The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught us the etiquette of purifying ourselves and doing ghusl, part of which is to start on the right hand side. In this hadith, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) tells us that when one of the Mothers of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with them) became junub – and the word janabah refers to anyone who emits maniy (semen) or has intercourse; it is so called because he must avoid (ijtinab) prayer and other acts of worship until he has purified himself, and this applies to both men and women – she would scoop water with her hand and pour it over her head three times, to make the water reach the roots of the hair. Then she would begin by taking water in her hand and pouring it over the right side of her body, then she would do the same on the left side of her body, using the other hand. This is the sequence of actions when doing ghusl, starting on the right to seek blessing thereby, after washing the hair and the head first, to ensure that water reaches everywhere under the hair, because water does not reach there easily. .