Is ghusl obligatory upon a person who embraces Islam after reaching puberty, irrespective of whether he committed acts requiring ghusl during his disbelief?
Chapter on What Necessitates Ghusl
Al-Mughni
Book of Purification
Primary text
Ghusl is obligatory upon a convert upon accepting Islam. This obligation is absolute, whether the convert was originally a Muslim apostate (*murtad*) or a lifelong disbeliever, and whether he performed ghusl before converting or committed an act necessitating ghusl during his disbelief or not. This is the established doctrine of Malik, Abu Thawr, and Ibn al-Mundhir. The primary evidence for this obligation is the narration of Qays ibn Asim, who stated that when he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to accept Islam, he was commanded to bathe with water and Sidr (lote tree leaves). A command from the Prophet necessitates obligation. Furthermore, it is established that when Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and Usayd ibn Hudayr sought to embrace Islam, they were instructed by Mus'ab ibn Umayr and As'ad ibn Zurarah to bathe and then declare the testimony of truth, suggesting this practice was widespread.
Supporting text
Abu Bakr held that ghusl is recommended but not obligatory, unless the person had a seminal emission (*janabah*) during their state of disbelief, in which case ghusl is required upon conversion, regardless of whether they bathed then. Abu Hanifa entirely negated the obligation of ghusl upon conversion, arguing that had it been a primary obligation of Islam, it would have been transmitted with the frequency of the core tenets when numerous people converted, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not explicitly command it when sending Mu'adh to Yemen. This argument is countered by the fact that the obligation is established by the sound hadith of Qays ibn Asim.