relieving oneself.
2. The scholars have explained that this posture makes the expulsion of waste easier.
3. The Prophet’s law has brought every benefit and forbidden every harm. It has not left any matter of worship—however minute—without clarifying it; even in so private a situation it directs people to what brings them comfort and safeguards their health.
4. Dr. Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Bār, a physician, states: “From a physiological standpoint, the most effective way to evacuate the bowels is to sit close to the ground while leaning on the left leg. The rectum—the final part of the large intestine where waste is stored—has the shape of the figure (4); when one leans on the left leg it straightens, allowing the stool to descend more easily. Behind the rectum lies a thick segment of intestine called the sigmoid colon, so named because it is shaped like the letter S; this, too, aligns properly when one rests on the left leg. All of these factors make the passage of waste markedly easier.”
5. Undoubtedly, this counts among the scientific wonders contained in the purified Sunnah, and these wise and sound instructions could only have come from the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.