Short answer
Yes, if you wake up and find fluid. A wet dream with discharge requires ghusl for men and women. If you remember a dream but find nothing, no ghusl is needed. If you find wetness but do not remember a dream, the Hanafi school requires ghusl unless you are sure it is only madhy (precum).
Finding mani or madhy after sleep with a remembered dream requires ghusl. Finding wetness with no remembered dream requires ghusl if it is mani or you cannot tell whether it is mani or madhy; if you are sure it is madhy, wudu and washing are enough. A dream with no fluid requires nothing.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Ghusl is required only if you are sure the fluid is mani. If you cannot tell, you may choose which to treat it as.
Explanation
A wet dream (ihtilam) is natural and not a sin. Umm Sulaym asked the Prophet ﷺ, with the words "Allah is not shy of the truth", whether a woman has to do ghusl after one. He said yes, if she sees the fluid. So the ruling is the same for men and women, and the trigger is finding the fluid, not the dream itself.
The possible cases in the Hanafi school:
- Dream and wetness: ghusl is fard.
- Dream, no wetness: no ghusl. A hadith answers this case directly.
- Wetness, no memory of a dream: ghusl if it looks like mani or you cannot tell. If you are sure it is madhy or sweat, no ghusl.
- You feel it happening but stop it coming out: no ghusl until fluid actually comes out.
What to do in the morning: do ghusl before Fajr if you can. If time is short, do ghusl and pray Fajr even if late; do not pray without it. If you cannot use water because of illness or extreme cold with no way to heat it, see tayammum. Wash the fluid off your clothes and sheets as well.
A wet dream in Ramadan does not break your fast. See how to do ghusl for the steps.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 282
Sahih... نعم اذا رات الماء ...
"Yes, if she sees the fluid."
Ghusl after a wet dream depends on finding the fluid, for women as for men.
Sunan Abi Dawud 236
Graded hasan... يجد البلل ولا يذكر احتلاما قال يغتسل ...
"He was asked about a man who finds wetness but does not remember a dream, and said: he does ghusl."
Wetness without a remembered dream still requires ghusl. Graded hasan by al-Albani.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on ghusl. Ghusl for ihtilam and finding wetness after sleep.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on ghusl. The cases of wetness with and without a remembered dream.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on ghusl. The Shafi'i view when the fluid is unclear.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.