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Bathing while in the state of Ihraam

Question

During the Hajj journey when one is in the state of Ihram, is it true one should not take a bath? If it is true please tell me the reason?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

There is no harm on a person who is in a state of Ihraam to bathe in order to refresh or clean himself but he should be careful of what could cause the falling of his hair, or using something which contains perfume, like perfumed soap and the like, because applying perfume and cutting hair are amongst the prohibitions of Ihraam. Ibn Qudaamah may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said: 'There is no harm for a person in a state of Ihraam to gently wash his head and body, as 'Umar and his son  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  them did so, and 'Ali, Jaabir, Sa'eed Ibn Jubayr  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  them permitted it, as well as Ash-Shaafi'ee, Abu Thawr and other scholars may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them." Moreover, Al-Bukhari may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him reported that Abu Ayyoob Al-Ansaari  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him washed his head while he was in a state of Ihraam and then said: "I saw the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) doing so [when he was in a state of Ihraam]".

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 86948 and 89172.

Allaah Knows best.

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