Major Ritual Ablution (ghusl) according to the people of Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah

i) According to the people of shari`ah
The ghusl of the people of this group is defined by the various degrees of the legal code, that is, the obligatory, the recomآ­mended, the forbidden and the disliked actions. A description of all these would be very lengthy so we shall confine ourselves to the obligations, the performance of which ensures purification according to the outer law of the shari`ah. These obligations are six in number, three of them involving actions and three involving the manner of performance of these actions. As for the actions, it is the ensuring that all urine has been passed ‑ in the case of men, to make sure that the penis is free of the sperm of sexual inآ­tercourse ‑ and to make the intention, that is, the pronouncement on the part of the person in a state of ritual impurity, together with an undertaking from his heart, namely: `I am about to perform the ghusl in order to remove the major ritual impurity so that I may make the prayer, which is obligatory for me, and I do this in order to draw closer to Allah.' Thereafter he washes the whole of his body from head to foot such that water reaches to the roots of the hair covering his body and his washing is so thorough as to merit the name ghusl. The manner in which these actions should be performed has three aspects: the intention should be made immediately before the ghusl is performed; the intention should remain in force throughout the ghusl; and the appropriate order of performance should be respected, that is, one must begin with the head and then with the right side of the body and then with the left.

ii) According to the people of tariqah
The ghusl of this group refers to their performance of the aboveآ­mentioned ghusl in order to purify themselves from the real state of ritual impurity, namely that state which distances one from Allah (rather than from the superficial state of ritual impurity, namely that arising from any of the legally specified physical causes of pollution). The real state of ritual impurity may be divided into two parts: the first relates to the people of this group and the second to the people of haqiqah. An explanation of the second will follow immediately after this section.
As for the first, it refers to the impurity which arises from love of this world: truly the world is like a woman who takes another husband every hour, as the Imam has indicated in his words, `I have pronounced divorce on you three times and so there is no possibility of remarriage.' It is evident that if the world were not like a woman, then the Imam would not have addressed it in these terms; thus anyone who keeps her company and who makes loves to her with the self, the soul or the heart becomes ritually impure in the true sense. This state of ritual impurity is, as we have said, distancing oneself from Allah, for anyone who loves the world in the manner we have described above will of necessity distance himself from Allah. Indeed, love of Allah and intimacy with Him is the very opposite of love of and intimacy with the world and the two can never be joined together.
This is referred to in the words of Allah, `Whoever desires the reward of the hereafter, We will give him more of that again; and whoever desires the reward of this world, We will give him of it, and in the hereafter he has no portion.' The Imam has also referred to this in his words: `Truly this world and the next are enemies to each other and are two completely different paths: whoever loves this world and pays allegiance to it will anger the hereafter and make it an enemy of him;' the two are in fact as the east and the west, and whenever the person walking between the two comes closer to one, he will necessarily distance himself from the other ‑ in fact they as far apart as wives in a plural marآ­riage. Thus purification from this ritual impurity is attained by the abandonment of the world and all it contains, such that one is not even connected to it by so much as a hair's breadth. Even if so much as one hair remains untouched by water during the legally prescribed ghusl, then the whole ghusl is invalidated. Thus attachment to the world, however little, has the same effect, namely the invalidation of one's ghusl. This same notion is expressed in the phrase: `Whoever is veiled is veiled, whether it be by one or a thousand veils.'
The manner in which this particular ghusl is performed is that the spiritual traveler washes first his `real' or `true' head, that is his heart in this instance, with the water of the gnosis of reality, which descends from the ocean of sanctity; he washes it clean of the impurities of worldly .desires and empty opinion, which cause man. to enter the Hawwiyah, that is (one of the levels of) the Fire. This is so since if the desires of the self gain the upper hand, then they draw the person concerned towards the worship of idols and cult objects, be it in his thoughts or his actions.
The meaning of outward idolatry is evident and that of inner idolatry has already been discussed in the light of Allah's words, `Have you then considered him who takes his low desire for a goal.' Anyone who obeys his low desire will of necessity enter the Fire, for as Allah says: `And as for him whose measure of good deeds is of little weight, his abode shall be the abyss (of Hawwiyah);' what is meant here is that if one's measure of knowledge and righteous action (which both arise as a result of a sound intellect and perfected self) weighs little, then he will enter the abyss of Hawwiyah. The root cause of these desires is the `soul which commands (to evil)' (al‑nafs al‑ammarah) and this soul or self stems from the animal instincts, physical appetites and anger; these are the armies and supporters of the commanding self. This abyss is `the lowest of the low' indicated in Allah's words: `Certainly We created man in the best image, then We render him the lowest of the low.'
Allah takes man to the lowest world of natural desire by means of his actions, which cause the person to follow his desires and thus oppose the will of Allah. This is indicated by the speech of the people of the Fire: `Had we but listened or pondered, we should not have been among the inmates of the burning fire.' Thus the people of Allah are always the people of true knowledge, righteous action and sound intellect and are described as those of tranquility, honour and peace of mind. Allah Himself says of them, `Then as for him whose meaآ­sure of good deeds is heavy, He shall live a pleasant life' and he will be `in the highest states of the garden.' The people of low desires and of innovation are described as being frivolous, of weak intellect and without peace of mind or honour; Allah says of them: `like him whom the devils have made to fall down perplexed to the ground.' The reply to all questions related this subject may be found in Allah's words, `And as for him who fears to stand in the presence of his Lord and forbids the soul from low desires, then surely the Garden is his abode.'
Thus the people of this station to this goal by constantly forآ­bidding their soul from low desires and by always urging their souls to that which will bring them into the Garden, the true abode and the final refuge. `All, may pace be upon him, has indicated the people of this station in his words: `Disencumber your heavy actions, that is, your actions which arise from followآ­ing your desires and from love of this world, and you will reach (the Real and the Garden), for surely the last of you will arrive by the example of the first.' Attainment of the Real and the Garden is dependent upon the disencumberance or removal of wrong actions. Allah refers to this in His words, `Most surely this is the mighty achievement, for the like of this then let the workers work.'
Then he washes his right side, that is, he purifies his spirit and innermost secret, his love of the higher manifestations of the hereafter and the Garden, for the people of the hereafter are characterized as the people of the right and of the higher realities. This is indicated in Allah's words, `And the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand! Amid thornless Tote‑trees and banana trees (with fruits), one above the other... and water flowing constantly.'
Thereafter follows the washing of the left side, that is, he purifies his soul and body (which are contained in the left side and are referred to as the physical realities) from love of base objects and selfish desires expressed as a totality by the term `the world'; he performs this washing with the water of abandonآ­ment, stripping away and lack of concern. The world is the particular domain of the people of the left, just as the hereafter is the domain of the people of right, as is expressed in Allah's words, `And those of the left hand, how wretched are these of the left hand! In hot wind and boiling water and the shade of black smoke.' It is by means of this purification that they merit critering into the Garden and are prepared to approach the Preآ­sence of His Power.' This is indicated in his words, `Surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in gardens and rivers, in the seat of honour with the most Powerful King.' May Allah grant us attainment of these stations for surely that is a grace from Allah, He gives it to whom He wishes and Allah is of mighty grace.

