Raising one’s garment before drawing near to the ground …

His statement, “Raising one’s garment before drawing near to the ground”: that is, it is disliked for one relieving himself to raise his garment before he has drawn near to the ground. This may occur in one of two situations:

The first is when there are people around him who can see him. In this case, raising his garment before drawing near to the ground is forbidden, because it exposes the private parts to those looking at them. The Prophet ﷺ prohibited this, saying: “A man should not look at another man’s private parts” (1).

The second is when he uncovers himself while alone, with no one present. Is this disliked or not? This depends on whether it is permissible for a person to uncover his private parts when alone.

The scholars have three views on this matter (2):

The first: it is permissible.

The second: it is disliked.

The third: it is forbidden, and this is the established position of the school. Yet they limited the ruling here to dislike, because uncovering oneself in this case is for a reason—namely, relieving oneself. However, they considered it disliked for him to raise his garment before drawing near to the ground, since there is no need to raise it at that point. They did not deem it forbidden, because the basic act of uncovering oneself in this situation is permissible.

But if he wishes to urinate while standing, he will raise his garment while standing. We say, however, that one who is standing is already near to relieving himself, because he will relieve himself standing.

Urinating while standing is permissible, particularly when there is a need, but subject to two conditions: