the answer to question no. 83172.
And Allah knows best.