iii) According to the people of haqiqah
Ghusl for the people of this group represents their purification from the real ritual impurity, that is, the witnessing of other thanآ­ Allah in an absolute sense. As we have explained above, this impurity is the distancing of oneself from Allah: anyone who witnesses other‑than‑Him is far from the Real; it is not possible to remove this distance but one may approach the contemplation of the Real as He actually is. Allah indicates this when He says, `Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge, maintaining His creation with justice; there is no god but He, the Mighty the Wise.' We have already commented upon this kind of unified vision (tawhid) on several occasions.
The order of performance of this ghusl is that he washes his `real' or `true' head, that is his spirit, alone and stripped of all else, with the water of the tawhid of essence; he washes it clean of the witnessing of other‑than‑Him. Just as love of Allah is the duty of the inward and is expressed as the `tranquil soul' (al‑nafs al‑mutmainnah), knowledge of Allah is the duty of the heart and contemplation of Him is the duty of the spirit; moreover arrival is the duty of the innermost secret, which in turn is the inner dimension of the spirit. Ja`far ibn Muhammad al‑Sadiq has reآ­ferred to this in one of his supplications, namely `O Allah, make radiant my outwardness by obedience to You and my inwardness by love of You and my heart by knowledge of You and my spirit by my witnessing of You and my innermost secret by my conآ­stancy in striving to join with Your Presence, O Possessor of Majesty and Nobility.'
This ghusl is only possible by the annihiآ­lation of the knower in the known and the witnesser in the witnessed. This annihilation is expressed as the annihilation of unity (tawhid) and is attained by witnessing the Real as He really is, that is, the witnessing of Him alone and no other with Him; by this I mean that he does not witness anything in existence but His existence and One Essence, stripped of all the transient physical phenomena. As Allah says, `Everything is perishable but He; His is the judgment, and to Him you shall be brought back;' `And there will endure for ever the person of your Lord, the Lord of glory and honour.' (We have already investigated these two ayat on more than one occasion and it would not be appropriate to discuss them again here).
As we have already established, this kind of tawhid is the true and straight path which man has been commanded to in the words of the Prophet, `Continue then in the right way as you are commanded;' it is the middle way, referred to by Allah in His words, `And (know that) this is My path, the right one, therefore follow it, and follow not other ways for they will lead you away from His way; thus He has enjoined you with that you may guard (against evil).' We have also established that this way has two sides or borders, namely that of excess and that of negligence. Purification from the impurity of excess, exآ­pressed as that of the right hand border of the way, is attained by freeing oneself of the all‑encompassing tawhid, while purificaآ­tion from the impurity of negligence, expressed as that of the left, is attained by freeing oneself of the tawhid of the individual parts. Thereafter one is able to persevere along the above‑menآ­tioned path, namely the middle way, which is attained by the joining of the two types of tawhid and is called the greater purifiآ­cation. It also necessitates that one cease to witness other than آ­Him in any way whatsoever; rather one contemplates Him in the realm of gatheredness, and this is expressed as the oneness of the separate parts after the gathering together. Such a vision is extremely difficult and it is for this reason that the Prophet described it as being `sharper than a sword' and `finer than a hair;' Allah has also referred to it in His words, `The eye did not turn aside, nor did it exceed the limit' and also `So he was the measure of two bows or closer still;' these words indicate the gathered tawhid of Muhammad, a tawhid which encompasses all the other kinds of tawhid.
In short, ritual impurity in the spiritual realm is nothing but the witnessing of other‑than‑Him, in whatever form this takes; thus attainment of purification in the spiritual realm can only occur after freeing oneself from this vision of otherness. Thus it is that the poet has said: I was content with the whim of fancy that you evoked in me; But I was not content when I joined with you, For when a glace of Laylah fell from afar, It seized my inside from the heart to the bowels.
Women say that the living .yearn to see.
O Laylah, your eyes have caused me to die from the sickness of yearning And how can you see Laylah when your eye sees Other than her and you have not cleansed it with tears?
There are numerous examples of this kind and the reader is advised to seek them in the appropriate places; and Allah is more Knowing and more Wise and He it is that says the truth and guides to the correct path.