In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Among the signs of the greatness of the blessed Islamic Shari’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 (Allah bless him and grant him peace) one of the mushrikeen (polytheists) said to (the Prophet’s Companion) Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him): “Your Prophet has taught you everything, even how to defecate!” Salman said: “Yes, he forbade us to face the qiblah when urinating or defecating…” (Muslim, Tirmidhi).
If we follow the Prophetic guidance, even with the smallest of things or mundane things (from our perspective), there will be immense barakah (blessing) in our lives.
We are taught a number of rules and etiquettes when answering the call of nature, including below. We should adopt all of them in our lives and teach that to our children.
1. Say this du’a before entering the bathroom and enter with your left foot.
Du'a before entering the bathroom:
بِسْمِ اللهِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْخُبُْثِ وَالْخَبَائِثِ
Bismillahi Allahumma inni a-'udhubika mina'l khubuthi wa-'l-khabaa'ith(i)
I take refuge with Allah from all the jinn/demons (males and females).
Narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “A screen will be placed between the eyes of the jinn and the ‘awrah of the sons of Adam when one of them enters the toilet, if he says ‘Bismillaah (in the Name of Allah).” (Tirmidhi).
Exit the bathroom with the right leg and say:
غفرانك، الحمد الله الذي أذهب عني الآذى وعافاني(Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi)
Ghufranak(a), alhamdulillahi 'lladhi adhaba 'anni 'ladha wa 'afaani
I ask You (Allah) for forgiveness. Praise be to Allah who relieved me of discomfort and granted me comfort.
You might already know these supplication, but do you actually say it each time you go, or do you often forget?
How to remember? Stick a note next to the door to remember and you can say it out loud so the children pick up this sunnah habit. Try to memorize the du'as today.
2. Not to face the Qiblah (direction of prayer, i.e. the Ka’bah which was built in Makkah by Ibrahim, upon whom be peace, as commanded by Allah) when urinating or defecating. This is out of respect for the Qiblah and for the symbols and rituals of Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When any one of you sits down to answer the call of nature, he should not face the Qiblah or turn his back towards it.” (Muslim).
3. He should not touch his private parts with his right hand when urinating.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When any one of you urinates, he should not hold his private parts in his right hand or clean it with his right hand; and (when drinking), he should not breathe into the vessel.” (Bukhari)
4. He should not remove najaasah (impurity) with his right hand; the left hand should be used for this purpose, because of the hadith quoted above.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) also said: “When any one of you wipes himself, he should not use his right hand.” (Bukhari).
The Prophet’s wife Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to use his right hand for eating, drinking, making wudu’, getting dressed, and giving and taking things, and he used to use his left hand for other things. [Ahmad)
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When any one of you cleans himself, he should not use his right hand, he should use his left hand.” (Ibn Maajah)
5. The Sunnah is to answer the call of nature sitting, making oneself close to the ground, because this is more concealing, and makes it less likely that spray from one's urine will come back on one’s body or clothes, making them dirty. If a person can be sure of avoiding this, then it is permissible to urinate standing up.
6. One should be concealed from the sight of others when answering the call of nature.
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to prefer to go behind a rise in the ground or a garden of date palms. (Muslim). If a person is out in an open space and cannot find anything to conceal him when he needs to answer the call of nature, he should move far away from the other people around him, because al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah said: “I was with the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) on a journey, when he felt the need to answer the call of nature, so he went far away.” (Tirmidhi).
‘Abd-Allah ibn Abi Quraad said: “I went out with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) to an open space, and when he needed to answer the call of nature, he moved away.” (Nisaa’i)
7. One should not uncover his ‘awrah (private parts) until after he has squatted close to the ground, because this is more concealing.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “When the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) wanted to answer the call of nature, he would not lift his garment until he had squatted close to the ground.” (Tirmidhi)
If a person is in a (modern) toilet, he should not lift his garment until he has closed the door and is out of sight of other people. With regard to this point and the one before, it is worth noting that the habit of many people in the West and elsewhere, of urinating in a standing position in front of other people in public toilets (using urinals) is something which goes against good manners, modesty and decency, and is repulsive to anyone who possesses sound common sense and wisdom. The idea that it should be covered is well established among all wise and decent people of all races. It is wrong in principle to build restrooms of this shameful type, where the users can see one another, thus making them worse than some kinds of animals whose habit is to conceal themselves from one another when urinating or defecating.
8. One should be careful to remove all impurity after answering the call of nature, because the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) warned against being careless in cleaning oneself after urinating: “Most of the punishment of the grave will be because of urine.” (Ibn Maajah).
Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed by two graves, and said: “They are being punished, but they are not being punished for any major sin. One of them used not to protect himself (i.e. keep himself clean from) his urine, and the other used to walk about spreading malicious gossip.” (Bukhari).
9. Any impurity should be washed or wiped three times or an odd number of times greater than three, according to whatever is needed to cleanse it, because Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to wash his posterior three times.
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We did this too and found it to be healing and cleansing.” (Ibn Maajah).
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When anyone of you cleans himself (with stones or similar material) let him use an odd number.” (Imam Ahmad).
10. One should not use bones or dung to clean himself or wipe away the impurity, rather, he should use tissue, stones, and the like.
Abu Hurayrah reported that he used to carry a vessel for the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) to do wudu’ and clean himself after answering the call of nature. Whilst he was following him, he (the Prophet) asked, “Who is that?” He said: “I am Abu Hurayrah.” He said: “Get me some stones I can use to clean myself, but do not bring me any bones or dung.” So I brought him some stones, carrying them in the hem of my garment, and placed them by his side, then I went away. When he had finished, I came back and asked him, “What is wrong with bones and dung?” He said: “They are the food of the jinn.” (Bukhari).
11. One should not urinate into stagnant water, because Jaabir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade anyone to urinate into stagnant water (reported in Muslim), and because this makes the water impure and harms those who use it.
12. A person should not urinate by the roadside or in places where people seek shade, because this is offensive to them.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet(Allah bless him and grant him peace) 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.” (Abu Dawud)
12. Avoid talking to someone while you are in the toilet. One should not greet a person who is answering the call of nature, or return a greeting whilst one is answering the call of nature, out of respect to Allah by not mentioning His name in a dirty place.
The Islamic greeting is “al-salaam ‘alaykum (peace be upon you)”; one of the names of Allah is al-Salaam (the Peace)].
Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah reported that a man passed by the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) whilst he was urinating, and greeted him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: “If you see me in this state, do not greet me, because if you do, I will not respond.” (Ibn Majah). The majority of scholars say that it is makrooh (disliked) to speak in the restroom unnecessarily.
May Allah grant us the ability to follow the footsteps of His beloved Messenger sallallahu alayhi wassallam.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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