Q: Is it true that removing hair or cutting nails while one is in a state of major impurity (needing ghusl) is forbidden?
This is something that I have read recently. But (I think) I remember a couple of years ago an imam telling me that a certain type of hair (i.e. pubic hair) should be removed and nails cut as short as possible before performing ghusl. So I thought that ghusl cannot be performed if the nails and/or pubic hair has exceeded 40 days in growth, so the nails and hair should be cut/removed before performing ghusl to ensure that no dirt is trapped underneath the nails/hair. But recently I read on several Islamic websites that it is not permissible to do those things while in need of ghusl.
Is cutting nails and/or removing hair while in need of ghusl forbidden?
If it is forbidden, what should one do in the case that a period of more than 40 days has passed since hair and nails were cut/removed AND is in need of ghusl?
A. It is Makrooh (reprehensible), but permissible to remove hair when in a Naapaak state. This means that such an act should preferably be avoided.
(Al Hindiyyah V44 P38).
The removing of unwanted hair, etc. should not be left for the fortieth day but should be removed before that. Forty days is the maximum time allowed to leave pubic and under-arm hair on the body. If it is already the fortieth day and the unwanted hair has not been removed, then it is compulsory to remove the hair immediately. You may do this before or after the Ghusl. Having a bath before removal of the hair will in no way nullify and invalidate the Ghusl.
Allah Ta'aala knows best.