Ritual uncleanliness - semen

Semen is not (ritually) unclean

"God hath decreed, in token of His mercy unto His creatures, that semen is not unclean. Yield thanks unto Him with joy and radiance, and follow not such as are remote from the Dawning-place of His nearness."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 74)

Bahá'u'lláh's dispels the concept of the ritual uncleanliness of semen

"In a number of religious traditions and in Shí'ih Muslim practice semen has been declared ritually unclean. Bahá'u'lláh has here dispelled this concept. See also note 106 below."

(Notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, no. 103)

(Nevertheless (for hygenic reasons), one should clean after intercourse)

"The people of the Days of Ignorance engaged in many practices which the Law of Islám later confirmed... It was...their wont...to perform ablutions after intercourse...Can one, God forbid, assume that because some of the divine laws resemble the practices of the Days of Ignorance, the customs of a people abhorred by all nations, it follows that there is a defect in these laws? "

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 28-29)

See also Self-cleaning.

In past dispensations

(To bathe after emission of semen)

"`When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening."

"Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening.

"When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

(Leviticus, 15:16-18)

See also

• Ritual uncleanliness

To-dos for this page

• (Find other traditions where semen had been declared ritually unclean and link to them)