t (The Fiqh of Worship)'Ibaada-ul-Fiqh

By Sister Eman al Obaid on 08.05.2012

Bathroom Etiquette

Among the signs of the greatness of the blessed Islamic Sharee’ah is the fact that there is no good thing, major or minor, that it has not commanded us to do or pointed the way to it, and there is no bad thing, major or minor, that it has not warned us against or forbidden. It is perfect and complete in all aspects.

At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), one of the mushrikeen (polytheists) said to (the Prophet’s Companion) Salmaan al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him): “Your Prophet has taught you everything, even how to defecate!” Salmaan said: “Yes, he forbade us to face the qiblah when urinating or defecating…” (Saheeh At-Tirmidhi, no. 16;Saheeh Muslim and others).

Ahkaam Qadhaa’al-Haajah – Rulings on answering the call of nature:

http://alhudasisters.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/fiqh.pdf --> Page 18

I) Maa yajib:

What is Mandatory/Obligatory (Al-Waajib):

1. Sitar al-‘awrah ‘ani-n-naas asnaa’ qadhhaa’ al-haajah-

Covering the private parts in front of people while answering the call of nature-

If a person is in a toilet, he should not lift his garment until he has closed the door and is out of sight of other people.

We should also teach the children that they should not uncover in front of anyone and they should go to the toilet individually when answering the call of nature.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wanted to answer the call of nature, he would not lift his garment until he had squatted close to the ground.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 14; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’, 4652).

2. At-tanazzahu ‘an isaabat-an-najaasah li-thawbih ou badanih, fa-in asaabah sha’un ghusluhu-

Be careful of the impurity (najasah such as urine, stool, blood etc.) getting on the body or clothes. If it gets (on your body or clothes), it should be washed off -

Hadith:

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Most of the torment of the grave is because of urine, so be careful to avoid it.” [Narrated by al-Daaraqutni and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb (1/152)]

Some people are not concerned about cleaning oneself after urinating or defecating and some do not care to clean the toilet (especially the public toilets) properly after using it. We should be careful to remove all the impurity after answering the call of nature and make sure that no impurity is left on the floor or our body or clothes before we leave the toilet, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon

him) warned against being careless in cleaning oneself after urinating.

Another Hadith:

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by two graves, and said: “They are being punished, but they are not being punished for something that was difficult to avoid. One of them used to walk about spreading nameemah (malicious gossip) and the other used not to take care to avoid getting urine on himself.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari (218) and Muslim (292)]

We can find some public toilets looking so clean after being used by some people (especially ladies) and we always want to use such toilets. We should be also aware of keeping the toilets (both private and public) clean after using them because Allah says: “WAllaahu yuhibbul muhsineen – And Allah loves the muhsineen (good-doers)”

3. Al-istinjaa’ ou al-istijmaar….

Cleaning oneself using water or stone and the like (after relieving)-

It’s always better to wash (the private parts) with water after relieving but if water is not available then you can use stone or tissue/cloth etc.

Narrated Abu Huraira (RadhiyAllahu Anhu):

I followed the Prophet while he was going out to answer the call of nature. He used not to look this way or that. So, when I approached near him he said to me, "Fetch for me some stones for cleaning the private parts (or said something similar), and do not bring a bone or a piece of dung." So I brought the stones in the corner of my garment and placed them by his side and I then went away from him. When he finished (from answering the call of nature) he used, them. (Sahih Bukhari Hadith, Volume 1, Book 4 Ablution (Wudu’), Number 157)

We will be talking more about ‘al-istinjaa’ ou al-istijmaar’ later inshaAllah..

II) Maa yahram:

What is Forbidden (Al-Haraam):

1. Al-istiqbaal-ul-Qiblah ou istidbaarihaa haal qadhaa’ al-haajah fi as-sahraa’, wa ammaa fil bunyaan fil afdhal taraka dhaalik.

Do not face the Qiblah or turn your backs towards it while answering the call of nature, in the deserts, and if it is in the building it is better to leave that place.

(This means if you find toilets with commodes fixed in such a way that you should face the Qiblah or turn your backs towards it then it is better not to use it)

Hadith:

Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari narrated that Allah's Messenger (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, "When you go to the toilet, do not face the qiblah while passing stool or urine nor turn your backs to it, but turn to the east or west."

[Al-Bukhari 394, Muslim 264]

2. Qadhaa’ al-haajah fi turuq-i-n-naas wa dhullihim wa amaakin ijtimaa’ihim wa juloosihim, wal hadaa’iqil ‘aamah, wal aswaaq, wa birkil maa’ wa nahwah dhaalik-

Answerering the call of nature (ie; to urinate or defecate) on the roads/ways where people pass by, or under the shades where they rest, in places where they gather and sit, in public gardens/parks, in souks, in ponds and anything like this is prohibited.

Hadith:

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Fear the two things that bring curses.” They asked, “What are the two things that bring curses, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “When a person relieves himself in the road where people walk or in the place where they seek shade.” (Muslim: 269 and others)

3. Ad-dukhul bil Mushaf ila-l-hamaam, limaa feehi min-al-ihaana li Kitaabillaahi Ta’ala-

Do not enter the toilets with the Mushaf (Qur’an) because it is like insulting/humiliating the Book of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

So this is all about the Waajib and Haraam while answering the call of nature.

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