To perform a ghusl as prescribed in the sunnat, we must first wash both of our hands and private parts even if they may be clean. Then, if there is any najasat on our body, we must wash it away. Then we must perform a complete ablution. While washing our face we must intend to perform a ghusl. If water will not accumulate under our feet, we must wash our feet, too. Then we must pour water on our entire body three times. To do this, we must pour it on our head three times first, then on our right shoulder three times and then on the left shoulder three times. Each time the part on which we pour water must become completely wet. We must also rub it gently during the first pouring. In a ghusl, it is permissible to pour the water on one limb so as to make it flow onto an other limb, which, in this case, will be cleaned, too. For in a ghusl the whole body is counted as one limb. If in performing an ablution the water poured on one limb moistens another limb, the second limb will not be considered to have been washed. When a ghusl is completed it is makruh to perform an ablution again. But it will become necessary to perform an ablution again if it is broken while making a ghusl. Those who imitate the Shafi'i and Maliki Madhhabs should remember this point. It is permissible to perform it at some other place even if it has not been broken or to perform it again after performing namaz.
In an ablution and a ghusl it is extravagant, which is haram, to use more than the necessary amount of water. With eight ritl of water [which is equal to one thousand and forty dirham-i shar'i or three and a half kilograms], one can make a ghusl as required by the sunnat. Rasulullah (sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam) would perform an ablution with one moud [two ritl or 875 gr.] of water, and he would make a ghusl with water the volume of one Sa', [One Sa' is 4200 grams of water. According to an experiment conducted with lentils by this faqir, one Sa' is 4,2 liters, that is, four liters plus one-fifth a liter].
