What is the ruling on the prayer and fasting of one who has not performed ghusl after thinking or having a wet dream, while feeling something exit, but is ignorant as to whether it is semen or not? And how can he purify himself?

Whoever prayed while in a state of major ritual impurity (janabah) omitted a condition for the validity of prayer, which is ritual purity (tahara). Scholars differed concerning one who omits a condition out of ignorance of the ruling. Some obligated repeating the prayer, and this is the view of the majority. Others did not obligate repeating the prayer except for the prayer of the current time.

According to the first view, if the prayers are numerous and their exact number is unknown, you should make up what you predominantly believe will absolve your responsibility. With difficulty, you may act upon the view of those who waived the make-up prayers.

Ghusl (ritual bath) is obligatory upon the emission of mani (sperm/orgasmic fluid), not madhiy (pre-seminal fluid). If a woman doubts whether what came out of her is mani or madhiy, she may choose between them and assign it the ruling of one of them. This is the view of the Shafi’is.

If menstruation and janabah coincide, one ghusl suffices with the intention of removing both, or confining the intention to removing menstruation is sufficient. For previous states of janabah for which ghusl was not performed, one ghusl suffices to remove them, even if it is the ghusl for menstruation. We hope that you bear no sin for neglecting ghusl due to your ignorance of its ruling. Learning the rulings of worship is obligatory.