Step 9 of 11
Women's Braided Hair
Umm Salamah told the Prophet ﷺ that she braided her hair tightly and asked whether she had to undo it for the ghusl of janabah. He said: "No. It is enough for you to pour three handfuls of water on your head, then pour water over yourself, and you will be pure."
When 'A'ishah heard that 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr was telling women to undo their braids for ghusl, she was surprised, and said that she used to bathe with the Prophet ﷺ from one vessel and did no more than pour three handfuls of water over her head.
What matters is that the water reaches the scalp and the roots of the hair. If the braids are so tight, or so bound with thread, that water cannot get through, the schools differ on what is needed, as set out below.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Must a woman undo her braids for ghusl?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Hanbali.
Show each school
- Not required if water reaches the rootsHanafi
- Required only if water cannot otherwise get throughMaliki · Shafi'i
- Not required for janabahHanbali
- Hanafi
- A woman need not undo her braids or wet the braided strands, as long as the water reaches the roots of her hair, following the hadith of Umm Salamah.
- Maliki
- She gathers and squeezes the braids so the water soaks in; she must undo them only if they are so tight, or bound with so many threads, that water cannot reach the hair.
- Shafi'i
- The water must reach the hair, inside and out, and the skin beneath it; braids that prevent this must be undone, and otherwise need not be.
- Hanbali
- Undoing the braids is not required for the ghusl of janabah as long as the water reaches the roots; for the ghusl after menstruation or postnatal bleeding, undoing them is a sunnah.
- Sahih Muslim 330Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 331Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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